Here I Am, Send Me: April 2007

"Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani"

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 Counsellor,

Advocate

And Friend;

That neither I,

Nor 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 enhungered

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.

------------------------------
Copyright 1998 ©Connie Clayton

For the author
Keith Clayton, Jr.
(1968 - 1998)

www.compucast.com/easter.html
Reprinted with permission

Free to duplicate and distribute free of charge.
(please include site address)

Here I Am, Send Me

Blog Archive

About Me

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Why Ask Why?

Monday, April 9, 2007

Easter Dinner Prayer

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Alone...