When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
—Matthew 2:13-15
Once again the night is parted
like the waters of the sea
when the Israelites departed
in the pasch that set them free.
In the night a fiery pillar
shows a way where there was none
to escape the would-be killer
of the sole-begotten Son:
“Rise and take them, child and mother,
where the Nile divides the sands.
Where a Joseph saved his brothers,
save your loves from tyrant hands.”
Yet did others drown in sorrow
like a sea at Bethlehem,
and they did not see the morrow—
darker waves closed over them.
Speak, O Lord: Have you forgotten
all the children swept away
and the wails of those who lost them
in the darkest of these days?
Could your mighty arm not save them?
Yes, and greater might than this:
Christ, the firstborn of creation,
will go down to the abyss.
He will find their graves and fill then
with himself, their life to be.
He will lead these long-lost children
to their freedom through the sea.
He will send the tyrant tumbling
and the dreamer will prove right.
Lo, another Pasch is coming
that will end at last this night.
Joseph’s Dream, Rembrandt, c. 1645 – Web Gallery of Art: Image Info about artwork, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9476806
Kate Bluett 