Why are the halls empty

When I turn to the pews

And the broken stones that line the walls

Of cathedrals newly built?

 

Why, when we cry in the cup

Do the tears go nowhere

When the bread dries on the tongue

And cracks the lips of the hungry –

 

What does it mean?

 

We have sought for the heart of God

And lost the heart of humanity…

 

Surely the Son cries at the sight

Of a body that tears its own flesh off

One strip at a time

 

Does the Spirit escape

Through the spaces between the ribs?

 

How can we sing love songs to the Father

With a mouth we have cursed?

 

Can we dance with abandon to Yahweh

With feet bound in shame?

 

Is there joy in the Eternal

When we hear our voice in Springsteen

Instead of Wesley?

 

The mirror is broken

But we can still see I AM in the shards

Scattered through creation

 

Even in the alleys

Even in the bars

Even in the lonely rooms

            Of the lonely ones

                        Doomed to hate

The sound of their own voice…

 

Until they hear the echo of Abba

Speaking the world into existence

And speaking hope into the near-deaf ears

 

Saying –

 

“Do not call unclean what I have called clean”

 

Look – see what happens when Word meets Flesh

When the hand everlasting embraces this mortal coil:

 

The perfect purifying Christ burns clean and bright

and singing us from our tombs with the words –

 

“Lazarus come forth!”

 

Forget the rot you knew and know a new flesh

Recreated forever and ever

 

Amen.