Stricken Smitten and Afflicted

Описание: "Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted" by Markie Strange
(based on the hymn of the same name) (C) 2026

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
See lovers dying on the tree;
Love embodied and rejected,
Facing hate courageously.
’Tis the path of costly mercy,
’Tis the truth no fear can flee;
Human hearts at their most holy
Hanging there for all to see.
Tell me, when the crowd was shouting,
When the fearful turned away,
When the rulers, never doubting,
Chose the safer, darker way,
Was it weakness that sustained them
Silent on the bitter tree?
Or love unbroken by their violence,
Standing firm in dignity?
Those who saw and knew their goodness
Turned aside when risk drew near;
Honor whispered in the shadows
Bowed before the voice of fear.
For love is easy in the garden,
Harder in the judgment hall;
Many praise it from a distance,
Few will stand when the lovers fall.
You who measure strength by power,
You who trust in fear and might,
Here behold a truer tower:
Love that will not yield to fright.
Here the best of us is given,
All that we were meant to be;
Human hope and heart of heaven
Nailed in stark humanity.
Though hatred nailed them to the timber,
Love outlived the empire’s claim;
What they meant to end forever
Rose in hearts they could not tame.
Still it walks through jails and marches,
Still it kneels where wounds are raw;
Still it speaks in trembling voices
Truth no tyrant ever saw.
Here no tyrant claims dominion,
Here no guilt compels the knee;
Here is love’s unarmed conviction
Dying rather than decree.
Honor those who live it boldly,
Name them brave for what they gave;
Not escape from hateful violence,
But courage to face it
and still dare to misbehave.
Love can never die nor perish,
Though they strike the lover down;
Love will rise beyond the grave.
Cruelty may think it conquers,
Seizes kingdoms, dominates;
Yet the lover’s living message
Dwells in hearts it underestimates.