Holy Week Petition (A Poem)

Holy Week Petition

That I might stand

at the foot of the Cross,

and, as the spear was thrust

into the side of the Crucified,

that I may be bathed

in the blood and water,

cascading down from His side.

Drench me in it, O Redeemer,

You who have died

so pour Your love

upon mankind.

Drench me,

bathe me,

cover all parts of me

and cauterize my wounds

with Your

   pity,

     and protection,

        and power.

Pity for my plight,

for my defeated struggle,

my agony increasing Your agony,

I so often tormented

   by weakness, resistance, rebellion,

     looking back with hand to the plow,

invaded by demons

   returning to a house swept clean,

     inviting hellish companions

       to join in the slaughter

         of the innocent child.

Protection

  for is what in me

    so vulnerable,

       so doomed

         without Your strong arm

guarding against the foe.

Power,

  to win a victory

     undeserved,

        yet merited

only by Your blood

   and lashes

     and nails.

Bring me to Gethsemane,

   that I may sweat blood,

     fearing the cup

       I would have to drink,

safe for your submission,

   knowing always,

       that any victory

         I may ever taste,

is the reward You won for me,

   the meritless, the ungraced,

      the discouraged,

         the despairing,

the guilty victim,

   fettered,

      convicted,

falling to the gates of hell,

   yet caught in Your arms,

     as You stand there,

willing to take me with You

   come the time

     for You to ascend.

03.30.2021