HOPE LIKE A STRANGER W/M: Bob Bennett Hope, like a stranger, came to my door I was afraid, I was rude "What are you coming here for? Have you come to stay Or are you just passing through? I've seen your face But I do not know you" And he said, "You know me, But I've had to remain Hidden in the shadows Of your sorrow and pain For you have lived your life As a slave, so it seems Believing your nightmares Instead of your dreams" Hope, like a stranger Posed a question like a dare "Can you mask the mysteries of your heart Pretending not to care? For the thing that you dismissed With your cynical facade Was the hope you'd been given From the very heart of God And it drove you in secret But you held it close at bay And you tried to disown me But you're not made to be that way And so I stand here, longing For no matter where you run I will wait like the father Of the Prodigal Son" He said, "Hope by itself, It can never be an end It's like holding paper money That's impossible to spend Unless the value is a given The bargain's incomplete" Then he showed me the scars On his hands and his feet I touched his wounds As I steadied my nerve He said, "I only bear the marks Of the Master I serve And He sends me here to tell you I am bound up with Him And you'd do well, when He comes To also let Him in" Hope, like a stranger, came to my door But he's risen and he stays A stranger no more