Hope Like A Stranger
Words & Music by Bob Bennett
© 1991 Bright Avenue Songs
P.O. Box 1578
Cypress, CA 90630-6578
Reprinted/Posted by Permission
All Rights Reserved

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 desown me
But you're not made to be that way
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
That bargain's incomplete"
Then he showed me the scars
Of 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
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