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Tuesday, December 18, 2012

O Shepherd - an Antiphonal Meditation



O Shepherd in the dark,
   long expected shepherd,
can you hear us
from your throne of light,
   you who are enthroned upon the cherubs;
can you hear us?

O Shepherd in the wild,
   shepherd through the desert,
return to us, shine for us
   so we can be saved
so we can follow.

Are you the anticipation
   or the reflection
of all our expectations?
Either way, we follow.

O Shepherd king,
   good shepherd of Israel,
rise and feed your flock.
We’ve had our fill of the bread of tears;
   we’ve had our tears to drink.
Now we crave the bread from your house.

O Shepherd, come to us;
   come to us, O Shepherd.



This poem is intended to be an antiphonal  meditation on Psalm 80: 1- 7 and Micah 5: 2- 5a.  

The question in the middle - "Are you the anticipation / or the reflection / of all our expectations?"  is an expression of my inability to understand - Do texts like Micah 5: 2 -5 anticipate the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, or did the gospel writers see in it a reflection of their understanding of Jesus...  


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