POETRY Nov 2018. Christian Journal for Global Health 5(3):55-58. What is the cry of your heart? Collective reflections from 7th Triennial Micah Global Consultation Sarah Larkina a BA (Religious Studies), MA (Pastoral Theology), Poet, works for Integral Alliance, London, UK The axe is laid at the root of the tree And we are laid bare What do we need to recover to endure ------- Invasive interactions Fragile states Race hate Virtual reality Unending strife The spirit behind repeated lies That makes us despair of all life? From home-less to human-ness to Jesus-ness; O Lord, let there be Salt and light to overcome the night. Let there be a way To close the chasm between people in the Church-Fractured O let the Church-Bride in all her glory arise, So that people world-wide would see Jesus with new eyes, Catch His sacred heart From the days of John the Baptist until now The Kingdom of God advances. So let us passionately lay hold That our work would truly serve Thy Kingdom And not MY EGO. Because God is NOT A donor, An NGO, A CEO, A nation-state God is God - 56 Larkin Nov 2018. Christian Journal for Global Health 5(3):55-58. Not an entity made in OUR image and likeness Or an instrument of our own global agendas. That’s a lie! The utter opposite is true. We are made in God’s image and likeness to reflect His glory. So - let us reframe the story! From home-less to human-ness to Jesus-ness; Let us stop talking about disasters as one-off events And really start reducing risks, Cover Vulnerability’s living village With Jesus’ blood-stained robe of righteousness. Let us be counted amongst the wise And build on the Rock of Refuge and not on the sinking sands. And let us hold the hand of the many orphaned sons and daughters Of the living Almighty – all forgiving – all loving – all knowing God of all gracious-ness. But knowing deeply that we too are orphaned sons and daughters, Eternal life inheritors – adopted and adopting - forgiven and forgiving – loved and loving – Known and knowing, that the God of all gracious-ness Holds our hand through the storm, as we reach for others’ And oppose the hand of the oppressor. What is the cry of my heart? To see, taste, and hear the emergence of new and abundant life and health, And know it’s all from God And together, globally - not so much to go forth But to accept the Great Invitation to come To His table, the feast, the marriage supper of the Lamb. The table is laid, though there may be enemies all around, All are invited But what, what is that sound? Rain pouring, pounding, battering the hard, hard ground. Let us stand out in it And get soaked through to our many-shaded skins. But what, what is that sound? Wind blowing, billowing, bending the bamboo. Let us stand out in it To blow the century’s old dust away. Lock our roots like the mangrove 57 Larkin Nov 2018. Christian Journal for Global Health 5(3):55-58. From home-less to human-ness to Jesus-ness; Let us reframe and not be ashamed, Tell our stories with honest abandon Tales of the One who loved us, re-made us, healed us and loves us still, That we too may deeply love and nourish The whole wonderful COSMOS that the God who is God has made. Creator, Sustainer, Healer and Judge, Matchless in your majesty, Wonderful in your wisdom, Glorious in your beauty. Let us ask each other and the nations: What is your story? What is the cry of your heart? That the local church begins to see their vital place In bringing holistic transformation to people regardless of religious affiliation For the common good. And let the Church be the Church: The responsible and gifted community Of the God who is God And let her be who He has ordained her to be, The only truly transformational change agent in this wide-world What is the cry of your heart? To see the Church-Bride empowered to sincerely serve the community, To be Manifest-ors and Bring-ers of abundant, overflowing life Carrying as vessels, living water in dry and thirsty lands. What is the cry of your heart? To learn the dance of renewal And then to dance the dance of the all-renewing God who is God. What is the cry of my heart? To see with my inner eye God's new day, His new heaven and earth, His new morning mercy And that the deepest cry of my heart be the deepest cry of His heart That the God who is God, would give the modality, the solidarity To be a visible expression in the community of his unending, everlasting love. What is the cry of our hearts? O let the joy of the Lord be our strength – May we take off our disguises And let that God-infused strength be enough for all our sunrises. 58 Larkin Nov 2018. Christian Journal for Global Health 5(3):55-58. From home-less to human-ness to Jesus-ness; Let us live in the eternal mystery revealed That the God who became Man hallowed our Human-ness That we would never need to stay in everlasting same-ness So let us pray together now as our Lord and Master, Saviour, Teacher and Friend taught us to pray Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be you Name… Competing Interests: None declared. Correspondence: Sarah Larkin (née Fordham), London, UK. sarahlarkin68@gmail.com. http://scfordham.blogspot.com. Integral Alliance (www.integralalliance.org) Acknowledgements: Micah Global (www.micahglobal.org) and the participants of the 7th Triennial Micah Global Consultation on Integral Mission and Resilient Communities held 10-14 September 2018 Tagaytay City, Cavite, Philippines (http://micahgc2018.org). Responses to the question “What is the cry of your heart?” were collected during the 5-day consultation and the original draft of the poem was recited by the author during the main closing session, thus representing a diverse expression of participants, integrated with some compelling didactic content from the speakers, to capture some of the collective spirit of the gathering of 452 leaders from 68 countries. Cite this article as: Larkin S. What is the cry of your heart? Collective reflections from 7th Triennial Micah Global Consultation. Christian Journal for Global Health. Nov 2018; 5(3):55-58. https://doi.org/10.15566/cjgh.v5i3.257 © Author. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly cited. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ www.cjgh.org mailto:sarahlarkin68@gmail.com http://www.integralalliance.org/ http://www.micahglobal.org/ http://micahgc2018.org/ https://doi.org/10.15566/cjgh.v5i3.257 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/