Friends, Romans

 Chapter One œ

From Paul, aide to Jesus,

Bringer of a timeless message;

A message affirmed to every generation by wise sages.

Jesus, whose lineage is traced to the Jewish King David;

At the same time one with the Creator of the whole universe;

Witnessed by many as having returned from death.

By his authority I was charged to explain all things,

Not just to his people,

But to all people, irrespective of background.

So I speak to you in Rome,

Who are loved by your creator and called to experience wonderful things. 

May you know lasting peace in your hearts.

You are a great encouragement to me,

I’m filled with joy when I think of you,

There is nothing I would like better than to come and be with you now.

Sadly I have been prevented.

I know that when I come we will strengthen each other,

And many people will share the knowledge and security we’ve received.

I’m not ashamed of our message

For it is upright and true.

It has the power to transform lives, irrespective of background.

In the Jewish holy book it says

‘The righteous shall live trusting in what is true’.

Of course the creator is angry when people do wicked shameful things.

Worse, they try to dress this up as ok. 

They know what they are doing because we all have the creator's nature within us. 

They ignore the creator, making up foolish ideas about their nature.

This leads to concepts that are further and further from the truth.

With great authority the miss the point of life,

Settling on the created, rather than creator.

So the creator despairs and gives them freedom to follow their desires,

Even desire that degrade their bodies.

They follow their animal instincts, suffering the consequence.

Since they describe the creator as foolish, 

They have cut themselves off from the truth.

In this darkness they are pray to all that is wrong;

Wickedness that we all know so well.

What is more, they encourage others to join them.