Lament for our Cities

Lament for Our Cities
Lent 2; Luke 13; 31-35
Weep for industrialized cities
where the sky is dirty
and the earth cemented,
where the waters are polluted
and the churches abandoned.
How often has the Child of the Creator
sought to restore the Earth,
and guide the people to healing
in the clean flow of the Spirit,
but we were not willing.

Wail for commercialized cities,
where the owners live for profits
and scoff at living prophets,
where the poor are left homeless,
or crowded into tenements.
How often has the Human One
longed to convince the privileged
to restore to the disadvantaged
a fair share in life’s necessities,
but we were not willing.

Grieve for materialistic cities
where Babel towers block the sun,
competing for symbolic heights
of commercial aggrandizement
and blighting humble enterprise.
How often has the Crucified Christ
been entombed in those basements,
waiting for the ones with the keys
to unlock hope and opportunity,
but we were not willing.

Lament for self-harming cities,
where depression is a pandemic
and rubbish and graffiti accumulate,
where crowds in tense weariness
cannot notice any for the many.
How often has the Risen Christ
desired to gather your children 
together as a hen gathers 
her brood under her wings
but we were not willing.
	Barbara Messner 9/03/2025