The Kingdom in the Street (Part 1 of 3)

I want to tell you about a dream.  The dream begins with a real event in my life.  I was just finishing my master's degree in music in college and I had been asked to sing the tenor solos in the performance of Messiah.  Now, this was a big deal at Michigan State University!  In my dream I can remember being on that stage and the orchestra beginning the introduction.  My heart was beating so fast.  This was my great moment...

Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people;

Comfort ye.

In the middle of the aria, suddenly I was accosted by a great wind. It howled around my face, it whistled around my back, and it lifted me right off the stage.  I kicked and screamed and I said, “No.  I've got to finish the aria.  Please don't take me away from here!”  And the wind blew and I sailed higher and higher until I was flying right out the back door of that auditorium.  The wind would not let me go.  I said to the wind, “Where are we going?”

And the wind said, “Listen to me, child, and I will tell you.”

            Come walk with me in the darkness,

            And as we walk along;

            I'll tell you quite a story,

            And I'll sing you quite a song.

            I'll sing of light and darkness,

            Of victory and defeat;

            Corruption on the mountains,

            And compassion in the streets.

  

                        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.

            We're walking to the city,

            And Chaos is its name,

            And in its streets and alleys

            Are the blind, the sick, the maimed

            And the children cry for water,

            And relief seems out of sight,

            And they dream about tomorrow

            In the darkness of the night.

                        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.

And suddenly the wind put me down and I was in the middle of the streets of a great and tumultuous city. The city was named Chaos and death was everywhere.  Children with distended stomachs lay on the streets and vacuous teenagers stood on the corners wondering what to do with themselves.  Old people rocked back and forth on their porches.  The stench of death was everywhere.  I could see that running through the middle of the city there was what used to be a river and now the river was dry.  Between its banks was nothing but trash and weeds and refuse.  A horrible place.  I screamed at the wind, “Take me out of here!  I can't stand to be here!  I don't belong here!”

...

~Ken Medema