The scholars came upon it
as if discovering gold or
the fountain or youth.

Alchemists in their own
fields of philosophy and
theology working over and

over with earth, wind, fire
and water of doctrine as if
there was no more to know

or see or understand, and
then these doctors of
Christian academia caught

those words of St. Francis
and Pope Francis, both of
whom got it from the

un-didacted words of Jesus
before he was christened
the Christ; they came upon

the treasure trove of service —
the Sermon on the Mount.
Good catechists all, what did

they hear all those years of
their youth? What has been
preached over the years

from the high pulpits under
the tall steeples on the four
corners of the Yankee Bible

Belt? As the grandfather
told his inquiring grandson,
as they marched past a

whites only church in the
south, “Jesus hasn’t been
seen in there for years, son.”

So, too, the finest doctrine
has been preached, a question
and answer, of course the

answer, for each Sunday in
the year — in season and out,
but where, oh, where is Jesus?