Eloi Eloi Lama Sabachthani*

by Keith Clayton, Jr. (1968 - 1998)

* A cry uttered by Jesus Christ while dying on the cross, preserved in the original Aramaic: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

Father, now the sun is risen,
I thank Thee for Thy silent strength
Given me in my hour of despair--
When the darkness seemed to smother,
And the tears i selfishly shed
For my own pain, and trivial troubles
Shut out the light, and I rendered myself alone.

Father, now Thy Son is risen,
I thank Thee for allowing One
So much greater than I
Thine Only Begotten,
Flesh of Thy flesh, to complete a task so
Wonderful and terrible
By leaving Him necessarily alone.

Father, in the garden green of Olivet,
In the still and solitude
The Creator of everything offered up all He had,
And submitted Himself to all the vengeance of Hell;
And in His hour of need,
The Friend of the friendless was forsaken,
Forgotten, for what?

Although the spirit was willing the flesh indeed was weak;
And they slumbered, leaving Him,
The Balm of mortal pain, to suffer, alone. In the beauty of that desert place,
The Savior of mankind faced all the ugliness

His charges could offer:
The pain, the hate,
The sin, the sorrow,
The waste, the wickedness,
The pride, the poverty,
The deceit, the ignorance,
The doubt, the fear,
The betrayal

--And even the loneliness-- alone.
As His immortal, righteous blood
Was spilled, like sweat from every pore
And fell to the thirsty earth below, i cannot hide
My honor and my awe at His great love for me;
Neither can I hide my shame, self-reproach and regret.
For how many of those precious drops am I responsible for?
--As He suffered the bitter cup, alone.

The longest night the world will ever know,
The solstice of eternity, fell on Emmanuel
And by the light of torches the Light of the world,
The very God of Love, was betrayed by a kiss,
Enslaved by strangers, rejected by His own,
Denied by those who knew Him best,
And led away in chains alone.

How it must have hurt Thee to witness the sufferings
Of Thy Beloved inflicted by Thine other children--
Those whom He had come to save;
To steadfastly persevere, and answer not a word,
Amidst the jeers, the blows, the spit and scorn;
To see His perfect body torn, His perfect soul rent in anguish,

Staggering and fainting beneath the evil and imperfection
Of all mortality collectively alone. And Thou, beyond the grasp of human pain
Did surely mourn at the mocking of His misery
By so many witnesses and beneficiaries of His
Miracles and ministry--

Those who knew better; who unworthily and ungratefully
Bore Thy birthright;
Those with whom Thou had cut they covenant
Now cut the flesh of Thy Son deliberately.
And in the crowded mob He wept alone.

Down the winding passages of The City of Peace,
Stumbled the Prince of Peace.
Plaited thorns adorned His crown;
Stripped of all but His Mantle of Duty;

How it must have burdened Thee
To see Thine Own, Who in innocence
Did glorify Thy name, bearing a scapegoat's load--
The weight thereof not unfamiliar to Thee,
Which could so mercifully have been loosed by Thy Omnipotence;
Yet in the name of mercy Didst Thou allow

This charade of justice to continue.
At a crossroads He was lifted up upon the cruel cross.
And in His torment, when He needed Thee most,
Thou left Him unwillingly alone.

Father, in the vastness of Thy creations,
was there any place large enough to contain the immensity
Of Thy sorrow?
Was there any place small enough and far enough away
To hide from the pleas and cries of Thy suffering Son?
Until the moment He pronounced "It is finished."
Triumphing, at last alone.

In olden times, the Scriptures say Thou wert a jealous God described;
I think I know now why--
Jealous lest man ever slight, Forget,
Or with anything replace
The memory of the Sacrifice Made by Thy Son
Alone.

O Father, i thank Thee
For sacrificing Thy Fatherhood for Thy
Godhood, by giving us Thy Son
To pay the ransom we could not.
And by so doing, Thy righteous heart was broken also--
For what Father could bear to see
His helpless child suffer and not rush to his aid?

--Instead, to leave him intentionally alone. O Father, i thank Thee
That through the tears that fell from His eyes
And from Thine, that my tears may be dried
And my eyes opened to the Hope of my Salvation,
And the reassurance of my eternal worth

--In spite of myself--
That my meager life was worth dying for.
And He died for me, and because of me,
That I might live for Him, in all my days serving Him
As tool and ambassador of the love He had for us;
The love that gave purpose to His life and life to His purpose.
Father, I acknowledge my hungering need
To bear and be borne by the Unconditional Love of Christ,
Who unselfishly serves all those who but come unto Him.
As Counselor, Advocate and Friend;
That neither I, or any of us
Need ever be alone.

Father, let me let Him in!
Let His Light fill the recesses of my soul,
That darkness and evil find no place.
Let me always make room
For Him for Whom the inn was full.

Let your Spirit make me wise enough
To seek the King of Kings as the Magi did;
And as wise men still and always do.
Let me ever joy in that same glory
That was witnessed to lowly shepherds long ago.
Praise be to the Father and the Son!
The glory be to Him and Thee alone.

Please bless me, Dear Father,
That I may live my days in remembrance
Of Him Whose hands first sculpted me in clay.
Whose hands now rest in Thine;

Those hands Thou once suffered to be pierced for my sake.
Father, wouldst Thou bless me, that as He bore my burdens,
I may lift all those around me with whom I share this
Borrowed existence--
For Thy sacrifice, and His, was not for me alone.

And in His name may I heal the poor in Spirit,
Feed those en hungered of body or soul;
Build up where others tear down;
Make Peace
Spread Love;
Share His Hope;
That as I represent Him
In my small corner of the world,
No one I meet will ever be in need,
In doubt, or alone.

Time

I laughed when I was twenty,
My life was froth so bright;
Time was mine for living,
For dancing in the light.

I worked when I was thirty,
So much to do and buy;
I had no time for worry
Nor duty to catch my eye.

I hurried, though, at forty,
My mark I sought to place
In prominent positions
And every lofty trace. Success!

I thought at fifty;
I've little more to want.
I scarcely could imagine
How much my boast would haunt.

The day that I turned sixty,
I noticed something strange;
My aches and pains were telling
Of time and loss and change.

My path stretched far behind me,
Ahead was a tapering strand;
And when I looked around me,
My name but written in sand.

At last I understood that life
By precious moments is tracked;
And hurtles on relentlessly
And cannot be turned back.

How many times I couldn't count
I'd said, dear Lord don't worry;
I know you have some work for me,
A moment more, then I'll hurry.

All those careless months and years
Had very little worth
While zealously I sought to find
The perfect life on earth.

As panic overcame me,
I cast about in vain
For reasons I could beg Him
To write my name again.

I fell upon my knees there
And sought His loving grace;
Entreating Him with promises,
Turn back to me His face.

And then He showed me sadly
Things He'd planned for me to do;
And all the years he'd given me
So I could see them through.

Hot tears of shame flowed down
My cheeks as then as last I knew,
I should have often inquired of Him
what plans for me He drew.

The acts of kindness, faith and love
He showed me never were done;
Instead I'd lived my life for me
And from His will I'd run.

The strangers who'd brushed by me,
Alone and sick and scared;
I should have told about Him,
Their burdens gladly shared.

I wept for all those wasted years
And in a dream so sweet;
I dreamed somehow I got them back
And laid them at His feet.

But ah, those years are gone for good
And won't again be chartered;
For sorrow's tears from wiser eyes
Cannot for time be bartered.

Yet hope springs up—all isn't lost!
His grace unbounded, free;
And Majesty with love unplumbed
Still welcome even me.

Though service to my Lord
And King abbreviated be;
Forgiven much and loving much,
I face eternity.

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is letting go of the pain
and accepting what has happened,
because it will not change.

Forgiveness is dismissing the blame.
Choices were made that caused the hurt;
we each could have chosen differently,
but we didn't.

Forgiveness is looking at the pain,
learning the lessons it has produced,
what we have learned.

Forgiveness allows us to move on
towards a better understanding of universal love
and our true purpose.

Forgiveness is knowing that love
is the answer to all questions, and that we all
are in some way connected.

Forgiveness is starting over
with the knowledge
that we have gained.
I forgive you, and I forgive myself.
I hope you can do the same.


-Poem by Judith Mammay

Gardening God's Way

Plant three rows of peas:
Peace of mind
Peace of heart
Peace of soul

Plant four rows of squash:
Squash gossip
Squash indifference
Squash grumbling
Squash selfishness

Plant four rows of lettuce:
Lettuce be faithful
Lettuce be kind
Lettuce be obedient
Lettuce really love one another

No garden should be without turnips:
Turnip for meetings
Turnip for service
Turnip to help one another

Water freely with patience and cultivate love

There is much fruit for your garden
Because you reap what you sow.

To conclude our garden
We must have thyme:
Thyme for God
Thyme for study
Thyme for prayer
Thyme for each other
Thyme for friends

Author Unknown

Tell The Children

Do you want to make a difference
In generations yet to come?
Then invest your time in children,
And love His little ones.

It's possible to change the world
With just a few small acts of grace;
Tell the children Jesus loves them
And let them see it in your face.

Some small one is hurting
And may only learn through you
That Jesus loves the children,
And cares about them too.

If you would change the future
And leave the world a better place,
Tell the children Jesus loves them
And let them see it in your face.

Copyright ©1996 by Jan McIntosh

Tell it to your children, And let your children tell it to their children,
And their children to the next generation.
Joel 1:3

A Beautiful Symphony

A musician needs all the keys
To play a symphony;
If he only used the white ones,
What beauty would there be?

The black keys make the music
Melodic to the ear;
If the pianist never used them,
What a different song we'd hear.

And just like that piano,
So it is with life;
It takes both light and dark to make
The music flow just right.

God uses trials and sorrows
Like the pianist uses keys;
He combines the light and dark to make
Life's music sound so sweet.

The song of life sounds better
When He uses all the keys;
For then He can turn a simple tune
Into a beautiful symphony.

Copyright ©1995 by Jan McIntosh
(originally titled "Life's Music)

Life - Only Once

Life only once we can live it
Oh! what a great solemn thought;
Soon will our journey be over.
Soon will the battle be fought.

Oh, what shall it profit
Riches and pleasures to gain?
If your own soul is the forfeit,
Shall it not all be in vain?

Life, as the flowers that are blooming,
Withers and passes away;
All its great glory is fleeting--
Only the joy of a day.

If you are heavily laden,
Tired of a life that is vain,
Jesus has promised to save you,
If you will yield to His claim.

Will you now choose to obey Him,
Yielding yourself to His call?
This is the choice that will save you,
Making Him Lord of your all.

Oh, what shall it profit
Riches and pleasures to gain?
If your own soul is the forfeit,
Shall it not all be in vain?

Taken from an old hymn book titled: HYMNS: OLD AND NEW,
R. L. Allan & Sons, 141, 143 Sauchiehall St., Glascow, England, selection 47.