December 1975
The Underpass Vision
It could hardly be said that the SIGNPOST concealed the Truth!
Nor yet that it painted a pleasant picture –
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THE UNDERPASS. |
The enthusiastic marchers stood and stared!
It was not that they had misunderstood
the import of the SIGN,
But no one in his senses right Would choose to go THAT way!
(For thus they thought.)
Their keen minds considered the possible alternatives.
Some of their party sallied forth to the top of the rise
There to inspect the overground.
Easy passage! As far as the eye could see!
And there in the distance –
THE HAVEN OF THEIR DESIRE!
“God gave the Sun!”
They exclaimed with the fullness of life’s joy,
“So why the mockery of darkness?”
And so with one accord the Pilgrim Band strode on
Towards the PROMISED LAND,
And as they marched they sang the SONGS OF ZION
From hearts that overflowed with joy,
For the going was good, and the Sun continued to shine.
Day by day
The multitudes of marchers went,
Boots pounding on the turf of God’s Green Grass.
Night by night
They sat by campfires bright
To strum their tuned guitars
And harmonise their hymns of praise;
And all the while the soft light of Summer Moon
‘Midst a rich tapestry of Stars
Made all their effort worthwhile.
Day by day
The GOLDEN CITY of their Dreams
Drew closer to their Vision, thus to spur them on.
Night by night
The Radiance of that CITY BRIGHT
Shone forth like veritable Pillars of Fire.
No Israelites are we!!
No disobedient sons
Recently ‘scaped from Egypt’s Iron Furnace,
But God’s True Gold, refined and precious in His sight,
(For thus they thought.)
No encouragement was sought
From dozen Pioneering Spies sent forth
To blaze the way ahead.
The zeal and urge was there to press on relentlessly
And scorn impediment, thereby to reach their GOAL.
And all the while the Sun shone bright,
The air was clean and sweet,
And Meadow Flowers were scattered
‘Midst the Grass of God’s Fair Carpet.
Day by day
They ate their fill and thanked their Father God
For all His benefits provided ‘long the Way.
Night by night
They slept with Golden Slumbers
Refreshing their weary limbs,
While Nightingales and Crickets sang their songs
Long after their Guitars had gone to sleep.
Day by day
The Gentle Breezes of Heaven wafted amongst the leaves
As though to encourage their Songs of Praise.
Night by night
They shared the stories of God’s Love
To thrill the Evening Hours away.
And all the while
Their route had slowly moved them upwards
Towards the Heavenly Hill of ZION’S SUMMIT
And from time to time, about the break of day
It seemed so near that one might almost reach forth his hand
And touch its GOLDEN DOMES.
With vigour thus renewed, the marchers sallied forth
On yet another day,
And on their way they sang the Songs of Home.
And across the Gentle Hills
The Sounds of their Rejoicing echoed back and forth
As if the Countryside itself Had taken up the
Strains and multiplied their Harmonies!
AND THEN!
ALL AT ONCE!
WITHOUT THE SLIGHTEST WARNING!
They stood and stared In absolute amazement
At the sight that lay before them.
The rising ground
Had kept it from their view
But now they stood transfixed
Upon the edge
OF A VAST YAWNING CHASM OF UNIMAGINABLE DEPTH
And far too wide to cross.
And at that very moment
Every sound about them
Paused in silence
As though in sympathetic sadness.
No Bird, No Cricket,
No Gentle sighing wind
Within the Grass and Trees,
All was Silent.
And that Noble Band of Marchers
Stood
One Long Line of Furrowed Brows
Each staring vacantly into a Void
That stretched below their Feet.
Both Time and Eternity seemed to fill those Moments of Silence.
Who knows
How long this would have lasted
Had not one with keener sight have spotted down below
A Single Narrow Causeway that spanned the Gorge,
TOO FAR BELOW TO BE ANY USE TO THEM.
But it WAS the Way, the Way across,
The ONLY Way.
And above the Narrow Causeway, a Rocky Stairway
That led right up to the Holy Hill
On which the Dreamland of Zion brightly stood.
And then they remembered their scornful words-
“The Mockery of Darkness!”
They ate their words and long choked upon them.
THE SIGNPOST
Had not been false.
But they, possessed of “better sense”
(For thus they thought)
Had chosen a BETTER WAY.
Day by day
They sat upon the Brink
And longed for what they saw upon that HOLY HILL,
So near, and yet so far,
So very, very far.
Night by night
They sat around their fires
Whilst untuned strings alone were left to rest.
And long they thought,
And round and round they talked
With aching troubled minds,
‘TILL ALL AT ONCE – – – – – AND WITH FIRM RESOLVE
THEY DECIDED TO RETURN,
NO MATTER WHAT THE COST
TO THE WAY OF THE UNDERPASS.
And in that solemn night they prayed a prayer
That winged its way above
To settle in a Place of Refuge while they slept.
And the God of all Faithfulness
Who loves to restore the years the locust has eaten
Moved quietly in their midst.
And in the morning hour,
‘Ere first light makes its presence known,
They rose to break their camp
With the sleep still in their eyes.
Then all at once!! – – – There came a shout!!
As one observant eye alighted on the scene!
The Chasm had gone! – – – The Scene had changed!
And Zion’s City Fair was distant once again!
And there beside them, and not one hundred paces hence
Was that same old SIGNPOST unchanged
But now no longer mocked, but loved instead.
With thankful hearts and cheerful firm resolve,
Each chose a Trusty Friend
In readiness to go below,
Their journey to begin.
– – – – – – – –oOo– – – – – – – –
The words of this song were composed and sung by Roger Whittaker, and fit very well into the theme of the vision given above.
FRIENDS
A friend will give you hope, when all the hope you had is gone,
He’ll understand your weakness, build you up and make you strong,
He’ll never call you coward as he listens to your fears,
A friend you can rely on in the lean and hungry years.
Oh, your friends will stand by you through it all, through it all,
Through the thick and the thin, through it all,
Oh, they won’t ask you the ‘whys’ and ‘whos‘
The ‘why nots’ or the ‘did you dos’
They won’t care, they’ll still love you, they’re your friends.
A friend you always honour, and a friendship’s never cold,
I hope that all the friends I have call me ‘friend’ before I’m old,
Give back the love I’m given, and never count the cost,
I hope I do them justice, for without my friends I’m lost.
