When you return, O God,
O brighter than our sun,
to reckon all our rights and wrong,
our done and left undone,
there at the end of time
when at your feet I stand,
oh, take the oceans of my crimes
and pour them through your hands.
The words I should not say,
the swords I should not wield,
pour in and let them drain away
through mercy's wounds unhealed.
For I am sunk in them
who cannot walk their waves.
They seep out through your innocence
'til all that's left is grace.
As deep as I have drowned,
raise me and let me stand.
The millstone ropes at last unwound,
let me rest on dry land.
And see: My sins are gone
and you alone remain.
Now fill me with the light of dawn
and make me new again!
Gospel Book, Second Coming of Christ, Walters Manuscript W.540, fol. 14v. This manuscript was executed in 1475 by a scribe identified as Aristakes, for a priest named Hakob. It contains a series of 16 images on the life of Christ preceding the text of the gospels, as well as the traditional evangelist portraits, and there are marginal illustrations throughout. The style of the miniatures, which employ brilliant colors and emphasize decorative patterns, is characteristic of manuscript production in the region around Lake Van during the 15th century. By Walters Art Museum Illuminated Manuscripts – https://www.flickr.com/photos/39699193@N03/8509826031/, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76790938
Kate Bluett 