Written before the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement
IF GOD SHOULD SEND
If God should send His blessed Son to earth again
To rescue and redeem the world,
Would we be any closer than we were before
To recognising Him as God’s own word?
I wonder to which nation He would go?
To Tutsi, Hutu, Arab, Jew?
Or which of our religious sects or creeds
Could God entrust the Messiah to?
Suppose He came as Catholic in Northern Ireland’s war,
Would Protestants accept Him as their Lord?
And if He came as Protestant amid the Roman law
Would Catholics allegiance Him afford?
He came to a divided world two thousand years ago,
A Jew to point the way to heaven for the Jews,
But in the rending of the Temple curtain at His death
He invites us all to share in His Good News.
Can we not see all men and women in the Princeof Peace
To whatever faith or nation they belong?
For by His birth, His life, His death, His love,
He bids us show His love and right all wrong.
Do we welcome everyone as we would welcome Christ?
Do we share our wealth, our food, our homes?
Shouldn’t we be ready to offer all we have,
Lest in another human body our God comes?
IF GOD SHOULD SEND
If God should send His blessed Son to earth again
To rescue and redeem the world,
Would we be any closer than we were before
To recognising Him as God’s own word?
I wonder to which nation He would go?
To Tutsi, Hutu, Arab, Jew?
Or which of our religious sects or creeds
Could God entrust the Messiah to?
Suppose He came as Catholic in Northern Ireland’s war,
Would Protestants accept Him as their Lord?
And if He came as Protestant amid the Roman law
Would Catholics allegiance Him afford?
He came to a divided world two thousand years ago,
A Jew to point the way to heaven for the Jews,
But in the rending of the Temple curtain at His death
He invites us all to share in His Good News.
Can we not see all men and women in the Princeof Peace
To whatever faith or nation they belong?
For by His birth, His life, His death, His love,
He bids us show His love and right all wrong.
Do we welcome everyone as we would welcome Christ?
Do we share our wealth, our food, our homes?
Shouldn’t we be ready to offer all we have,
Lest in another human body our God comes?