The treasures of darkness

A poem for Advent

by Ken Sehested

It has been said:
You shall know the truth,
and the truth will set you free;
but first it will make you miserable.

The pilgrimage to mercy
necessarily passes through
valleys of misery, for the far Horizon
of hope’s disclosure can only be seen

with tear-smeared eyes.
Forlornly days endure,
yet do not define the minds
or shrivel the hearts of those

grasped by beatific
vision of the Promise
ahead, to which we are
guided by belligerent light

against the dark’s deep
sweep.  Carpe noctem, y’all.
Seize the night. Be like the dark-
buried seed burrowed beyond every

sunny disposition’s reach, a
twilight “richer than the light
and more blessed, provided we
stay brave enough to keep going in.”*

Despite the night
shivers and the apparent
reign of treachery and ruin,
seek “the treasures of darkness . . .

hidden in secret places”
by the Beloved who knows
you by name.** Fear not, child,
though the shadows o’ertake and

ominous voices emerge from
the murk. The eclipse, too, has
its revelatory power, and angelic
heralds whose advent password is

“Fear not.”

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*Wendell Berry, in The Country of Marriage    ** Isaiah 45:3-4
©ken sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org