The Hour Before Dawn

In that last hour before dawn,
when hope still lay hidden by the darkness,
Jesus said to Mary, who had come to the tomb
where his broken body had been left:

 

“Do not cling to me,
for I have not yet ascended to the Father;
but go instead to my brothers and say to them,
‘I am returning
to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.’”
John 20:17

 

Open are the gifts of God
Gifts of love to mind and sense
Hidden is love’s agony
Love’s endeavour, love’s expense.
W. H. Vanstone

 

He has stumbled on this hole
in the bad hour before the dawn.
William Butler Yeats