Unchanging Light

2 Corinthians 9:15

Overwhelmed by winter’s

hard, withered hand,

aspen, oak, and elm stand

gray-haired and naked in a leafless stupor

as if those lush, green days,

those endless bouquets 

of summer had never been;

darkness descends at 4 p.m.

Automobiles scurry across land

that no longer seems either familiar

or safe — as if our world had been abandoned

to the thick, oily grasp

of night, as if the light

was forever gone and would 

be no more . . .

but there is a great Door.

Entering in, we find

the Light Himself

in whom is no change,

no darkness descending

in periodic shift —

thanks be to God for His

unspeakable gift.

– Francis Freed