I Cannot Keep Awake

“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life,
and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.
For that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth.
Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man.”
—Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

My eyes will not stay open;
I cannot keep awake,
but trust what you have spoken
that swiftly comes the day

when you will come restoring,
come bringing exiles home.
I may not be here for it,
but I wait, even so.

The memories we carry,
old sorrows we still weep
like seeds the winter buried,
not dead but fast asleep,

with Jesse's stump forgotten
yet watered by the dew—
all that we lost shall blossom,
becoming something new.

The fruit we stole in Eden
and Cain's rejected sheaves,
their shoots will grow like weeds then
into your mercy's feast.

And if I cannot see it,
if I am buried deep,
yet you will come, Redeemer,
to wake me from my sleep.

Detail of Jesse from the Stained Glass window of All Saints Church, Hove, Sussex. England, Photo By Malcolmlow, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64575403

We Wake At Night

Then they asked him,
“Teacher, when will this happen?
And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?”
He answered,
“See that you not be deceived,
for many will come in my name, saying,
‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’
Do not follow them!
When you hear of wars and insurrections,
do not be terrified; for such things must happen first,
but it will not immediately be the end.”
Then he said to them,
“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues
from place to place;
and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.”
Luke 21:5-19

We wake at night and listen to the thunder,
the shattering of things we cannot mend.
We grieve for them, and through our tears we wonder
if this is the beginning of the end?

For we have heard of wars and insurrection
and seen the people fighting in the streets
who lifted hands and prayed for your protection
and fell beneath the victor's trampling feet.

Where are you now, when nation crushes nation?
When will you come, if not to end this fight?
What will you do to save your poor forsaken?
How will your justice ever set things right?

Is there a mercy, deeper than this violence,
that's making sense of everything we break?
Is there some purpose to your lasting silence
or limit to the sorrows we can take?

You tell me not to fear, but I am frightened
of all the earthquake, famine, drought, and plague,
at all the ways the belts are being tightened,
of all the anger boiling into rage.

How long can we hold on in this despairing
to hope we know is somewhere out of sight,
that one day you will come again repairing
the broken days descending into night?

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, woodcut print from the Apocalypse of Albrecht Dürer (1497–1498), Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe – http://www.wga.hu/html/d/durer/2/12/2apocaly/index.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95226

When the Sun and Moon Are Darkened

Jesus said to his disciples:
“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,
and on earth nations will be in dismay,
perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
People will die of fright
in anticipation of what is coming upon the world,
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And then they will see the Son of Man
coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these signs begin to happen,
stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.”
Luke 21:25-28

To the tune ODE TO JOY:

When the sun and moon are darkened,
when the stars begin to fall,
when the hearts in charge are hardened,
when we cannot hear you call,
when our lives and loves are parted
by the end that comes for all,
when you come to reap your harvest,
grant us courage standing tall.

Come, O Lord, and bring salvation;
justice bring to every land.
Come to crush the serpent's wisdom;
come with mercy in your hand.
Drown the whispers of temptation
with the song the angels sang.
Come at last and bring redemption!
Come again, O Son of Man!

Give your courage to the fearful;
pour your strength into the weak.
Bring your comfort to the tearful,
your reward to those who seek.
Forge a way across the desert;
orchards in the wastelands make.
Sing your song and let us hear it:
Let the dawn upon us break!