I found a friend
(for my Savior)


When you abdicated your throne in heaven
and came looking for me,
I knew I have found a friend,
a friend I can trust.

You did not come showing your crown
or proclaiming your deity.
You did not come
with lamentation or condemnation.
You came calling me
with the voice of compassion.
You came reaching for me
with your healing hands.

You saw me in smoke, in rubbles,
in ashes, in frosty grime;
you saw me in captive chains,
in the dark and dingy pit of sin
and you rescued me.

When you touched my leprous skin
my mask and marks of shame melted
in the flame of your glory,
and the strong grip of fear,
the sour smell of sin,
the dark cloud of hopelessness,
all took flight,
and my face came
blazing like the sun.

And like a flute echoing in the wood,
like the serenade of moonlight,
like the circus of a million stars,
like the golden hues of the evening sky,
your love swiftly seized my heart.

I had nothing to give to you,
nothing to give my Savior,
noting but what was left of me:
eyes dulled by the blunt edge of darkness,
hands and legs ribbed and bruised
by the rusty chains of slavery,
mind plundered by the bitter memories of failure,
a heart seized by fear and hopelessness.
a face eroded by tears and bitter waters of sorrow
and smeared by the slavish hands
of besetting sins.

Yet you took me,
you took what was left of me,
what was left of my battered life,
what was left of my wretched world,
you took my tatters and my shreds,
and made something out of me.

2010.George MacLean Akurunwa