All the brown and bare horizons
1 All the brown and bare horizons,
thirsty lands and dusty ground,
cry to God in silent longing,
plead their cause without a sound.
2 Distant grey or blinding yellow,
every cracked and crumbling scene,
will these dry and hardened furrows
ever see the promised green?
3 Ask the thorn-bush and the scrubland
gasping for the timely rain,
cattle seeking shade and coolness:
when will water flow again?
4 All the scorching months and seasons,
all the days of sun and glare,
morning heat and noontide stillness:
can the Lord be living here?
5 Stone and rock and ditch and roadside:
these are home for growing things!
Even now the rains are coming,
even here the desert sings!
6 All the world is dry without him,
every land awaits his voice:
Come, Creator, Word, and Spirit!
Rise, our earth, in God rejoice!
Christopher Idle
© Christopher Idle/Jubilate Hymns Ltd
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