Rachel Wept

Holy Innocents Day five years ago got me to thinking about the innocents being ripped from their mothers' wombs in our own day, and I wrote:

Rachel wept, and wept, and wept,
for her son, her son, her slain son,
and comfort could not be found.

The king raged, and raged, and raged,
for his power, power, earthly power,
and murder was found in the land.

And ever the power of their own will,
seems to give people the right to kill,
and no child is safe in the land.

And empty the womb, empty the heart,
where the infant in promise was living,
but living could never draw breath

And ever before the shrine of "I will",
or mightily driven by deep guilty fears,
murder is found in the land

Rachel wept, and wept, and wept,
for her child, her child, her slain child,
and comfort could not be found.

Save in the arms of the One who knows
the pain that flows from innocent death,
and open-armed calls to the guilty

-----------------------------ed pacht