Here’s another one:
The Passage: Then Jesus, the anger again welling up within him, arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” . . . Then he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And he came out, a cadaver, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him loose” (John 11:38–39, 43–44, MSG).
The Prayer:
Indignant Christ,
With anger on your lips,
you raised the dead.
Bless now our anger,
anxiety, and anguish
so that these energies
society silences
can break forth with strength
to demand death’s violence
be removed like a stone
from the tomb
of our world.
Amen.
The Poem:
You do not need to think
your way to faith,
fierce enough to frighten
fragility into a footnote.
You do not need to lace
your lips with lustrous prayers
or pound your chest in penance
for the puzzle of your pain.
You do not need to be
hopeful or pleasant,
stumbling severed from your story
and the truth your body bears.
You only need to let
your hidden hurt
come with you
and reach your fingers
toward the Love who stands
with scars still on his hands.
Your body brings
your story
everywhere you go.
And faith says
come with me;
I won’t leave you
alone.
Come whole,
weary, weak
to the corners
where you’ve long
been pushed aside.
Come with the courage
of the crucified.
His body brings
his story
everywhere
we go.
And faith says,
he comes with me;
he won’t leave me
alone.
Your body brings
your story
where Christ
makes you
his home.
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