“The Weeping Tree”
A service for Holy Week by Joseph M. Martin
From the Foreword:
Outside the city wall stands the weeping tree. In silence she lifts her weary arms against the darkened sky.
She is a gathering place for the sorrowful and a sanctuary for the grieving. Her shadows are a hiding place for the oppressed and a refuge for the lost. Under her graceful canopy there is comfort and beneath her towering presence there is shelter from the storm.
Long ago, she was planted on a windswept hill where all could see her solitary silhouette and, though fixed in barren soil, her roots grew deep into the hearts of all who drew near to her.
Watered by a thousand tears, her sylvan branches once held a perfect harvest, for heaven had chosen her rugged frame to be the bearer of grace. There in her crooked and twisted arms she cradled Jesus, the Hope of the world. She who was cut and fashioned by hatred and violence became a tree of life for the world.
Her arms are outstretched still.
Joseph M. Martin
