At the end of the Valley
of the Shadow of Death,
there is a Glory
brighter than ten thousand suns
that I can only see
in reflection.
It is a Glory
that transcends Earth and Heaven,
Illuminating every corner
of my consciousness
for it is the primal light
of the Son of God
triumphant over the crushing power,
the scorpion sting
of Death and the Grave
and from the Dominion
from whose bourne
No traveller returns.
Yet He drank the fatal cup
of mortality and suffering
to its lees,
raided the Provinces of Hades,
seizing the keys of that pallid fiefdom
and rose victorious
from the sealed sepulchre
of annihilation
becoming the firstborn of the Dead.
And that Glory
at the end of the Valley
of the Shadow of Death
is the effulgent luminance
of the Risen Christ
brighter than ten thousand suns,
more glorious than any man or angelic being,
the very Glory of God Himself.
And I celebrate this day with utmost joy,
recalling that first Easter morning,
suffused with inexpressible gratitude
for my Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Chist.
But for His glorious light
at the end of the Valley
of the Shadow of Death,
we would have perished
in deepest misery,
facing an eternity of damnable darkness,
blighted, despairing
without a shred of hope.
But because of that Easter Dawn
two millennia ago,
we have His assurance
at the end of the Valley
of the Shadow of Death
that as He has risen
we too shall rise
and that Eternal Life can be ours
for the asking and receiving
through His shed blood.
Dr Oliver Seet
is a member of Wesley Methodist Church and a Board Director of the Metropolitan YMCA
Picture by layritten/Bigstock.com