A Voice In Ramah

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Another world is possible…

Being Love.

  • Love That Is of God…

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    Three Girls Watching a Plane, Vivian Cherry
    When I thought I was full, 
    God sent more.
    God inspired more.
    God provoked 
    and instigated more.
    And the Love 
    that is of God 
    grew.

    Love that is of God
    is big love,
    good love,
    enduring and grounded
    and soaring and sweeping
    and lyrical and quiet.

    It is ferocious love that 
    knocks-down-barriers-and-borders
    the I AM never made because 
    the love that is of God
    refuses to be small. 

    Love that is of God
    is practical and joyful
    and transformative 
    and subversive -- 
    refusing to ever 
    leave us be
    love.

    Love that is of God
    is sufficiency
    and transforms into abundance
    when shared with another.

    Love that is of God 
    never subtracts,
    never diminishes,
    never humiliates,
    never erases - anyone.

    Love that is of God
    is the antidote to lies.
    Love that is of God 
    tells the healing truth,
    weaves and re-weaves,
    and braids together,
    and adds and multiplies 
    and compounds love.

    Love that is of God
    is limitless
    and stubborn
    and it never, ever dies.

    That love is too big for borrowed tombs.
    That love swallows up death.
    That love shares power with 
    the beloved
    to keep 
    getting up
    because that love loves.

    Love that is of God
    makes a home
    in all of the places
    and in all of the people,
    and in all of the stories
    that we would not.

    Love that is of God
    beckons us to stretch,
    to be more - 
    to see more -
    to want more -
    to pursue more -
    to feel more -
    not because we are not enough
    but because we are more.
    Love that is of God
    says, "Be who you are."

    Love that is of God 
    shows off,
    leading with a heart
    that delights
    in the giggles of children
    and the songs of the aged.

    Love that is of God
    cries and weeps and storms
    and becomes furious
    and indignant
    at the sight of 
    God's beloved
    fashioning God's own 
    words and resources
    into weapons and bonds 
    and chains and stumbling blocks
    for God's beloved. 

    Love that is of God
    breathes on
    the canvass of every night,
    turning up the wattage
    of every sparkling star
    assigned to lead
    the beloved to freedom.

    Love that is of God sings.

    Love that is of God searches,
    never sleeps,
    travels light,
    makes room,
    gathers chicks
    and stubbornly refuses
    to leave
    not nary a one behind,
    not nary a one out,
    not nary a one alone.
    Ever. 

    When we think we are full, 
    God sends more.
    God inspires more.
    God provokes and instigates more.

    And we know the love 
    that is of God
    is alive among us
    when the 
    love of God grows.

    Image: “Three Girls Watching a Plane,” by Vivian Cherry.

  • Priceless Blessings…

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    Little boys in church shirts

    Eating church candy
    Squirming in church pews —
    The sweetest of God’s blessings 
    for the church.
    Little boys falling asleep,
    Nudging each other before Momma sees
    Laughing, squirming, bright shining stars
    Straight from God’s own canvas.
    The sweetest blessings to the church.

    The Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson
    Brooklyn, NY

    Matthew 2:18:
    A Voice In Ramah
    http://avoiceinramah.blogspot.com

  • A Promise from Isaiah 43

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    When you’re in over your head, 
    I’ll be there with you.
    When you’re in rough waters, 
    you will not go down.
    When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
    it won’t be a dead end–
    Because I am God, your personal God,
    The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
    I paid a huge price for you:
    all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
    That’s how much you mean to me!
    That’s how much I love you!
    I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you.
    “So don’t be afraid:
    I’m with you.
    I’ll round up all your scattered children,
    pull them in from east and west.
     I’ll send orders north and south:
    ‘Send them back.
    Return my sons from distant lands,
    my daughters from faraway places.
    I want them back, 
    every last one who bears my name,
    every man, woman, and child
    Whom I created for my glory,
    yes, personally formed and made each one.’”
    The Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson
    Brooklyn, NY

    Matthew 2:18:
    A Voice In Ramah
    http://avoiceinramah.blogspot.com

  • For All The Saints…

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    None of us can claim our “own strength” as the sole reason for our accomplishments. We all stand on the accomplishments of people who came before us.  We stand on their struggles, their determination, their refusal to quit — their power to keep going.  We stand on their ability to see a future that was bigger than them — one that included us.

    We don’t stand by ourselves. 

    We magnify the faith of our forebears with our own faith and strength.  Indeed, we add to theirs — and we create momentum, power, health and strength for the next generation.
    Likewise, it is really critical that we who are living now own the charge to be “faithful, true and bold – fight as the saints who nobly fought of old…” — because if we don’t, we won’t leave the next generation a worthy legacy.  Every time I see people re-embracing the chains of slavery, the marks of limited personhood, the values of oppressors, I think — “No. That’s not the fruit of the battle fought by our mothers and fathers. That’s not why they sacrificed, died…”  That heartache pushes me to lift a broader, bigger, more liberating vision for my community.  We all need to stretch — not just for ourselves, but because there are little ones watching us, coming after us….

    Even those of us who have had to conquer strongholds of pathologies that were passed on to us (with the blessings!) have to determine — that part of the “tradition” stops with me.  I will pass on power, strength, faith and health. No passing on unnecessary brokenness, trauma and smallness. I will not be sharing pain and destruction with my children. We don’t “pledge” the next generation!  Take whatever of this that was dropped in your lap and determine that you are bigger than whatever it is.  Give it to God and turn that into testimony to fuel the next generation.  

    That is the way we become SAINTS. 

    Happy All Saint’s  Day.
    1.  For all the saints, who from their labors rest, 
    who thee by faith before the world confessed, 
    thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.  Alleluia, Alleluia! 
      
    2. Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might; 
    thou Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight; 
    thou in the darkness drear, their one true light. Alleluia, Alleluia! 
    3. O may thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold, 
    fight as the saints who nobly fought of old, 
    and win with them the victor’s crown of gold.  Alleluia, Alleluia! 
    4. O blest communion, fellowship divine! 
    We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; 
    yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.  Alleluia, Alleluia! 
    5. And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long, 
    steals on the ear the distant triumph song, 
    and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.  Alleluia, Alleluia! 
    6. From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast, 
    through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, 
    singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost:  Alleluia, Alleluia!
    The Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson
    Brooklyn, NY

    Matthew 2:18:
    A Voice In Ramah
    http://avoiceinramah.blogspot.com

  • Rest A Little While…

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    Mark 6
    30 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught.
    31 He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
    32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.
    33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.
    34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

    REST A LITTLE WHILE

    I have to admit this is an area where I am greatly challenged in my life. (Actually, a few areas, but this is the one I’m talking about right now!). It is so hard to “turn it off.” Those who are also challenged in this way know exactly what I mean….I struggle with relaxation.

    I might get a failing grade in ‘just chillin’…after all, there are children to be mothered, powers to be challenged, young warriors who need encouragement, colleagues who need…

    It just goes on and on.

    But, this is my life. I don’t live a “to-do” list. This is how I express my discipleship. I take my friendship with Jesus seriously. I go hard because He went hard for me.

    No, I don’t have a “super” or “messiah” complex – that would be too easy. I’m so aware that I’m not super. Really. I’m so aware that all I have to offer is the kind of brokenness that bears witness to “all things work together for the good.”

    Rather, it’s so hard to turn off the “cry out for social justice spigots/mother all the children in my presence behavior” because I really am sold out. Totally. I believe the “stuff” I’m walking and talking about…I’m convinced of the power of the friendship we share, the efficacy of the path I’m walking and Who I am following….I just think this stuff is right.

    Ah, but Jesus says that everybody needs to “rest a little while.”

    In Mark’s Gospel, the disciples shared with Jesus everything they had been doing and Jesus’ response was, “Whew, y’all take a break, hear?!” No protesting, no campaigns – “go away to a deserted place…”

    Deserted places are good for us, especially when deserted in this case means places where we can rest, put “it” down, chill, take a break. Maybe take a moment to pick up something else that has nothing to do with anything.

    What I also like about this account is that when the disciples take a break – Jesus steps up, meeting needs with compassion….

    Jesus steps up. He’s got “it” and us, too – all in his hands.

    I am so humbled to be called his friend, so I’ve got no complaints about how he uses me for his purposes (that’s actually kind of amazing and still renders me speechless.) But what’s more humbling is to hear him say, “Hey, thanks friends, go get something to eat, take a break, I’ve got this.” John’s Gospel says it this way: “I no longer call you servants…I call you friends…”(John 15)

    I’m planning a trip where I will be able to drink in the new scenery of God’s majesty; walk hand in hand with my husband and just “be” out on the town; and, to put myself in someone else’s hands for care and hospitality. I don’t plan to blog, write, call, conference, check emails, preach, teach, present, give interviews or anything….cause, I hear Jesus loud and clear…take a break, Sis.

    But when I come back, watch out ’cause I’m coming back hard for my Friend.

    The Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson
    Brooklyn, NY

    Matthew 2:18:
    A Voice In Ramah
    http://avoiceinramah.blogspot.com

  • We Can Prevent Child Sexual Abuse

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    12 It is not enemies who taunt me— I could bear that; it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me— I could hide from them.
    13 But it is you, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend,
    14 with whom I kept pleasant company; we walked in the house of God with the throng. (Psalm 55:12-14)

    One of the saddest of all Psalms (Psalm 55) sings the pain of one who was betrayed by a beloved close one. The psalmist writes that the betrayer was one who shared his journey of faith and the intimacy of worship. That’s what makes the betrayal, in the mind of the psalmist, so hard to bear. A stranger is hard…but you? My beloved close one? I trusted you….

    Children who are sexually abused most often know their abusers. In fact, 90% of abusers are known to the victim. (I trusted you…) The “stranger in the trench coat lurking in the park” might be dangerous, but maybe not nearly as dangerous as Mom’s boyfriend, Uncle Junior, Cousin Willie or….Daddy or StepDad. Our children are encouraged to trust beloved godparents, aunts, neighbors — and they should be able to. We cannot imagine that these beloved members of our families and communities would ever harm our children.

    But it happens.

    “20 My companion laid hands on a friend and violated a covenant with me 21 with speech smoother than butter, but with a heart set on war; with words that were softer than oil, but in fact were drawn swords.”

    Speech smoother than butter, but violent hearts….soft words delivered with sharp swords…

    Screaming headlines bespeak the need for urgency in our communities to embrace public education and to call for common sense child protection practices and policies. No need for paranoia — paranoia does not prevent harm.

    Instead, we need to be awake, conscious….not afraid to ask questions, proactive in establishing norms and willing to learn what it means to protect the children in our midst. When we are proactive, we can also protect the adults – the many well-intentioned mentors, youth pastors, relatives, community members we depend on to stand in the gap for our children who need relationships with caring adults.

    A few months ago, I went through training conducted by a national organization called Darkness to Light to become a certified facilitator for the Stewards of Children program. This workshop endeavors to teach adults that preventing child sexual abuse is our adult responsibility – and it is doable. I’m preparing myself to lead workshops to help people understand that we really can stop child sexual abuse; and I anticipate that the hardest thing for people to grasp will be understanding just how prevalent but preventable child sexual abuse is.

    I want to do my part to raise awareness and to help equip the adults in my community with the tools they need to protect children.

    Let us all pursue opportunities to bring healing to families. Let us all do what we can to deliver conscious adults to the next generation of children. Let us work to prevent child sexual abuse.

    The Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson
    Brooklyn, NYMatthew 2:18:
    A Voice In Ramah
    http://avoiceinramah.blogspot.com

  • Remember Me!

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    What in the world would we do if God decided that the path for our entire lives would be determined solely by the stupid, wrong, hurtful and immature things we did before we were 16 years old?

    Think about all the things you did – and you didn’t get caught! Well, you think you didn’t!

    The psalmist says, “Don’t remember the sins and transgressions of my youth — remember me…”

    God knows us. And, God knows that we are all more than the worst thing we have ever done.

    The Psalmist says, “Don’t just remember what I’ve done, remember me!!”

    Take some time to see the young people in your life for who they are – young people, children….youths. Enough already about how foolish they can be. In fact, I have it on good authority that you (whoever you are now) were once foolish, too.

    Here are some concepts you should make it your business to learn more about:

    1. Restorative Justice
    2. Peace Circles
    3. Positive Behavior supports

    There is a whole lot we can do to steer young people toward good. And the truth is – we all have to be intentionally “steered” toward good. We are all human, wrong, broken, sinful, stubborn and in need of mercy and grace. And yet, God sees beyond all of that and remembers who we are – God’s children.

    We will never outgrow the need for God’s protection — and so it’s a good thing that God still reaches out the hand of mercy and forgiveness and provides us a place of “refuge.”

    ********

    Psalm 25

    1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
    2 O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.
    3 Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
    4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.
    5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.
    6 Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
    7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O LORD!

    8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
    9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
    10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

    11 For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.
    12 Who are they that fear the LORD? He will teach them the way that they should choose.
    13 They will abide in prosperity, and their children shall possess the land.
    14 The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes his covenant known to them.
    15 My eyes are ever toward the LORD, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
    16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
    17 Relieve the troubles of my heart, and bring me out of my distress.
    18 Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.
    19 Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me.
    20 O guard my life, and deliver me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
    21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
    22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all its troubles.

    The Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson
    Brooklyn, NY

    Matthew 2:18:
    A Voice In Ramah
    http://avoiceinramah.blogspot.com

  • Christmas Still and Not Embarrassed….

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    It’s July but my soul has been thirsty for the Christmas story. My children tease me and are prone to fits of embarrassment and anguish right now —“OMG, really Mom?! Really?! Blasting Christmas carols in the car! In July?! Dad, get your wife, please!!” (Don’t worry, I’m not intimidated. I remind them that they can control their own soundtrack on the B49 bus and are welcome to hop that baby at anytime!”) But I digress…

    I need a story to counter the heat of the world. I really like the one that begins with “Once, in Royal David’s city stood a lowly cattle shed…” It then goes on to introduce us to a poor baby.

    Those of us who know the backstory also know that he loved his mom; that Joseph gave him protection and cover and life skills…and that this poor child probably struggled against rumors of illegitimacy within his faith community. (Ah, the back stories….!)

    The last three verses of the carol arrest my heart every time I hear the words, and by the last word I am in tears. Not because of sentiment or melody, but because I can see the amazing arc of a human life that has made all the difference in the world.

    We can be like him:

    “For he is our childhood’s pattern
    Day by day, like us he grew.
    He was little, weak and helpless
    Tears and smiles like us he knew.
    And he feeleth for our sadness,
    And he shareth in our gladness.

    And our eyes at last shall see him
    Through his own redeeming love
    For that child so dear and gentle
    Is our Lord in heaven above.
    And he leads his children on
    To that place where he has gone —
    Not in that poor lowly stable
    With the oxen standing by
    We shall see him, but in heaven
    Set at God’s right hand on high,
    Where like stars his children crowned
    All in white shall wait around.”
    (last three verses of Once in Royal David’s City)

    I’m hungry for this narrative because I feel broken by the world’s story. It tells us over and over again that children and poor people are not worthy of our best work – they have nothing to offer us. Of course, we don’t come right out and say that. The title of the world’s story may say one thing – but the chapters are filled with policy decisions, budget decisions, community actions and legislation that tell other stories.

    Here’s a counter to that.

    This One broke into the world small, poor and helpless. He grew just like us and knew tears and smiles. His life was hard but meaningful, not because of what he earned but who he touched. He chose to associate with the vulnerable. He set children in the middle of one of his greatest lessons to adults. The “little things” he focused on were his generation’s greatest issues. In fact, those little things still matter to us now a few thousand years later.

    His death and the new Life he offers to us – rich or poor – says “no more” to the ways human beings hurt each other.

    Our work in giving witness to this poor child’s Way is not “destiny” — it’s laying claim to destination.

    Let’s not just be on a merry-go-round of work-madness. Our lives are headed toward a crowning. We need to be reminded to live our lives like they matter – as if the obstacles, hardships, joys, troubles, fights, battles and victories….children…people…along the journey shape us for the coming ceremony where we will exchange the stained clothes of struggle for a new garment; one fitting that celebration that is taking place around the Throne. (Another digression – about that crown thing: I’ve not worn hats, believe it or not. Not that kind of first lady! But I will get my big head fitted for this crown I’ve been hearing about…sounds like you need it for the celebration!)

    I need – we all need to be reminded, even in the dog days of summer, that this child has given us an amazing gift of redeeming love. Who would have thought that could be the outcome of that stinky stable story?

    Christmas carols will be on blast. I don’t think these young people are going to be hopping the city bus. I am, however, hoping the story gets stuck in their heads and works it’s way into their hearts.

    Yeah, Mom’s a little subversive….hehehehe…….

    The Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson
    Brooklyn, NY

    Matthew 2:18:
    A Voice In Ramah
    http://avoiceinramah.blogspot.com

  • Not Alone in the Dark

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    I don’t remember the last time I sat in a movie theater. I love movies. I hate the darkness. Let me rephrase that – I’ve been afraid to sit in darkness. Ridiculous. I’m a grown woman.

    But I’m also a deeply wounded grown woman. A survivor, yes. But yet a wounded survivor.

    The movie is pretty good. And as my eyes adjust to the darkness I am reminding myself — I’m sitting in the darkness but not alone in the dark.

    The one who made
    the Pleiades and Orion,
    and turns deep darkness
    into the morning,
    and darkens the day into night,
    who calls for the waters of the sea,
    and pours them out
    on the surface of the earth,
    the Lord is his name…

    Amos 5:8

    The Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson
    Brooklyn, NY

    Matthew 2:18:
    A Voice In Ramah
    http://avoiceinramah.blogspot.com

  • Battle Songs…

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    Harder yet may be the fight 
    Right may often yield to might
    Wickedness awhile may reign
    Satan’s cause may seem to gain
    There is a God that rules above 
    With hand of power and heart of love
    If we are right, He’ll fight our battles —
    We shall have peace some day!
    (Beams of Heaven, Charles Tindley)


    Sometimes, it seems as if this mean old world is winning!  Though many people try to do good, it seems as if “right yields to might” far, far too often.  


    How do you build the courage you will need to take on the hard fights — the good fights where the overwhelming odds are against justice?  How do you not become engulfed in cynicism? How do you stand taller than your fears that this may be the last fight in me…and I’m not winning…..?  How do you not give in to the temptation to drink the bitterness.  (You know, God can’t do anything with bitterness.)


    When we are talking about our children, the senseless loss of life and potential, and the ways in which those with power are given a free pass to “shoot and ask questions later” — giving up is not an option.  


    Giving up is also not an option when we are called to face the never ending flow of illegal guns into our communities.  We are being killed from within and without….


    But…


    I find strength and courage in the songs of the church.  I am awed by the power of songs to give me the perspective I need to pick up the battle for one more day, and yet another day, and yet another day….


    It may not seem like it, but “Beams of Heaven” is a battle song for me.  It reminds me that I am on a journey; there is a destination, for sure.  But the journey, if we are following Jesus, is characterized by wilderness, midnights, stars of hope and fights against injustice.  “But this I know, if Jesus leads me, I shall get home someday.”


    When Harry Emerson Fosdick wrote a hymn “God of Grace and God of Glory” at the time when America was facing the Great Depression, an economic disaster that “drained the nation of life and hope.”  One of the lines of the hymn — “Save us from weak resignation to the evils we deplore,” reminds me that we cannot afford to think that any wrong doing or injustice has more power than The One who is All Powerful.  We cannot give up so easily!  God cannot be defeated — therefore, God’s children cannot retreat into safe spaces, waiting for the rough times to blow over — because injustice unopposed does not blow over. We must face the hour — but we do so with God.


    Another battle song I sing was lifted first by the slaves in the American south.  They were aiming for freedom and would sometimes become discouraged. So they sang to each other:


    “Stay in the field, stay in the field,
    Stay in the field – until the war is ended.”


    The verses of the song are directional and subversive — providing clues for survival.  I wish more of our contemporary songs provided clues for survival.


    What keeps you going in the heat of the battle?

    The Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson
    Brooklyn, NY

    Matthew 2:18:
    A Voice In Ramah
    http://avoiceinramah.blogspot.com

  • Sweet Little Jesus Boy

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    Christmas at the House of Prayer Episcopal Church was my favorite time of the year when I was growing up in Newark, NJ and the Negro Spiritual, “Sweet Little Jesus Boy,” had everything to do with that.
    I didn’t look forward to the gift giving. I still don’t. Enough said.
    It wasn’t about snow or Xmas revelry.  In fact, I always felt a little “odd” because there was nothing about the trappings of the commercial holiday that appealed to me. Surely, Christmas had to be about more….  
    The popular culture trappings obscured and hid and distracted…and I stood on many a soap box-turned-journey-pulpit trying to make plain, uncover, de-clutter, refocus on The Gift. 
    There was just something about “Sweet, Little Jesus Boy” that served as the antidote to all of the mindless Xmas songs I had to endure.  And now, the season of endurance starts earlier and earlier as stores bypass Thanksgiving and move right into erecting their Christmas displays in September.  It’s October and I’ve only been in a few stores but I already feel assaulted by mindless Xmas clutter.  Listening to Mahalia Jackson sing “Sweet Little Jesus Boy” tonight helped me to remember the work we have to do daily to battle the way popular culture obscures the truth about why God broke into human history, robed in flesh and “moved into our neighborhoods.”  It wasn’t because we needed new jewelry, clothes or (why, Jesus?!) Chia Pets.  If we really knew why, I’d like to think our response to the Gift would have been different….then and now. But maybe it wouldn’t have been.
    Popular culture turns hope and God’s generosity into a product for profit. (And we should be mindful of the songs we pass down to our children. If we want them to be fit for the battles they will have to fight, we can’t immerse them in mindless songs that accommodate the no-justice Empire. Just saying.)  There is nothing about this song that makes you want to string lights. No hint of deer or jolly men.  Its words are arresting, indicting, and convicting because in the manger is a baby (God’s incredible gift to us), and looming on the horizon is our response to the Gift (the crucifixion).     
    Growing up, we sang it as a congregational song — an incredible feat!  I also remember a soloist or two who would sing it for us.  I was captivated by the melody, but also by what the words brought about in me —  such clarity — clarity about poverty,  meanness, shortsightedness…and The One who gave us such a Gift of abundant hope, joy and eternal love.
    We didn’t know that Jesus was who he was. Unfortunately, that is why we treated him the way we did…and still do.  We have no clue about the children in our midst…why God sent them to us and what God has for them to do.  If we did, I like to think we would treat them better.
    Sweet Little Jesus Boy
    We made you be born in a manger
    Sweet Little Holy Child
    We didn’t know who You was
    Didn’t know you come to save us, Lord
    To take our sins away
    Our eyes were blind, we could not see
    We didn’t know it was You.
    You done told us how
    when You were dying.
    Master, You done showed us how
    even when you were dying.
    Don’t seem like we can do right
    look how we treated You!
    But please, Sir, forgive us, Lord.
    We didn’t know it was You.
    The Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson
    Brooklyn, NY

    Matthew 2:18:
    A Voice In Ramah
    http://avoiceinramah.blogspot.com