Tag: weeping

Sons and Mothers

O God of Isaac, God of Ishmael,
and God of children given up to death,
O God of Joseph, God of Israel,
give back what we have lost. Restore our dead.

But God of Sarah, God of Hagar lorn,
you know the empty arms and shattered hopes,
and God of Rachel, God of Leah scorned,
gather the children laid beneath these stones.

For you gave Isaac back to Abraham:
Restore our sons to us as desert streams!
Take all we have—a thousand slaughtered lambs!—
but leave our sons.  Take all, but leave us these!

And we will bless you in our poverty
and trust your grace that lets us hold them near.
Let cities turn to dust beneath our feet,
let mountains crumble, still we will not fear.

We tremble now, who know what Cain has done,
who hear the wailing of those bloodstained stones.
O Abel's God, you spared not Mary's son:
Breathe in our sons who lie there with your own.

Let Miriam sing the resurrection song
when you have led them all out of the sea,
our sons and theirs together in one throng,
back to their mothers.  Let our weeping cease.

German or Netherlandish 15th Century, Pietà, c. 1450–1500, National Gallery of Art By German or Netherlandish 15th Century – This file was donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the National Gallery of Art. Please see the Gallery’s Open Access Policy., CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74853452

Tears

When the Lord saw her,
he was moved with pity for her and said to her,
“Do not weep.”
He stepped forward and touched the coffin;
at this the bearers halted,
and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!”
The dead man sat up and began to speak,
and Jesus gave him to his mother.

Luke 7:11-17
You beheld the widow weeping—
Did you know then what would come:
at the cross her station keeping, 
Mary with belovèd John?
You stepped in and raised the sleeping,
gave the widow back her son.

Knowing how Eve wept for Abel,
Rachel for her children wept,
knowing Martha—faith unshaken—
mourned when you delayed your steps,
did you guess what Mary's fate held,
keeping vigil at your death?

Eden tore us all asunder;
life by dying was undone.
Bread of life, you knew our hunger:
Make our separation one.
Give us back to one another,
death by dying overcome.

Tears have been our bread since Eden,
since the day we took and ate.
We have had our fill of feasting,
sated since the days of Cain.
You who joined us in our weeping, 
let it be the bread you break.

Take these tears and make them hallowed;
let our weeping make us one.
Let them, then, give way to dancing;
let rejoicing come with dawn.
Let the widow's prayers be answered:
Give her back her only son.

Resurrection of the son By Wilhelm Kotarbiński – cyfrowe.mnw.art.pl, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23801336