68 - The Church in Samaria

The Church in Samaria
By Gail White

How well we remember,
my sisters and I,
the gospel that Christ gave us
when no one else was by:

the talk he had with Mary
in Bethany that day
when Martha laid the table
while Lazarus was away;

the conference he held with
the woman at the well
(whose marital estrangements
were too complex to tell);

the message he reserved for
those who love unseen,
extravagant believers
like Mary Magdalene;

how closely we have guarded
these many ages through,
the secret resurrection
that Peter never knew.

Gail White is a poet, living in New Orleans. Her poem, "The Death of a Next-Door Neighbor," appeared in the January 1980 issue of THEOLOGY TODAY. She is the author of a book of poems, Irreverent Parables (1978).