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 !