It was all good By Mettabel Okulaja

In the beginning You created,

And it was all good.

Saw it through to the end -

You did not give up. 

Dead fly in the apothecary,

Stinking savor in Eden sweet,

But you had drawn another plan,

Determined to restore,

You did not give up. 

The waters salted for the healing of the nations,

For man would not be discarded,

Bound that we all be saved,

Constrained by love, 

You did not give up. 

 Prophets came, sons were born;

For one purpose, though yet to be unveiled,

Pressing on, goal in sight

Through thick and thin, 

You did not give up. 

The ultimate delivered,

Absolution served on a platter of straw,

Born without a crown, yet worshipped by kings

Pushing through, 

You did not give up. 

Some came curiously to inquire, and others scorned;

Others yet stood, aloof and unbending.

Yet through it all and sundry wide,

Stealth deep in the night,

You did not give up. 

Shamed and decorated with spittle,

Hide rendered raw by the scourge of men…

Despised, rejected, forsaken, 

Alone and separated from truth,

Bravely persevering, 

By God–You did not give up! 

Once dead now alive, Bent but not broken

Bruised, now healed, bludgeoned, now restored

Servants now sons, Daughters standing tall

Halleluyah! And all because 

You did not give up!

Now He stands knocking at the door

Like Rhoda some pick up and flee,

And others like Saul fail to see.

But for those who open their ears

They will hear a voice behind them whispering:

My child, my child, DO NOT GIVE UP!

©AMO/12.15.13.