Hurry Down, Zacchaeus

"Hurry down, Zacchaeus, for I must stay in

your house today."

I would make a house call today

because of your willingness

to climb a tree,

to run like a child,

to ignore what others say.

I must sit at your table today

because I go where I am welcome;

I share the joy that will be yours;

I am excited by the imagination of your

free spirit.

I would stay at your house today

because I see beyond your wealth to the

loneliness of your soul;

I see beyond the silken robes to the frail

humanity seeking simple friendship;

I see beyond the grand mansion to that

crude shelter of your wounded spirit.

I would stay at your house today

because

I need your excitement for my mission

I need your generosity to balance the

stingy skepticism that haunts me;

I need your uninhibited endorsement to

erase the apathy that burdens me.

I would stay at your house today;

because you have opened the door.

Richard E. Lake