Indifference

Or Jesus - Crucified

A few weeks ago I came into possession of a poem written by Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy who lived in England (b. 1883 - d. 1929) probably in or around Birmingham. In 1929 a book of his poetry was published and is now copyrighted (C. 2003) by Ian Lancashire for the Department of English, University of Toronto. Under those conditions that poem is being printed here:

Indifference

When Jesus came to Golgotha they hanged Him on a tree,
They drave great nails through hands and feet, and made a Calvary:
They crowned Him with a crown of thorns, red were his wounds and deep,
For those were crude and cruel days, and human flesh was cheap.

When Jesus came to Birmingham they simply passed Him by,
They never hurt a hair of Him, they only let Him die;
For men had grown more tender, and they would not give Him pain,
They only just passed down the street, and left Him in the rain.

Still Jesus cried, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do,"
And still it rained the wintery rain that drenched Him through and through;
The crowds went home and left the streets without a soul to see,
And Jesus crouched against a wall and cried for Calvary.

In a feeble attempt to bring out similarities and contrasts in subject matter and outcome this next posting was written, copyrighted and published by Bill Browder in 1990 on a small bookmark card. The date A.D. thirty - three could be viewed as somewhat ambiguous in as much as, at least, some historians believe that King Herod, who lived when Jesus was a toddler, died in Four B.C. The Browder poem is being used by permission. It is;

Jesus - Crucified

My mind regresses back in time
to a place they called Golgotha
the year is A.D. thirty - three
and the time is early Friday
A crowd has gathered on the hill
to watch the valiant struggle
of a man carrying a heavy cross
along a busy highway

Thru tears and jeers it's moved along
upon the back of Simon
to the hill known as the skull
where men before had died
there they nailed Him to the cross
for all the world to see
Jesus who came to redeem the world
that day was crucified

In my mind I can see Him there
filled with grief and pain
His time had come, His work now done
upon the cross He's slain.

Has there been any significant changes in the world's attitude in the last hundred year, since Mr. Kennedy wrote his poem, and if so is it better or worse now? If you like anything in these postings you can leave a comment below. Thanks, William