Poetry of the Cross: Jesus of the Scars
Monday, March 17, 2008 at 9:43AM
rebecca in monthly theme, poetry

If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow;
We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.

The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
In all the universe we have no place.
Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars we claim Thy grace.

If when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,
Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine;
We know today what wounds are; have no fear;
Show us Thy Scars; we know the countersign.

The other gods were strong, but Thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.

—-Rev. Edward Shillito

Congregationalist minister Edward Shillito wrote this poem from the viewpoint of the maimed and suffering British soldiers returning from WWI.

More Poetry of the Cross

You are welcome to join me in my celebration of Poetry of the Cross if you wish. Just post a cross-centered poem any day of this week (or every day of this week) and send me the link to your poem. I’ll link back to your poem in the next Poetry of the Cross post.
Article originally appeared on Rebecca Writes (http://rebecca-writes.com/).
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