Monday, December 3, 2012

The Carpenter of Nazareth


In Nazareth, the narrow road,
That tires the feet and steal the breath,
Passes the place where once abode
The Carpenter of Nazareth.


And up and down the dusty way
The village folk would often wend;
And on the bench, beside Him, lay
Their broken things for Him to mend.

The maiden with the doll she broke,
The woman with the broken chair,
The man with broken plough, or yoke,
Said, "Can you mend it, Carpenter?"

And each received the thing he sought,
In yoke, or plough, or chair, or doll;
The broken thing which each had brought
Returned again a perfect whole.

So, up the hill the long years through
With heavy step and wistful eye,
The burdened souls their way pursue,
Uttering each the plaintive cry:

"O Carpenter of Nazareth,
This heart, that's broken past repair,
This life, that's shattered nigh to death,
Oh, can You mend them, Carpenter?"

And by His kind and ready hand,
His own sweet life is woven through
Our broken lives, until they stand
A New Creation--"all things new."

"The shattered [substance] of [the] heart,
Desire, ambition, hope, and faith,
Mould Thou into the perfect part,
O, Carpenter of Nazareth!"


George Blair, "The Carpenter of Nazareth" in The Story of Jesus in the World's Literature, ed. Edward Wagenknecht (Creative Age Press, 1946),117

MERRY CHRISTMAS

                     He is the only way, the only truth, and the 
             only light who can heal us and help us.  
                 Let us all Come Unto our Savior.     
          His arms are outstretched waiting for us to enter in.
                                                      Make room for Him

                                                      Love Ben and Dixie



5 comments:

Bluebird & Company said...

oh, I love this poem!

Trevor said...

Thank you for sharing this. I love it. I'm so glad I checked the blog, I have not looked for months!

Trevor said...

Oh, that last comment was actually "Megan" I did not realize I was signed in as Trevor:)

Lori said...

Dear Brother and Sister Hatch,
My friend Becky Olsen from Manti (who is a friend of one of your children) told me about your blog. Our son Brad just received his mission call to the Democratic Republic of Congo Kinshasa Mission and will enter the MTC in Provo on May 15th. I would love to be able to communicate with you and learn more about this part of the world and what to expect for my son. Your blog is amazing and I enjoyed so much learning more about this mission. May the Lord continue to bless you. Lori Brockbank
hbrockbank@brockbankfamily.org
(you can check out my family blog at www.brockbankfff.blogspot.com

Jonathan Sevy said...

We are thinking of singing this in our choir to the tune of A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief. Several arrangements are at http://freeldssheetmusic.org/A_Poor_Wayfaring_Man_of_Grief, and the most promising at this moment is freeldssheetmusic.org/song/A-Poor-Wayfaring-Man-of-Grief-by-Bonnie-Chapman1