ATONEMENT

One night as I lay sleeping,

A garden came to view.

I wandered in onto its path;

to see what it might shew.

Twas' eventide in the garden.

The sun began to fade.

But lo twelve strangers walking;

Coming up the way.

The one ahead their master;

The others are his stay;

He bids them wait for him awhile;

As he enters in to pray.

He slowly wanders up the path;

His feet grow heavy now,

Each step much harder than the last;

His shoulders weighing down.

He stumbles off the well worn path,

And falls before a tree;

A groan is heard beneath his pain.

He quivers in agony.

A cry unto his father,

To spare him the bitter cup;

But then words of submission,

"But, if thou wilt... I'll drink it up."

Sin's burden borne on trembling flesh;

Life's blood upon his brow;

Soft anguish shuttered from his lips.

The Man of Sorrows bows.

And now at last my heart cried out;

It was much more than a dream,

"Thou Son of God! Thou Holy One!

Mt Prophet! My Priest! My King!"

To see his pain I shuttered,

And desired that I might comfort give.

Within my heart I spake to him;

Bade him rest, that he might live.

The Lord perceived my presence,

And through his pain looked on me,

And with piercing softness in his voice