From Overture to Refrain

From Overture to Refrain

(“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” 1 Peter 2:2)

Build the fire slowly and let the blaze resound like
orchestral percussion from overture to refrain. Let the blaze
gather
in force until the night is swathed with light
and tiny eruptions pop from the center glow underneath
the crisscrossed logs.

Let every song find its tongue tonight, every hymn a new language
and joy;
let every mouth sing toward the starry score above and repeat the
chorus with fiery gusto; repeat the words in stripped human cries,
taking to the skies like symphonies plainly played.

Let the meaning never fade, the joy always reign at the remembrance
of such sweet words and such a Hopeful Name. Consume us, oh
Fire,
again and again, and leave us whole. Unscarred by the fiercest
Flame,
let us steal away into the day with a new hallelujah and an
unending amen. Let the fire speak for us, let the flame combine
with the Love which has branded us His own for now, for then,
for when, for beyond the visions we thought had been cast far enough
to reach the end of time.

Yet, like the fire that is never consumed; steadfast and erect, though storm
would threaten its heavenly flare, it remains the Name etched within
every heart
claimed by the Fire Itself; which burns and is not fed, consumes, yet
uses no fuel.

Burn in us, so our words, exit to entrance, are sparked with love that
needs words only to explain the Name that
began the conflagration.