1 Almighty God has done great things,
an angel proffers stunning news,
the news of human hope he brings,
her baby heaven and earth shall fuse;
and she will give her life for that,
O, Mary, sing magnificat.
2 A mother and her unborn child,
a man who ought to let her go
to save his face, stay undefiled,
as love and duty taunt and flow;
and Joseph will consider that
as Mary sings magnificat.
3 And all the greatness of a God,
distilled to love, sets captives free,
a single liberating Word:
those born in darkness now can see;
as human power considers that
let Mary sing magnificat.
Unknowing babies sleep now, exhausted without food, while mothers cry in anguish – this lottery is crude: when missiles, ‘with precision’, seek targets, hid, unseen, as leaders point the finger so consciences are clean.
Amid this dust and carnage where human life is cheap, where body parts are scattered we turn our heads and weep, yet this is soon forgotten, the image fades, has gone, another channel chosen we sing a soothing song.
In this we are immersed now, our pain will soon be lost, the anguished cries diminished, we need not bear the cost. A distant drum is beating, we’re deaf to hear its sound a tiny body buried , in seared, unhallowed ground.
And mothers still are sobbing while fathers shed salt tears, and lives are marked by hours now, yet mem’ries seethe for years. How long, O God, can terror be harboured in a mind? How long before Your children are nurtured to be kind?
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