Poem based on 4th Sunday in Lent John 3:14-21

Lifted up amid the people

Lost and wandering

On their way

--to wherever God would lead them

full of hope

--and wonder

but lost

--without a country

--or land

--or a life

and at time illness would come

in this land far from any land

--that could be called their own

--or home

and for those people

--feeling so lost

--and ill

God gave them hope

That if any should look upon the serpent

Raised up amid the pain of their existence

They would be healed

Made whole

--through the gift of God

--to live again

--to love again

--to praise again

and for us

wandering in our desert

--of loneliness

--and pain

living so far from our longing

God has given

That part

That life

The Messiah

Christ of us all

Lifted up upon the cross

In an act that was meant to bring death

To Christ

--and to hope

but instead

--brings life

to all who gaze upon

this love of God for the world

and the beacon shines bright

in our lives of pain

illuminating the darkness within

and filling our lives

with the love of God

and forgiving us our sin