{"id":2774,"date":"2016-08-19T09:54:52","date_gmt":"2016-08-19T13:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/lance-ostman\/?p=2774"},"modified":"2016-08-19T09:55:32","modified_gmt":"2016-08-19T13:55:32","slug":"cry-of-the-blood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/lance-ostman\/2016\/08\/19\/cry-of-the-blood\/","title":{"rendered":"Cry of the Blood"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Panoramic<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As I was working on the rough draft translation of Hosea for the Higaunon scriptures, a simple word in a verse brought to memory Amy W. Carmichael’s poem “Cry of the Blood<\/strong><\/span>” and I thought I’d share that with you here.<\/p>\n

CRY OF THE BLOOD<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The tom-toms thumped on all night, and the darkness shuddered around me like a living, feeling thing.\u00a0 I could not go to sleep, so I lay awake and looked; and I saw, and it seemed like this:<\/p>\n

That I stood on a grassy sward, and at my feet a precipice broke sheer down into infinite space.\u00a0 I looked, but saw no bottom; only cloud shapes, black and furiously coiled, and great shadow-shrouded hollows, and unfathomable depths.\u00a0 Back I drew, dizzy at the depth.<\/p>\n

Then I saw forms of people moving single-file along the grass.\u00a0 They were making for the edge.\u00a0 There was a woman with a baby in her arms and another little child holding on to her dress.\u00a0 She was on the very verge.\u00a0 Then I saw that she was blind.\u00a0 She lifted her foot for the next step\u2026it trod air.\u00a0 She was over, and the children over with her.\u00a0 Oh, the cry as they went over!<\/p>\n

Then I saw more streams of people flowing from all quarters.\u00a0 All were blind, stone blind; all made straight for the precipice edge.\u00a0 There were shrieks as they suddenly knew themselves falling, and a tossing up of helpless arms, catching, clutching at empty air.\u00a0 But some went over quietly and fell without a sound.<\/p>\n

Then I wondered, with a wonder that was simply agony, why no one stopped them at the edge.\u00a0 I could not.\u00a0 I was glued to the ground, and I could not call.\u00a0 Though I strained and tried, only a whisper would come.<\/p>\n

Then I saw that along the edge there were sentries set at intervals.\u00a0 But the intervals were far too great; there were wide, unguarded gaps between.\u00a0 And over these gaps the people fell in their blindness, quite unwarned; and the green grass seemed blood-red to me, and the gulf yawned like the mouth of Hell.<\/p>\n

Then I saw, like the picture of peace, a group of people under some trees, with their backs turned toward the gulf.\u00a0 They were making daisy chains.\u00a0 Sometimes when a piercing shriek cut the quiet air and reached them, it disturbed them and they thought it rather a vulgar noise.\u00a0 And if one of their number started up and wanted to go and do something to help, then all the others would pull that one down.\u00a0 \u201cWhy should you get so excited about it?\u00a0 You must wait for a definite \u2018call\u2019 to go.\u00a0 You haven\u2019t finished your daisy chains.\u00a0 It would be really selfish,\u201d They said, \u201cto leave us to finish the work alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was another group.\u00a0 It was made up of people whose great desire was to get some sentries out; but they found that very few wanted to go, and sometimes there were no sentries for miles and miles at the edge.<\/p>\n

Once a girl stood alone in her place, waving the people back; but her mother and other relations called, and reminded her that her furlough was due; she must not break the \u201crules.\u201d\u00a0 And, being tired and needing a change, she had to go and rest awhile; but no one was sent to guard her gap, and over and over the people fell, like a waterfall of souls.<\/p>\n

Once a child caught at a tuft of grass that grew at the very brink of the gulf; the child clung convulsively, and it called but nobody seemed to hear.\u00a0 Then the roots of the grass gave way, and with a cry the child went over, its two little hands still holding tight to the torn-off bunch of grass.<\/p>\n

And the girl who longed to be back in her gap thought she heard the little one cry, and she sprang up and wanted to go; at which her relatives reproved her, reminding her that no one is necessary anywhere\u2014the gap would be well taken care of, they knew.\u00a0 And they sang a hymn.<\/p>\n

Then through the hymn came another sound like the pain of a million broken hearts wrung out in one full drop, one sob.\u00a0 And a horror of great darkness was upon ME, for I knew what it was\u2014the cry of the blood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen thundered a Voice, the voice of the Lord; and He said, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?\u00a0 Then said I, Here am I; send me.\u00a0 And He said, Go and tell this people\u2026Jesus said, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature\u2026and lo, I am with you always\u201d\u00a0 (Isaiah 6:8; Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:20).<\/p>\n

–From Amy W. Carmichael\u2019s<\/p>\n

\u201cThings as they Are\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Amy Carmichael served as a missionary for many years in South Asia.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  As I was working on the rough draft translation of Hosea for the Higaunon scriptures, a simple word in a verse brought to memory Amy W. Carmichael’s poem “Cry of the Blood” and I thought I’d share that with you here. CRY OF THE BLOOD The tom-toms thumped on all night, and the darkness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":241,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[61858,61862,448,61861,61842,3294,61860],"class_list":["post-2774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-ministry","tag-amy-w-carmichael","tag-cry-of-the-blood","tag-ethnos360","tag-india","tag-new-tribes-mission","tag-poem","tag-things-as-they-are","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/lance-ostman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/lance-ostman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/lance-ostman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/lance-ostman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/241"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/lance-ostman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/lance-ostman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/lance-ostman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/lance-ostman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/lance-ostman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}