Gently

The hands stretched out upon the cross

held nothing in their grasp,

but offered all things back to God

with Jesus' final gasp.



So may my hands be open, Lord,

my fingers be uncurled

to love the ones I cannot hold

abroad within the world.



The heart of Christ drained all he had;

it emptied heaven out,

and raining on the good and bad

became an endless fount.



So may my heart be generous—

as you are to all things—

to love the unjust with the just

and find your flowing spring.



For you have loved me gently, Lord,

through all my senseless fright,

through every waking whispered word,

a mother in the night.



So may I mother all of them

as rain and sun shall fall.

Though but a single drop I am,

yet may I give it all.

Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, medieval illustration from the Hortus deliciarum of Herrad of Landsberg, 12th century By Herrad of Landsberg – Hortus Deliciarum, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31489656