I was once witness in the wilderness
To a remarkable occurrence:
They roamed like desert animals, scattered
Aimless, divided, their worlds shattered.
A people estranged and wanting of worth,
They were among those who wallowed on the earth.
As for streams of water, I found none;
Nor any quenched soul, not even one.
Then one day the foundations shook,
And each were pulled by a shepherd’s hook,
Who would have wilted under heat of sun,
But for the mediation—the covering—of One
Whose cloak—a canopy—spread over their heads.
Who like barren virgins would have died unwed—
Presented then to one Husband, betrothed,
And in purest robes He had them clothed.
Those who were many were made one—
One flesh, no more disordered
One body, no more decaying
One mind, no longer desperate—
Who of one heart, one soul have become.
To one hope they held, at last to dine,
And raise in one spirit the aged wine
At a great and distant table spread,
Where each could eat of the one bread.
What were once cries in the dark wasteland,
Wailings from the east and siftings of sand,
Became one voice in one accord:
“One baptism, one faith, one Lord—
One God and Father of all!”
As one they entered in the royal hall—
And I stood up and joined them all.
