Poem January 16, 1984 Issue

Where is the Christ?

LAURA ANN BLAIR

Millions have toured the ruins and excavations
Of Capernaum, Nazareth, Bethany, Jericho,
The shores of the beautiful Galilee.
Was Christ Jesus ever there?
You have to dig deeply to see.

We stood on all the historic sites,
Visited traditional altars,
Marveled at the terrain,
Searched the hills for proper settings
For the Sermon on the Mount,
The feeding of five thousand,
Steep places for swine to rush madly down.
We photographed an empty tomb,
Walked in and out of it, too,
And then climbed the hilly streets of Jerusalem.

In Jerusalem, deep in the earth, some were brushing the soil
From ancient rocks of the temple.
Others, watching, were sifting their earth-thoughts
Between history and present reality.

On the Capernaum day
At last the digging ceased.
We were crowded onto an outside veranda
Of the established church memorial
With the winds of Galilee huddling our group close,
Awaiting our turn.
One of us began reading the familiar words for all,
"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven...."

And the Christ was
in our midst.

LAURA ANN BLAIR

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