Even in the beauty of rain
there is the presence of pain and power.
The blessing of the earth’s refreshing
could turn at any hour
into a devastating deluge,
a surging flood of overwhelming rush
turning hillsides into huge mudslides
that splinter houses and make lives disappear.

Even in the quiet moment
there is the chance
of some awful calamity,
some twisted circumstance erupting
in the midst of peaceful routine of an ordinary day:
cars wreck, planes crash, houses burn, towers fall—
evil people prey upon good,
the mighty devour the weak,
the powerful destroy the helpless.

And yet—
flowers grow in the aftermath of volcano,
forests once again cover blackened earth,
birth follows death and joy comes after mourning,
millions of good deeds are done every day,
faith sprouts up in hearts once mangled by doubt,
hope wins out over fear
even in the nearness of death’s own shadow,
and love still fills the hearts
of those who refuse to follow evil,

who know that the Light that came into the world
will outlast the world,
who know that even from the darkest night
a greater good will come,
and that the meek shall inherit an earth
better than the one from whose dirt they were made.

H. Arnett
10/9/18