ephphatha – Kate Bluett

You speak, Lord, and I listen,
words written on my heart;
my soul, though, does not quicken,
and still my heart is hard.
I hear, but I am deaf yet;
am blinded, but I see.
I am closed off from heaven:
Ephphatha! say to me.

How can my eyes be opened
to see what you reveal?
My stone heart mst be broken
so that I may be healed.
How can I hear the whisper
as heaven's door swings free?
As you were pierced for sinners,
Ephphatha! say to me.

For you yourself were opened,
and you wept floods of tears—
so each of us is broken,
and I myself am pierced.
As you have suffered with me,
my sufferings redeem.
Let heaven open in me:
Ephphatha! say to me.

He put his finger into the man’s ears
and, spitting, touched his tongue;
then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,
“Ephphatha!”— that is, “Be opened!” —
And immediately the man’s ears were opened,
his speech impediment was removed,
and he spoke plainly.
Mark 7:31-37

For today’s readings, combining Isaiah and the healing of the deaf man with a speech impediment:

The wasteland stretches out before;
the desert road is long,
but we who heard you hear no more
and sing no more your song.

When will the desert bloom for us?
When will our closed ears hear?
When will the springs burst forth for us?
Oh, when will you draw near?

Our tongues are tied and mute, my Lord;
our feeble hands are bound.
Come, give us once again your word
and lift us from the ground.

Then shall our eyes be opened wide,
our wounded souls shall leap.
Your fountains welling up inside,
our hearts shall wake from sleep.

Then place your fingers in our ears;
reach out and touch our tongues.
If you will heal us, we can hear;
your songs can still be sung!

Then come, O Savior, flood the ground
'til deserts all are past.
Break open clouds and end the drought:
oh, let us bloom at last!

Tag: ephphatha

Ephphatha!

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