Christmas II -- The Feast of St. Stephen

 

 




In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
    do not let me ever be put to shame;
    in your righteousness deliver me.

Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me.

You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
    for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,

take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
    for you are my refuge.
 
Psalm 31:1-4 
 

—

Human beings suffer,
They torture one another,
They get hurt and get hard.
No poem or play or song
Can fully right a wrong
Inflicted and endured.

. . . 

History says, Don't hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave 
Of Justice can rise up
And hope and history rhyme.

So hope for a great sea-change
On the far side of revenge.
Believe that a further shore
Is reachable from here.
Believe in miracles
And cures and healing wells.

. . .

The Cure at Troy  Sophocles' Philoctetes
trans. Seamus Heaney
 

His Eye is On the Sparrow   Mahalia Jackson

 

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