GOOD FRIDAY REPROACHES
(by Janet
Morley, Bread of Tomorrow)
Holy God, holy and strange,
holy and intimate,
have mercy on us.
O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you?
Answer me.
I brooded
over the abyss,
with my
words I called forth creation:
but you have
brooded on destruction,
and manufactured
the means of chaos.
O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you?
Answer me.
I breathed
life into your bodies,
and carried
you tenderly in my arms:
but you have
armed yourselves for war,
breathing out
threats of violence.
O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you?
Answer me.
I made the
desert blossom before you,
I fed you
with an open hand:
but you have
grasped the children’s food,
and laid
waste fertile lands.
O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you?
Answer me.
I abandoned
my power like a garment,
choosing your
unprotected flesh:
but you have
robed yourselves in privilege,
and chosen
to despise the abandoned.
O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you?
Answer me.
Holy God,
Holy and strange,
Holy and intimate,
Have mercy on us.
I would have
gathered you to me as a lover,
and shown you the ways of peace:
but you have
desired security,
and you
would not surrender your self.
O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you?
Answer me.
I have torn
the veil of my glory,
transfiguring
the earth
but you have
disfigured my beauty,
and turned
away your face.
O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you?
Answer me.
I have
laboured to deliver you,
as a woman
delights to give life:
but you have
delighted in bloodshed
and laboured
to bereave the world.
O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you?
Answer me.
I have
followed you with the power of my sp irit,
To seek
truth and heal the oppressed:
But you have
been following a lie,
And returned
to your own comfort.
O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you?
Answer me.
Holy God,
holy and strange,
holy and intimate,
have mercy on us.
(Janet
Morley, England, 1988)
(Genesis 1,
2:7; Psalm 22:9-10, 104:28; Isaiah 35:1, 46:3-4, 53:1-4; Matthew 27:51; Luke
13:34, 19:41-44; John 16:20-22)