Grounded in God's Elegance - excerpt of a responsive poem by Wilda Kruize
Reader:
And so grows the seed,
from the old country, to the new country,
from a tender home filled with children,
a farm on rough unbroken land,
come the cabbage, the cauliflower,
the bright orange carrot, the bean,
And the pea soup that would feed a nation
from generation to generation –
as a home opens to the young and old
a farm flows like the North Saskatchewan River
passed down from old hands to young hands
spreading the seeds that spill
along the river’s banks
and all who walk with Jennie –
Response : lift up our eyes to the hills
And know, our help comes from our Maker
Of heaven and earth
Reader:
Jennie, a young woman
with bare feet in the earth, laughing
a middle-aged woman
with bare feet in the earth
sowing the seed, row upon row, into family,
into community, into church, into
love for peoples here, and sisters and brothers
across the seas, who makes sandwiches , and
shares a bowl of soup, answers the call
for humble service, fills a desire to
feed the hungry, to cherish the poor,
to honour the dispossessed,
an older woman,
bare feet planted firmly
in the ground, who hears the cries of
the anguished, answers the call to
seek justice, to love mercy,
to walk humbly
with her Lord –
Response: In you, O God, our help comes,
In you, we gather strength.