Somewhere Beside the Road

Somewhere Beside the Road (lyrics)
Pentecost 3; Luke 9:57-62
1.Somewhere beside the road
someone was moved to say:
“I want to follow you!
Near you, I know the way.”
“Birds of the air have nests,
and foxes have holes,” he said,
“but home among humankind,
where can I lay my head?”

2. No room for him within,
not even to be born!
Kings but no kingdom come;
straw feels as harsh as thorn.
“Here in my Father’s house,
you know I’ll be found,” he said,
but those whom he challenged there
plotted to see him dead.

3. “Dance when I play your tune; 
mourn when it’s time to weep.”
Words fall on deafened ears,
tears on eyes blind with sleep.
“Deafness can ask to hear,
and blindness can seek for sight.
Just knock and I’ll let you in;
darkness gives way to light.”

4. See where he laid his head,
pierced by the mocking crown!
Empty the shroud is left;
death could not pin him down.
“Follow and don’t look back,
but leave to the dead what’s dead.
Come all who bear a load;
welcome! There’s wine and bread.”
	Barbara Messner January 2008