Ephphatha

Kathryn Mulderink

by Kathryn Mulderink

“And they brought to him one deaf and dumb …
and looking up to heaven, he groaned, and said to him:
Ephphatha, which is, Be thou opened.” Mark 7:31-37

His waveless chords we’ve long despaired of hearing,
And those supernal spectrums beam beyond our range;
Still, imperceptible vibration proves He’s nearing
Though this crux of regal radiance may seem strange.
Unless for just one instant, we can leap with the heart
And acknowledge there is “Other” and it stands apart,
And yet is here within us, eager to burst forth.

Ephphatha

Promised grace outlines the word He’s spoken,
And we learn to trace its lines through every page
To reveal the Word He sent was rent and broken;
The living word He uttered to each age.
Hidden came and hidden ripened toward the cross
And hidden He remains until we count our gains as loss,
And yet waits here within us, eager to burst forth.

Ephphatha

Ineffably, His will by our wills stayed
As hearts resist His law and His embrace;
But freely His life surged as one obeyed
Every brilliant movement of His grace.
Every silent word she heard spread deep and ardent root
And every vibrant vine bore the most prodigious fruit;
And He within her eagerly burst forth.

Ephphatha

If we surrendered to His lavish healing touch
Our ears would hear and unscaled eyes would see;
Our lives could fill beyond our frantic clutch
And we’d know the utter fullness of the free.
His passionate gifts would overflow from every soul
And unobstructed, unconfined, make all things one and whole
As we, now open, let Him eagerly burst forth.

Ephphatha