Light

based on 1John 1:5-10

There is no darkness in God—only light Who shines truth in every place, does not deceive, Is veiled in glory, in burning brilliant white -- This is the Word we received, hear and believe. But in fear our hearts neither rightly move or stand; Deceit blinds our eyes we pose and pretend That we ourselves in act and success have spanned The gulf of our guilt and make reality bend. Locked in shame, anger turns on me to bite With wounding resentments, embittered, locked in lies, Cut off from your creatures, myself, and the Light In the drowning dark of bitterness this sinner finally dies. But in confession’s light, I am lifted from the flood, Am cleansed, restored, forgiven by the Son’s most precious blood.

(c) Randy Edwards artwork: The Vision of the Lamb in the Midst of the Four Living Creatures and the Twenty-Four Elders; London, England; c1255-1260. From The J Paul Getty Museum