GOOD FRIDAY REPROACHES (Janet Morley)

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)