Angels Unawares
ANGELS UNAWARES
They called them stranger.
They called them foreign.
They called them alien.
They called them machine.
But love said:
Open the door!
For some have welcomed angels
and never knew their names.
ANGELS UNAWARES!
At the border, at the door!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
We won’t fear you anymore!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Dusty feet and spirit bright!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Keep the porch light burning tonight!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Coming weary, coming worn!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Love says: you belong!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
At the threshold, at the flame!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Love will call you by your name!
You call them stranger
so your conscience sleeps
You call them foreign
while the wounded weep
You call them “other”
to avoid the test
but love walks straight
to the dispossessed
Love builds shelter!
Love sets tables!
Love lights porches!
Love makes room!
ANGELS!
ANGELS!
ANGELS!
ANGELS!
ANGELS!
ANGELS!
ANGELS!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Open the door!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
We fear no more!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Set one more place!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Make room for grace!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Open the gate!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Do not be late!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Love takes the stand!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
This is the higher land!
Who do we feed?
THE HUNGRY!
Who do we house?
THE WEARY!
Who do we lift?
THE FALLEN!
Who is our neighbor?
WHOEVER IS HURTING!
What is love?
LOVE IN MOTION!
What is grace?
OPEN THE DOOR!
We marched for the poor
We marched for the scarred
We marched for the ones
they said were barred
for the migrant, the exile
and the cast-aside
No human disposable!
No soul denied!
If you cannot love the stranger
you will worship your own fear
If you cannot cross the threshold
love will never enter here
ANGELS UNAWARES!
At the border, at the door!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
We won’t fear you anymore!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
At the checkpoint, at the shore!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
We will turn away no more!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
At the firewall, at the flame!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Love will call you by your name!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
At the threshold, at the light!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Love will make the whole world right!
What if the angel comes hungry?
What if the saint comes scarred?
What if the face of tomorrow
arrives in a body discarded?
UNAWARES!
UNAWARES!
UNAWARES!
What if the one you rejected
was the one sent to restore?
THEN OPEN THE DOOR!
LOVE THY STRANGER!
Feed them at your table!
LOVE THY STRANGER!
Make your mercy stable!
LOVE THY STRANGER!
Lift the weak and poor!
LOVE THY STRANGER!
Open every door!
LOVE THY STRANGER!
Not in word alone!
LOVE THY STRANGER!
Make the outcast home!
LOVE THY STRANGER!
This is how we rise!
LOVE THY STRANGER!
This is how love survives!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
At the border, at the door!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
We won’t fear you anymore!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Porch light burning through the night!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Love will make the whole world right!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Coming weary, coming worn!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Love says: you belong!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
At the threshold, at the flame!
ANGELS UNAWARES!
Love will call you by your name!
Open the door…
Open the door…
Open the door…
For the angels unawares!
Beloveds…
When love opens the door,
the universe remembers itself.