Beholding Christ

Beholding Christ

We write no letters anymore,
Nor lose ourselves in books till dawn;
No children’s laughter fills the yards—
Those simple, living days are gone.
We calmly watch another’s pain,
As though it were not ours to bear.
Where is that time when we were one,
One family, one hope, one prayer?

Perhaps I’ve simply aged too soon,
And ceased believing noble claims;
Perhaps that’s why I argue still,
And call hypocrisy by name.
Or maybe God is telling me:
“Be ready. Now you know the way.
Do not be silent. Speak. Don’t mourn.
Open the door for them today.”

Time turns its ever-tightening coil,
And faster spins from year to year;
It tears the veil away from truth—
His coming seems forever near.
For surely we are not here merely
To plant our gardens, field by field,
To search the stars, descend the seas,
Or dig where ancient bones lie sealed.

This life will pass. And what comes next?
No mortal mind has answered all.
Men seek the answer as before,
And reason till their kingdoms fall.
They search the deepest wells of knowledge,
Stealing hours from eternity,
And dress desire in robes of truth,
And dreams in immortality—

Until they die.

We lean upon our lives like staffs,
And choose our fear to walk beside;
We carry flowers to the graves
Where those we loved in silence lie.
We speak of everlasting memory,
Swear love that death cannot erase,
We light our candles in the churches—
Then mock the living face to face.

But there are no dead souls to God.
He met them long before our tears.
He knows the road beyond the grave,
Beyond our doubts, beyond our fears.
And at the end that brilliant Light
Awaits me—as it waits for you;
Beyond the darkness of this world,
Beyond the things we thought we knew.

And I believe that He will come.
This thought remains within my heart.
And every soul will answer then
For every deed, for every part.
The veil will fall. The truth will stand.
No earthly mask will see us through.

And only one question remains:

When He returns—
will you be ready too?