The Rest is Light

Below is a poem I wrote for All Saints Day. I was inspired by the recent discovery of the latest Gama Ray Blast that occurred 13.5 billion years ago but the light from that "star explosion" traveling at the speed of light just arrived on the scene. I thought of this in the context of the phrase that comes from the Commendation that I use at the end of a Memorial service. I offer these words as I commend a person's soul to God: "Let perpetual light shine upon them...and may they be granted everlasting rest." The poem is entitled, "The Rest is Light"

The Rest is Light

Some distant star
its source so
far removed
Yet it is here
the now is
present in our
dark sky

Its radiance created
in the womb of
a distant birthing
But its light is in
the eyes of
our beholding
the moment

For the One who knows
the light also
holds the darkness
Our need is deep for
the shinning hope
that in the dark
there is presence

And so when we let go
of our breath
that is life
We are promised rest
that is deeper
than the darkest
night sky

"Let perpetual light
shine upon them"
echoes in the dark
And the wound-born
words from the
tomb now empty
says
the rest is light