Thursday, April 20, 2006
Easter Meditation
O Lord,
it is so easy to identify with you in your passion,
where pain and grief and death
come together in that great sacrifice
you offered to bring us home to you.
How well I know the touch
of pain, and tears and fear.
But yet, how hard it is to grasp that miracle
come Easter morning, and like Mary Magdalene,
so often I wander the garden confused and in tears,
searching for you, Lord of my heart,
You, who through your death and resurrection
have been transformed into who you really are,
filled, not emptied,
full God and fully man.
It is an amazing thing.
one I cannot truly grasp.
Like the apostles and disciples,
we can only catch fleeting touches of you,
for your glory is more than this mortal flesh can bear for long,
a moment upon Mt. Tabor,
a breaking of the bread at Emmaus,
morning by the Sea of Gallilee.
O Lord, firstfruits of all those who bear mortal flesh,
O Lord, God who breathed upon the waters when time began,
O Lord, Bridegroom preparing the home for his bride,
Help me see you Lord,
in the glory of the sunrise,
in the voice of the hungry child,
in the touch of loving concern,
in the gathering of your saints,
in the Bread of Life,
in the touch of your hand on my life,
in that whisper of hope that will not go away..
O Lord, like Mary in the garden,
may I hear your voice and know,
in amazement and joy who it is who calls my name,
and like her, look up and see your smiling face.
Susan E. Stone, 2006
it is so easy to identify with you in your passion,
where pain and grief and death
come together in that great sacrifice
you offered to bring us home to you.
How well I know the touch
of pain, and tears and fear.
But yet, how hard it is to grasp that miracle
come Easter morning, and like Mary Magdalene,
so often I wander the garden confused and in tears,
searching for you, Lord of my heart,
You, who through your death and resurrection
have been transformed into who you really are,
filled, not emptied,
full God and fully man.
It is an amazing thing.
one I cannot truly grasp.
Like the apostles and disciples,
we can only catch fleeting touches of you,
for your glory is more than this mortal flesh can bear for long,
a moment upon Mt. Tabor,
a breaking of the bread at Emmaus,
morning by the Sea of Gallilee.
O Lord, firstfruits of all those who bear mortal flesh,
O Lord, God who breathed upon the waters when time began,
O Lord, Bridegroom preparing the home for his bride,
Help me see you Lord,
in the glory of the sunrise,
in the voice of the hungry child,
in the touch of loving concern,
in the gathering of your saints,
in the Bread of Life,
in the touch of your hand on my life,
in that whisper of hope that will not go away..
O Lord, like Mary in the garden,
may I hear your voice and know,
in amazement and joy who it is who calls my name,
and like her, look up and see your smiling face.
Susan E. Stone, 2006
Labels: Easter, Praise and Thanksgiving
Monday, April 17, 2006
See the Tears
The grieving mother stands beside
A blood-stained cross of wood
Where hangs her one and only son,
So innocent and good,
O see the tears that touch her cheek,
Each one a shining jewel,
Witness to to the cost of sin,
So heavy, dark and cruel.
Her son was given as a gift
to heal this world of woe,
And she was warned of sorrow's sword
so many years ago.
O see the tears that touch her cheek,
Each one a shining jewel,
Witness to to the cost of sin,
So heavy, dark and cruel.
She feels the blade pass in her heart
much sharper than her fears,
But what she has, she offers up,
Her joy, her love, her tears.
O see the tears that touch her cheek,
Each one a shining jewel,
Witness to to the cost of sin,
So heavy, dark and cruel.
O grieving mother, wondrous Son,
O pain and agony,
All suffered there in willing love
To set our spirits free.
O see the tears that touch her cheek,
Each one a shining jewel
Witness to the cost of sin,
So heavy, dark and cruel.
O Mother, let me stand with you
beneath my Master's cross,
And witness what my Lord has done
Through suffering and loss.
O may my eyes well up with tears,
at what my Lord has wrought,
in grief, and joy, and endless thanks
for what his blood has bought.
Susan E. Stone, 2006
A blood-stained cross of wood
Where hangs her one and only son,
So innocent and good,
O see the tears that touch her cheek,
Each one a shining jewel,
Witness to to the cost of sin,
So heavy, dark and cruel.
Her son was given as a gift
to heal this world of woe,
And she was warned of sorrow's sword
so many years ago.
O see the tears that touch her cheek,
Each one a shining jewel,
Witness to to the cost of sin,
So heavy, dark and cruel.
She feels the blade pass in her heart
much sharper than her fears,
But what she has, she offers up,
Her joy, her love, her tears.
O see the tears that touch her cheek,
Each one a shining jewel,
Witness to to the cost of sin,
So heavy, dark and cruel.
O grieving mother, wondrous Son,
O pain and agony,
All suffered there in willing love
To set our spirits free.
O see the tears that touch her cheek,
Each one a shining jewel
Witness to the cost of sin,
So heavy, dark and cruel.
O Mother, let me stand with you
beneath my Master's cross,
And witness what my Lord has done
Through suffering and loss.
O may my eyes well up with tears,
at what my Lord has wrought,
in grief, and joy, and endless thanks
for what his blood has bought.
Susan E. Stone, 2006
Labels: Mary, Mother of Sorrows, Passion of Christ
