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Through olive-groves as old as truth The breezes tire; while cars lie crushed On pavements meant for games and youth And washing lines. The hungry, hushed And flagged, on every tank, Goliath’s star. Is all this worse, this stench of war And power, than on that bright morning When, from the mess, the emperor Reclaimed the spot and made it sing? Chose for himself this cave and cattle stall? For times like this He came in mire And myrrh and milk and blood; for such A time the angel and his choir Explained what made this birthing much He came that such as this might be redeemed. O little town of Bethlehem - Still forced to live another’s lie! But force or fear cannot condemn Worship (which is both soil and sky). In simple bread and wine a freedom meal?) With worship, and with wine and bread, the hopes that almost died are yet Not crushed on pavements, but instead Rise, swirling up like incense: let And justice ripen in the West Bank sun. The Revd. Jeremy Frost is Precentor of Canterbury Cathedral, England. He holds degrees in Music and Theology from the University of Oxford. Jeremy has visited the Middle East on several occasions. His recent Masters thesis through King's College London, which received a distinction, focussed on the theological relationship between Israel and the Church, countering Christian Zionism in the process. He hopes to take these studies further in the future. Jeremy turns 30 next month, and has been writing poetry since an early age. He is also a composer, and has recently written some music inspired by the story of the Palestinian people.
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