Rose City Ramblin'

(A paraphrase of Psalm 80 from a contemporary and progressive Christian perspective!)

O God, our Good Shepherd,

Stir up your might and come to save us!

Restore us, O God;

let your love-light shine on us,

so that we may be saved.

O Lord, when will you answer your people’s prayers?

You have fed them with the bread of tears

And given them a cup full of tears to drink.

We are the butt of our neighbors’ jokes;

Our enemies laugh among themselves.

Restore us, O God;

let your love-light shine on us,

so that we may be saved.

Rooted and grafted onto Christ the Vine,

your church grew and branched out

around the world and across the ages.

Some disciples planted the seeds of your Word,

and others came after to water the seeds,

but you gave the growth!

Christ the Vine took deep root,

filling the cosmos with abundant life.

Your people took shelter in the shade of your Vine

and were sustained by its fruit.

Why then is your Vine now being destroyed–

picked apart by all who pass by?

The boar from the urban jungle tramples on it,

And all his friends from the swamp feed on it.

Turn toward us, O God;

look kindly on us,

and take pity on the branches of the Vine

you have planted.

Your enemies are burning us with fire;

they are cutting us down.

May their hard hearts be cracked open

in the laser-light of your truth.

But let your gentle hand

prune and tend the branches of this Vine

you have created for your own delight.

Give us life,

and we will grow toward your light.

Restore us, O God;

let your love-light shine on us,

so that we may be saved.