For God so loved the world

he came between a mother and the

baby at her breast

so that each saw the image of love

reflected in the other’s eyes

God so loved the world

that he sat at the street corner

and begged for our attention

For God so loved the world

he sang

and the children laughed and danced

and clapped their hands

God so loved the world that

he danced in the child

and the grown-ups laughed

in astonishment

For God so loved the world

he whispered through the blood of the dying

See how our hearts speak

the same language?

See what happens when

our hearts stop talking?

God so loved the world

that he flew with the birds

for the sheer joy of it

and rested in the rustling leaves

of an oak

For God so loved the world

he streamed through the man’s tears

until the woman could no longer bear the vision

and she wiped them away, reverently

First published in Trinity Cathedral’s Lenten Meditations, 2005