To Be There Poem by James Tiberius

To Be There

To be there, a spy or a fly on the wall,
To witness history, with them all,
I would be in awe.
To see…
The birth of Christianity.

To be there, to witness the feelings,
The healings, while dealing
With Pharisees and the like.
Picking their fights, or at least trying,
While vilifying.

To be there, to actually be there…
Smell the air, talk to witnesses firsthand.
Taste the food of the time,
just a small sip of wine...

To be there, my heart in my throat,
To be there as he spoke,
As Jesus actually spoke…
To hear him firsthand,
Hear the Word, from both God and man.
To hear from the source,
Speak with such authority and force.
Just to be there…

To be there to see God's healing firsthand.
To be in the crowd, to hear him call out.
To witness God's Sermon-on-the-Mount.
The actual Sermon-on-the-Mount…
Just to witness…
Or be there when he fed, fish and bread.

To be there, to hear his trial..
To hear Pilot's plea, to set Jesus free.
Maybe a crack in his voice,
To hear the crowd shout their choice.
'Barabbas, Barabbas, Barabbas'!
To see Pilot's expression as they cry-out for blood.
To see his face…as he realizes his place,
In history…an expression of misery?
Or of surrender…

To be there. To see Jesus beaten and whipped, thrown-down,
Then wearing a thorny crown.
Witnessing the struggling and falling and crawling.
Fighting to win, to rise-up again.

To be there, to see him spiked to the cross,
To personally witness such loss…
My tears would never-end.
Wanting to comfort so bad…
To say, 'I promise, I know, it will all be ok'.
As my words fell on deaf-ears…then back to the tears.
To see Mary, the mother of Christ,
Down on the ground, crying,
While watching her son dying (because she's dying too)
I would not know what to do.
To hear him speak final words,
To see him sealed in a tomb.
Would leave such deep wounds.

To be there when he rises again,
After he died for our sins…
At that moment in time,
Oh my God, Oh my Lord,
Would I even breathe of my own accord?

To be there to witness firsthand,
Seeing, hearing, the places, the faces.
To be there for God's graces…bestowed.
To watch it all unfold…

Perhaps, another time, another place,
Just to be in God's grace,
I'm so thankful that he cares.
But oh my God, oh my Lord,
Just, to be there...