Stranger, standing at my door, you disturb me in the night: you have needs I can't ignore, you have eyes that speak your plight. Do I know you, nameless face, battered woman, detainee, hungry youth or sickness case, jobless parent, refugee-- Do I know you, nameless face? You are strange in speech and dress, you have children at your side, you are not like one of us-- you have begged away your pride. If you passed across my screen I might switch you out of sight, worlds away you might have been, yet you stand here in the night. Do I know you, nameless face? I am fearful of your claim, yet I cannot turn away. Stranger with the foreign name, are you angel come to stay? You are messenger and guest, you the Christ I can't ignore, you my own compassion's test, stranger, standing at my door. You, the Christ I can't ignore.