By Lydia Wylie-Kellermann

Offered at Day House Catholic Worker in response to Joseph’s dream.

In the shadows of our dreams

When we are ready to dismiss so much, so quickly

When we’d rather save ourselves

From ridicule and mystery,

Even then

Even there

…..God is with us.

In a barn, where the poor refugees

Have given birth

With blood stained straw

And visiting shepherds

Pigeons hum like angels

Even then

Even there

…..God is with us.

On the darkest night

When the moon is but a sliver

And the air is cold

For those who try to sleep within its reach

Even then

Even there …..God is with us.

In the halls of Congress,

Where power plays and lies are told,

Where truth is hunted for

And limits upheld

Even then

Even there

…..God is with us.

In the locked cells

Crowed and cold

Where children sleep

Calling for their parents between sobs and snores

Even then

Even there

…..God is with us.

In a neighborhood seeped with Worker history

Where bed is found and soup is served

And today as buildings climb up

And the poor are pushed out

Even then

Even there

…..God is with us.

As we care for parents aging bodies,

As we nurture our hearts after laying them in the ground

As those aging bodies become out own,

As we hold steady our feet on this ground,

Even then

Even there

…..God is with us.

When our bodies are ailing

Leading our minds to anxiety

Our hearts to fear

And our bodies to exhaustion

Even then

Even there

…..God is with us.

As ice caps fall into the sea

As storms rise and forests burn

As our grandchildren’s futures are at risk

And our tears fall upon tree roots

Even then

Even there

…..God is with us.

As the snow falls blanketing the ground

Giving sabbath to the seeds below

as they wait and prepare to spring new life

Saving each of us by beauty and food.

Even then

Even there

…..God is with us.

As footsteps scury through the kitchen cupboards

And creatures rest inside our beds,

As our arms itch and our hearts grow weary

Even then

Even there

…..God is with us.

As we hold one another’s hands

And say the prayer that Jesus taught us

In this living room for the thousandth time

Knowing its been said millions of times before that

Even then

Even there

…..God is with us.

Not only here and there,

But at the tables at Manna Meal… God is with us.

In the lonely hospital bed…. God is with us.

In every prison cell… God is with us.

In the White House… God is with us.

And under the moon…. God is with us.

At the kitchen table…. God is with us.

On both sides of every wall

From Mexico to Palestine…. God is with us.

In our aches and pains… God is with us.

In our laughter and our tears… God is with us.

In our moments of courage

And our moments of failure… God is with us.

In every tiny act for justice…. God is with us.

In our storytelling and in our silence… God is with us.

In this bread and this wine… God is with us.

In the light of the candles on this dark night… God is with us.

In ever place

And in every time….

God is with us.