Redemption

The Place of the Skull,
In Hebrew,
Golgotha.

The barren hill where
Dry bones cry out to you.

Desolate
At a distance
Cut off, as it were,
From Your Hand.

All is dust and ashes.
Remember, o man,
You are dust

Calvary is
The soul of man.

Dusty earth
Collecting every sin
Dying to be swept away.

Barren earth
Capable of bearing life
Dying to be made fertile.

Thirsty earth
Forgetting why it thirsts, yet
Dying to be quenched.

It sleeps
Complacent in misery
While dreaming of more

           +

The beam of a cross enters
Piercing earth rudely
Who groans
As if in labor pains

Penetrating sharply
Cutting between
Joints and marrow
Parting dust from dust

Pressing deeper, deeper still
Into the bowels of the earth
Which yield in agony
To lifeless wood
Death upon death

           +

"But though I stooped to feed them
They did not know
That I
Was their Healer"

           +

Covered in darkness
Shivering in pain
Earth grows warm and wet
With the touch of blood

This is not earth's blood, for
Blood is life and
The hill of Calvary
Knows not life.

The whole earth trembles
At its touch
At the flow of blood
Awakening, knocking
Seeking to enter into
Earth's deepest recesses
To restore barrenness
To life

The desolate ground
Hesitating,
Does not open,
Fearing more pain

Wanting to keep Life
On the surface, outside
While at the same time
In desperation
Cries out within
For restoration

So life finds a way in
It is the way of the cross

Blood trickles down
The beam of the cross
Penetrating earth's depths
On the pathway
Paved by the cross
And being sent forth
From the beam of the cross
Blood meets dust
In the depths
And gives Life to the dust
In the depths
Of the earth

Life finds a way in
It is the way of the cross.

            +

Now water gushes forth upon
The stirring ground
A mighty flood
Intermingled
With more blood

Washing away dust
And transforming dust
Into fertile ground

Seeking out seeds
Planted long ago
They awaken

Watering the earth
Making it bud and flourish
Achieving the purpose
For which it was sent

              +

A breeze caresses the earth
Blowing where it wills

Arousing dry bones
To reunite with flesh
Joints and marrow

From the fertile soil springs up
Trees that will yield fruit
In due season

Calvary has become
A Garden of Life
The soul of man
Watered with the Water and Blood
Of the Lamb.