The Passion of our God

You

who gasped and moaned,

sweated and pushed,

pouring forth life,

giving birth to creation

You

have stood before us in perfect humanity,

You have touched us and blessed us

called us relentlessly

loved us unceasingly

We have wrestled with you in the night.

We have rested in your arms

but we could not hold you

and we could not understand

why

you submitted

to nails

and human cruelty

I sat stunned

holding that limp body,

damp, cold and broken

and you were there beside me great Mother God

groaning for the beloved

writhing in a pain more terrible than the first

bathing us in hot burning tears

choking in a grief that darkened the sun

and then,

absence

as that precious weight

which threatened to crush me

was torn from me

and laid in a tomb

cold silent

ABSENCE

I couldn’t stay away

my whole being ached for you

and so, stumbling in the darkness

I came to find you,

knowing you would understand

that primitive human need

to caress, anoint and hold

ABSENCE. ABSENCE.

my trembling empty flesh

cheated of its last comfort

screamed aloud into the dawning day

I called you –

– you whose ears were closed forever.

I called your name again, again

I called

until I could call no longer

and all around me the sun rose

and the world began to sing

and into my desolation

– a voice,

into absence – presence

PRESENCE !