Out of the brooding darkness

Christmas 1974

Out of the brooding darkness
God spoke!
"Let there be light!"
and the light
brought life
to the world.

And God said to humankind,
"You alone
have I made in my image!
Love your neighbor!
This is the law
of your life!"

Out of the darkness of exile
God spoke
through Moses,
and through his prophets.
He sang his word
through his psalmists,
with timbrel and harp.

But his people learned other words:
words of hate
and destruction
and hopelessness
and death,
and they forgot
God's word.

Into the darkness of bondage
God's Word came,
the Word that was
from the beginning,
the Word of light
and of life
made flesh.

And the light shone in the darkness,
and the darkness
could not put it out,
for the light
was God's self
come to dwell
on the earth.

And today we behold his glory,
as we give
of our love and ourselves.
And that glory
shines over our darkness,
and promises life
to our world.

Helen June Heath Knapp