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