A stranger walked into the town
Crowds were attracted to him from all around
He is but an ordinary man people would exclaim
Yet such a message had never before been proclaimed
Little children drew to him steadily
In his arms he embraced them readily
And as only a child is apt to do
Would snuggle closer to him with trust anew
It painted him to see suffering and misery abound
Everywhere he went sadness and loneliness he found
Goodness radiated his being
and his life onto others flowed
Always words of praise and thanksgiving
to the father he bestowed
How many would depart
With gifts of health, bread and love he did impart
Forgetting the miraculous events of the past
And the man who had healed them at last
Jealousy seems to pervade the human heart
And set out to destroy love from the start
On a mount upon a cross for all to see
He was nailed with no one for his innocence to plead
But love will never die
The body may be ravaged and broken to the human eye
Yet these words can still be heard
I am always here with you on earth
Jesus lives and beckons the heart incessantly
To love and always love constantly
From the paperback anthology Seeds of Hope by Beverly Ruth Kavanagh (Ottawa, 2012). Featured image: Einzug in Jerusalem (1912), Wilhelm Morgner.