The Fallen

"For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day." (John 6.40)

November Noon

The wavering embers of late autumn sun
Shimmer in vain on the bone-chilling brine;
The dearth of a season cannot be undone
As, year after year, the woodlands decline.

The towering bone-racks of maple and birch
Cowered, they creak in the blustery blow;
Their colorful shrouds were stripped down with a lurch --
Their glory forgotten - decaying below.

The souls of the shrouded, with glory concealed,
Lie dormant beneath the old sentinel wood;
Each season awaiting One to be revealed -
When time lurches past the horizon for good.

From season to season, creatures rise and fall;
As one generation gives rise to one more.
There is but one constant persisting through all -
The Sun that still shines from beyond that far shore.

Nature is enjoined to the creatures that grieve;
With faith in new seasons for those who believe.

"And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." (Matthew 28.20b)

Holy Spirit, fortify our hearts with faith that the future and our salvation is held in God's hands, and comfort us in our grief and loss. Amen.