“The Light of the World”
Why do you knock like a guest long forgotten?
The door remains locked, its heavy frame rotten,
While a tangle of vines adorns lintel and post.
I come to awaken my slumbering host.
Why do you stand on this hard frozen ground
Through the night while the darkness of winter surrounds?
Even earth’s heaven has clouded its face
I come bringing light to Eve’s fading race.
Why do you come wearing linen and gold
To a hovel whose treasure is nothing but old
Cobwebs and creatures with dust shrouded hide?
I come as a king seeking my bride.
Why do you batter the door of this grave?
There is no one within, nobody to save,
Faces and names, all lost to decay,
No eyes for the light, no hope for the day.
I am with you within and am waiting without.
Why do you huddle enclosed with your doubt?
I died as you, and though you are naught
I am, my beloved; and you I have sought.
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Image: William Holman Hunt, Light of the World
Written by:
Br. Simon Teller, O.P.
Br. Simon Teller entered the Order of Preachers in 2014. He is a graduate of the University of Dallas, where he studied English literature. Before entering the order, he spent some time as a busker playing folk music in Asheville, NC, and worked as an oil-field hand in North Dakota. On DominicanFriars.org