Quotable

O Lord, Thy fingers fashioned Calvary’s hill;

Those skull-like stones were surely Thine intent.

Well did’st Thou know, Thy Body dead and still

Would crown its slopes and ev’ry rock be rent.

O Lord, ’twas in Thy mind, the tree was born,

With living strength to point men up to Thee.

Yet did’st Thou know, Thy members strained and torn

Would hang from lifeless wood, and lifeless be….

O Lord, ’twas Thou, who molded common dust;

Breathed forth Thy life into this house of clay.

Yet did’st Thou know mankind, corrupted, must

Thine own pure vessel mar and cast away.

O Lord, my parts were written with Thy pen,

Ere I was formed within my mother’s womb.

Lord of my life, ’twas I who slew Thee then,

My sin and curse inscribed, which sealed Thy tomb….

Enough O Lord! Thy conquest is complete.

Thy love foreknew yet bore the shame for me.

Mine outpoured soul shall lave [wash]Thy pierced feet;

Thy great forgiveness bind my soul to Thee.

Geoffrey Bull, From the days of solitude in Chungking, while confined

there by the Chinese Communist Army in spring 1951