how big is your god?

can he destroy

whole armies

bring nations

to their knees

cause the thunder to roar

the lightning flash

the sun to shine

control the destiny of the very creatures

he has created?

can he pour out his love

on a single child

bind a broken heart

be a still small voice

comforter of all

can he love so much as to die for the sake

of those who still ignore him?

how big is your god?

Scatter my ashes on the wild moors, he said

where as a boy I wandered

but scatter them far and wide

for in those days this was my world

my playground

hedgerows, trees and I grew tall together there, he said

tender saplings upon which I carved your name

stand tall and graceful now

sturdy enough to face the fiercest storm

endless sheep have grazed contented

those windswept slopes

and lambs have perished

on cold and frosty nights

when no hedgerow is sufficient sanctuary

every year I watched the endless cycle

of life and death

and without fail

gave thanks each Spring

for the miracle of rebirth

and understood

that this is how things were meant to be

nothing to last forever

but gathered up in nature's loving arms

and put to use once more

so scatter my ashes on the wild moors, he said

that I should be at peace

but visit me

now and then

and see how nature

has transformed

death

to life

There were thousands of babies

born that day

all helpless

dependent

needful of love

and warmth

and sustenance

some no doubt did not survive

to see another day

their tiny lamp extinguished

through lack of appropriate care

some would grow up to be kings

queens

princes

and leaders of men

others destined to be slaves

prostitutes

beggars

murderers and thieves

most however

would live ordinary lives

among ordinary people

and live

and die

whilst the world scarce noticed

their existence

but not you

who rose from the ordinary

to the extraordinary

from the stable

to the cross

while the world tried its hardest

to ignore you

and extinguish

the lamp

that you had lit

and failed