Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life, ELW 719 & LBW 429
Where cross the crowded ways of life,
where sound the cries of race and clan,
above the noise of selfish strife,
we hear your voice, O Son of Man.
In haunts of wretchedness and need,
on shadowed thresholds dark with fears,
from paths where hide the lures of greed,
we catch the vision of your tears.
From tender childhood’s helplessness,
from human grief and burdened toil,
from famished souls, from sorrow’s stress,
your heart has never known recoil.
The cup of water giv’n for you
still holds freshness of your grace;
yet long these multitudes to view
the strong compassion in your face.
O Master, from the mountainside
make haste to heal these hearts of pain;
among these restless throngs abide;
oh, tread the city’s streets again.
Till all the world shall learn your love
and follow where your feet have trod,
till glorious from your heav’n above
shall come the city of our God.
Devotion
Jerusalem is hardly the teeming metropolis about which Frank M. North wrote this hymn in 1905. But the first stanza's words could hardly be more appropriate. Two peoples seek to live on the same land, giving form to the "crowded ways of life." The "cries of race and clan" find expression in building permits and travel permits that are awarded on the basis of identity. "The noise of selfish strife" is heard from the machinery used to demolish a Palestinian home to make way for an Israeli settlement.
How, above the din, can I hear the voice of Jesus, the Son of Man? I hear him in the voices of those who work for justice in this troubled land, like Rabbis for Human Rights, Churches for Middle East Peace and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, to name a few. Such groups give voice to Jesus' message of love and reconciliation once again in the land called holy.
Prayer
Thank you for sending your Spirit to move countless people to pursue justice and peace in the land where you dwelled among us. Amen.