Reflections on the Theme of Psalm 139

Dedicated to our first child, Gretel Rose Telegus

Once I was a thought 
Inside the mind of God;
He held me and he shaped me
In lands where angels trod;
Perhaps he saw a flower,
Perhaps he smelt a rose,
Perhaps he saw a sunset 
Spread out in miles of gold...

Perhaps it's then he thought me;
Perhaps it's then he knew,
"This one shall be a little child
Beneath the sky of blue.
A dew-drop like a pearl,
A sunbeam on the day,
Someone's little sweetheart
To bless them on their way."

So one by one he gathered
Each thought with tender care,
Along the paths of heaven
Among the gardens fair;
And like a gentle artist
Who moulds with tender skill,
He fashioned all my members
According to his will.

He counted every finger,
My ears and all my toes;
He even gave me little hairs--
Each one he says he knows.
And then there is a dimple
Stuck in my little chin--
He told me that he put it there
To remind me it was him.

Then one day I was ready--
Each eyelash was in place,
And every little curl
Around my reddish face;
And then there came a time--
It was the time of birth--
He said, "Dear child of mine,
It's time to touch the earth."

From where his love had placed me
Upon his weaving loom,
His hands reached forth and drew
Me from my mother's womb.
And on her breast I swaddled 
And drew there my first breath
And tasted all the sweetness
Prepared 'twixt life and death.

And then I heard a low voice
Smile close above my head;
"This precious life is God's gift--
She's lent to us," he said.
"We thank you, Lord, for Gretel,
Our lovely rose, ornate;
This little pearl who shows us
Our human love incarnate."

“You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” -Psalm 139:13

photo credit: Myriams-Fotos