Lazarus

Lazarus raised from the dead

 

The Raising of Lazarus

Guercino

choices

embrace things

that sickens

enslaves

maims

kills

unbound

yourself

loose

your chains

turn away from

the dungeon

that has

become

your death

chamber

you

alone

crafted

with such

deft skill

you exiled

yourself

hid away

from the living

inhabiting a

convenient

confinement

relishing

the deceitful

pleasures of an

addled mind

a twisted

portrait

of a

shackled

self

living

inside

the

dark abode

of your head

bumping

about in

unmapped

caves

dwelling

in a place

that no one

could find

nor dare

explore

you heap

stones

at the door

providing

your only

means

of escape

safely

entombed

in your

vapid

delusions

a decrepit

graveyard

an abandoned

township

of lonely

sarcophagi

long forgotten

by the

moldering

bodies

of the city's

ghostly

citizens

you reek

with the

stench

of death

you

murdered

yourself

and

became

dead

to us

But

Jesus

wept

over

your

self

denigration

never

forsaking

your favored

condition

The

Good Friend

lifted

you

from

Edens

dust

and

showered

you

with

fine

things

yet

you

found

no joy

in

the gift

of solace

the might

of grace

the balm

of love

the rest

of peace

all

only

heaped

torments

upon

you

your

sisters

wailed

in grief

imploring

The

Resurrector

to make you

whole

he only

shrugs

and

extends

a palm

unloose

the rags

of your

swaddled

grief

unbound

yourself

Lazarus

come out

and walk

amongst

the living

again

put

down your

stones

the hand

is nigh

choose well

my friend

You Tube Video

Sting, The Lazarus Heart

St. Alban's

Bible Study

7/09

jbm