Tag Archives: Hope

How Far Home?

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He wanders, lost in waking dreams,

The frozen ground grown concrete hard

Beneath his steady heartbeat tread.

At last he sees the place he knew –

There grew the man he has become –

But tossed upon the tides of time,

Neither it nor he are the same.

Recall the warmth of summer’s night,

Bedecked by flickered fires’ flames.

Remember now the gold-drenched dawn,

When morning’s light whispered your name

And bade you rise and play again,

Just as you did the day before.

And what is more, those faces see,

Those hearts that loved you then so well.

Is all now lost in memory?

A dull, long-dead, once-living scene?

Or does this dream bid you anew,

To look beyond what now is gone,

To that to come which cannot die,

Held fast in Him Who cannot lose?

How heavy is the joyous weight,

The glory that awaits you then!

Your home does not behind you lie,

But ahead.

The Empty Place

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Amid the festive smells, and bells

From the steeple sweetly chiming;

And as the winter’s cold silence

Warms the heart with expectation

Of the swift-set sun, and feasting

Together ‘round the banquet set,

I look to see an empty place

Where once your face, bright and beaming

With happiness, delighted all,

Delighted me.

                        But now you’re gone,

And I, beloved, feel the sting

Of days and weeks, of months and years,

Without your laughter, sans your sighs,

And harmless, confiding whispers.

–

The children sing of Christ the King –

At once my heart is stirred to see,

That ‘round another table set

We yet together eat and drink

The bread, the wine, for Christ is mine,

And yours, and we are ever His.

Until the shadows flee the earth,

And glory fills her like the sea –

Until the empty place is filled,

I’ll eat the Supper here, you there,

And wait, in love, to be renewed.

My tears may flow for now, I know,

But, even so, not forever.

Lucernarium

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In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:4-5

We gather all to meet the night,

And sing of Christ Who bore our sin;

With warm hearts we, in lantern’s light,

Amongst our blood-bought baptized kin,

Now hear our Father’s Word anew,

And are invited in to pray.

We stand beneath the fading hue,

Awaiting here the longed-for Day –

That morn which marks the darkness’ end!

O come, our King, make sorrow flee,

And comfort us, our Dearest Friend!

Until Your Dawn our own eyes see,

Let us endure this night in Thee.

Let us endure this night in Thee.

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The title of this poem, “Lucernarium”, is essentially an old word for Vespers, the evening office when the lamps were lighted and the brothers gathered to pray and hear God’s Word. The inspiration for this poem is a wonderful lady who has just gone to be with the Lord. My dear sister Bertha was a great encouragement to me, and I wish I had been able to know her longer; she loved poetry – a favorite topic of conversation between us – but much more, she loved her Lord. I spoke to her a couple of days before she died, and she told me that she was looking forward to stepping out of the night and into God’s glorious morning. I praise the Lord for her faith and witness!