This week, members of the Artists Mission Group brought the Word in song, poetry, and story. The poem below, “The Good Shepherd,” was written by Kathryn Tobias and set to music by Paul Leavitt, music minister at Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill. Kathy and Roy sang it as part of the Word, and copies were placed in the worship bulletins.
The Good Shepherd
Adonai roi, lo echsar.
Lost lamb, bereft, unsheltered, alone
Abandoned and left to a world unknown.
Adonai roi, lo echsar.
Into this cold, dark cell, does anyone see?
It’s my own private hell, who’s there? Only me.
Adonai roi, lo echsar.
But I’m a survivor, I’ve stood on my own.
I shut out all terror, true peace I’ve never known.
And I have been hungry, known thirst, constant pain,
Been homeless, addicted, held in dark disdain.
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.
My path is of no use, it only leads me to weep,
But you are the Shepherd who gives his life for his sheep.
Adonai roi, lo echsar.
Lost lamb, bereft, unsheltered, alone
Abandoned and left to a world unknown
Adonai roi, lo echsar.
I long for a new life, pressed
With tender love to the Shepherd’s chest.
Adonai roi, lo echsar
Lyrics by Kathryn Tobias and Paul Leavitt, Music by Paul Leavitt
© 2009 All rights reserved
