Bloody, bruised and broken,
The God-man lay his body down
Upon a bed of crossbeams,
His pillow was a thorny crown.
No moment ever held more pain
Or convulsed with greater reeling.
Yet no moment ever held more love
Nor ended with such healing.
The hammer and the nail
Pinned life to every graveyard's gate.
The hammer and the nail
Built halls of love to conquer hate.
The bloody weapons that were meant
To attack and to assail
Became the instruments of love:
The Hammer and the Nail.
Tempted, tried and tested,
We follow with him crucified.
With him we must be sacrificed.
Together with him glorified.
The birth of death brings anguish now
And often leaves us crying,
But healing starts the moment that
A man begins the dying.