The Kingdom in the Street (Part 2 of 3)

And the wind said, “Certainly, my child, I will remove you from this place.”

The wind began to blow again and it lifted me high above the city streets.  I said to the wind, “Where are we going now?”

 The wind said, “Listen and I will tell you.”

            Well, just outside that city

            Far from the blight and pain,

            Is a holy mountain fortress

            Where life seems calm and sane.

            There is feasting there and singing

            By tranquil waterfalls,

            And the street folks never come there,

            'Cause they cannot climb the walls.

            At the gateway to the fortress,

            The Man of Sorrows cries.

            A Prince in beggar's clothing,

            With compassion in His eyes.

            And the mountain folk won't hear Him,

            So He turns His feet around,

            And the ruler of the mountains

            Becomes a servant in the town.

                        For it's a long night,

                        And weary grow the feet

                        That walk the long road,

                        But the morning will come sweet.

                        Yes, it's a long night

                        And the Prince is in the streets tonight.

Suddenly I was deposited on the top of a great and tall hill.  There on the top of the hill was a holy mountain fortress cathedral.  I could hear the bells ringing everywhere and the folk were all coming to worship. I said, “Yes!  This is the place I want to be!”  There were lovely houses all around the cathedral.  There was a lake there that I knew had been made when the river that used to run through the city was dammed up.  “I want to go in and worship,” I said to the wind.

The wind shouted, “No. You will stay here.”  Then they closed the door of the holy mountain cathedral and I could hear in the background the music.

“May I please go in?” I said to the wind.

And again the wind said, "No. You will stay here."

And then I saw him coming up the hill looking like a Man of Sorrows who bore the weight of all the world on his shoulders.  And he sang these words:

            If anybody would come after me,

            Let him take up his cross and follow me.

            If anybody would come after me,

            Let him take up his cross and follow me.

Well, some of the people in the holy mountain fortress cathedral must have heard him because they came out the back door.  They knelt at his feet and they said, “What shall we do?”  They cried as if in abject sorrow.  And he said with a smile on his face, “Get up, for we have great things to do in the city.”  And then he led them down the hill toward the city.

The wind said to me, “You will go, too.”

I said, “No.  I am afraid!”

The wind said, “You will go, too.”

So I followed the little band into the city...

~Ken Medema