INDIA, BELOVED INDIA

INDIA, BELOVED INDIA
Poem by Gwen Shaw

India, beloved India,
Why do I love you so?
Why do I long to stand on your soil
With your burden bending me low?
You’ve gripped my heart with a love so strong
That will not let me go.
And when I must leave you and come away
I cannot forget you, you know.
I carry your image stamped on my heart
My tears are oft mingled with yours.
I’ve suffered with you in the heat and cold
And worked with your sons for our Lord.
Your children I’ve held in my arms as they died,
Your widows I’ve comforted, too,
I’ve prayed for your sick and searched for your lost.
What else, dear Lord, can I do?
If giving my life would help you to find
The Christ of the India road
I’d gladly say yes, and lay it down now
That you might be released from sin’s load.
How can I share this burden I feel
With a carefree, indifferent world?
How can I get my own people to care
For you that they all might behold…
Your struggle and suffering, your pangs for birth,
Your cry for help in the night?
As darkness now closes you all around
How can I send you the Light?
India, beloved India,
Why do you pull me apart?
It must be because my Lord loves you, too
And He’s loving you through my heart.