Paul blew into Ephesus
on the winds of the Holy Spirit
hovering there three years
raining down extraordinary miracles
through the Word and the words
of the gospel, till all of Asia
was soaked with mercy—
a holy hurricane with Jesus as the eye.
Then came the long, trembling goodbye
woven with warnings of savage wolves to follow
hungry for newborn souls. But there were
assurances, too, of God’s gift of strength
and grace towards the sanctified.
The apostle’s passionate mission ended
in a flood of tears with one last good word from
the Master: It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Then Hurricane Paul blew out to the sea
that would carry him all the way to Jerusalem.
Acts 19:1–12, Acts 20:17–38