For Compline
Cho: The day has ended, leaving sorrow's stain,
A residue of helplessness and pain;
The things we should have done were sure and stark
But our small actions hardly left a mark.
Voice 1: I could not bear to watch the television news
Voice 2: I did not contradict a colleague's racist views
Voice 3: I felt ashamed to see an old aunt who is sick
Voice 4: I worked so hard but nothing that I tried seemed to click.
Cho: The day has ended, leaving happy trails,
The courage of the pilgrim rarely fails;
An act of kindness replicates itself;
This is the Secret of our spiritual wealth.
Voice 1: I sent a cheque to Oxfam for the things I could not say
Voice 2: I helped a desperate refugee to find his way
Voice 3: My aunt was grateful so I promised to go back
Voice 4: An extra push put all the projects back on track.
Cho: The day has ended, did your neighbours care,
Or did they meet your smile with a blank stare?
Did you arrive to find nobody there?
Was there a moment when you thought of ...
Stranger: ... Prayer.
Voice 1: Stranger! Another day and still no son; one night
He left without a word after a dreadful fight.
Voice 2: The problem with my friend goes round and round
Like an eternal scream that does not make a sound
Voice 3: I am too harsh when I am trying to advise;
It seems I have the know-how but am not yet wise.
Voice 4: All of my life is acting in someone else's play;
I sometimes wonder if I Ought to stop and ...
Stranger: ... Pray.
What is a day within your span?
How small within the age of man.
And what is man compared with time
And what of time in the sublime?
Voice 1: Stranger, these notions drown us, we are far too small;
Voice 2: It is too complicated for us; best to leave it all.
Voice 3: It is hard enough to be faced with reality
Voice 4: I am not concerned with things I cannot see.
Cho: The things we cannot see are so immense
They wrench us out of calm and common sense:
Anxiety and envy make the vision blur;
Are you in need of a philosopher?
Voice 1: I keep my counsel to myself and do not interfere,
The cost of being involved is far too dear
Voice 2: I try to help sometimes but they are all the same;
You give, something goes wrong and you get all the blame
oice 3: I am impetuous and splash out help in haste;
But when you give, your money always goes to waste.
Voice 4: It seems to me that giving is a two-edged sword,
I need to stop and think of ...
Stranger: ... Your Creator Lord.
Who gave you things you cannot spare?
He gave you so that you could share.
Voice 1: I know; the guilt inside sometimes affects my sleep;
He said that He would sow for us that we might reap.
Stranger: Who took that guilt and made you clean?
He suffers sadly but unseen.
Voice 2: I see the Cross high up above the village square
But somehow do not see the figure hanging there.
Stranger: Why was this crucial figure such
That he is loathed and loved so much?
Voice 3: Most unlike other Gods, he came to live on earth;
But I lose track of him within months of his birth.
Stranger: What is His birth without His death?
What is the meaning of his breath?
Voice 4: He is like one of us but O so different;
Perhaps this is the proper moment to stop and ...
Stranger: ... Repent.
Cho: Life is too weary to be borne alone,
We have relied on gold and flesh and stone;
Too proud to bow, too worried to explain
And jealous of the power we retain.
Voices, take on your flesh and give this day
To God, our Stranger, who will kindly pray:
Stranger: Bring me your worry and success,
Bring me the beauty and the mess;
And I will gather and redress.
I will protect you from your fear;
As long as you remain sincere
I promise always to be near;
But you must worship, watch and pray,
Adore, love, honour and obey,
And I will take your sins away
Who am the only, not foremost;
Who lives within My Son, the Host
And through the ever Holy Ghost.
This three in one will set you free
To live in Blessed liberty
As long as you will welcome me.