All Creation Yearns
The water sunk low
into six stone jars
seeking to serve someone.
Then He approached.
The modest water saw its God and blushed.
The unbridled wind roared over the face of the water
and the waves smacked back at the wind.
They danced with ecstatic joy and ferocity,
for in a boat that rowed so close
their God lay asleep.
With uneven gait
the four-footed beast
marched forward with pride,
for he carried God on his back,
whose hand alighted softly on the nape of the beast's neck:
a touch never forgotten.
Singing and shouting pricked his ears
and small, slow tears opened his eyes
for there stood tall Jerusalem before his face
and palms beneath his feet.
Songs of Hallel faded into the night
as the sound of sleeping men
echoed through the crisp air.
He fell upon a great rock
sitting still in Gethsemane,
and as His body hit its breast
the rock's heart was wrung
from top to bottom,
but still it stood the night
bearing its Master proudly.
And what seemed like sweat and tears
fell from the face of God
down to the ground below
and watered the earth with blood.
But they hung God out to die
on a cold Friday afternoon.
The tree stood there quietly,
arms stretched forth in agony,
and the sun hid its face in shame
and the earth trembled with sorrow
shuddering with every tearful sob.
And the fish of the sea
and the birds of the air
and the beasts of the earth
all hung their heads low in quiet adoration.
And then, all was silent.
And with one voice all creation cried out for its God and King.
All creation groaned for its Lord.
For He who spoke light
and breathed stars
and sang creation of the water,
For He who stooped to write
with dusty finger
into the very spine of the earth
and so stones fell from sinful hands
onto the dirt below.
Whose very feet treaded softly on the back of tossing waves
and hands outstretched caressed the breathing wind.
Who dignified mere bread and wine
to become partakers of His divine nature.
All creation hoped
for they knew Who died.
He who is Love.
And love stronger than death.
Published in Saint Austin Review, Volume 21, No. 6.