Give Me Your Arms

March 24, 2023

I have gone back and forth about sharing this personal poem in a public way.  I wrote it last year in a difficult time as we returned to Nyankunde.  It is raw.  Memories came in waves, of beauty and conflict juxtaposed.   One of the beautiful memories was of the youth strolling down the street playing the guitar, groups of friends singing.  Then youth began walking in formation and the guitars were replaced by weapons.  There was a spirit of fear, not of joy and ease.  Then came war, followed by silence, and we left.  

It has been two years.  A lot has changed since then.  Things are still changing.  Most people desire to live in peace and to farm their fields.  We are hopeful.  We continue to pray for resolve to tribal tensions..  We believe that peace is not an absence of conflict, but rather an active process that people need to pursue.  During a church service last year, the Lord gave me an image of people trading their arms for guitars.  The voice in this poem is the Lord, beckoning to his sons to come back and talk with Him.  He is powerful and can bring people to their knees.  The poem is called "Give Me Your Arms."

 

Give me your arms and I will give you a guitar.

Melodious sound is better than deafening explosions.

Walk with me, strum the strings again, remember the harmonies.

The passage of time has left you out of tune

Do not worry, I can handle the brutality of your sound.

 

Give me your arms and I will give you a guitar.

Your music can bring people together again.

Share with me your stories.

I want to hear your sorrows and your joys.

I invented sound, and even painful dissonance.

 

Give me your arms and I will give you a guitar.

Go ahead, hold it the same way, it won’t hurt or scare anyone.

Dare to bring joy and not fear when you walk down the road.

Remember the sounds of your youth.

 

Give me your arms

I can change your defensive heart and take away your fear.

You don’t need to fight with charms or call on the gods of your ancestors.

I know what you need before you even ask.

I am waiting and I will intervene.

 

Can you hear that my voice is more powerful than your gun?

It can bring down a cedar as I breathe through the trees.

My voice shakes the soil, even before the storm arrives.

My voice resonates even after the storm passes.

My voice can bring you to your knees.

I alone can truly change things and pick up the broken pieces of your life.

 

Give me your arms and I will give you a new song.  

Fill these verdant hills again with songs of penitence, of deliverance, of new life.

May the hills again become an amphitheater of harmonious music, speaking of a God who saves.

I believe that God wants to invite His people into a new song, declaring that He is a God who saves.

Psalm 98: 1; 4-5

Sing to the Lord a new song,

    for he has done marvelous things, 

his right hand and his holy arm

    have worked salvation for him...

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,

    burst into jubilant song with music;

make music to the Lord with the harp, 

    with the harp and sound of singing,

with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn-

shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

Be blessed!

Lindsey