Nothing expected is ever quite what you imagined it would be the heartache inside of the joy. Sadness. Mercy. Kindness. Sorrow. Weeping. Singing. Dancing and dying. Stumbling and seeing you—and Wondering who you are and Life goes quickly. Days are shorter. What’s remembered is never forgotten. And in these later quiet years, Still there is mercy. Still there is kindness. Like the light in the shimmering Afternoon in the late October sun With no portent of winter yet beckoning, Late asters bloom, Still there is mercy. Still there is kindness, Even with the curious whispering Like the breath of the organ Waiting, ominously, threateningly Stilly—for the first notes to play, Still there is time enough, coffee cups, Canada, Benches in Michigan, daffodils, Evensong. And in the sadness time imparts, Even in the old vow—till death do us part, We see salvation singing in the grave’s final promise That love is eternal. All that has gone before. All that still is to be: Sacred and sanctified, world forever. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! The church will soon be empty and we’ll sit And watch the sun set in the west And we’ll watch the moon rise Over the barn and empty fields, And dream of days to come. And love is eternal. There is time enough, and love is eternal, And nothing is forgotten.

When at the start of the evening The light starts to fade Sometimes in the strange blue Of the darkening daylight Tiny stars appear above the Frail blue of the earth. Sometimes when the Blue of the night appears And darkness falls Candles burning Make a pretty light, Dancing on the floor And the ceiling in the night And the world is sweet. In dreams there are lights And chimes and wings And wind and flying. The colors appear completely new. And people who once were gone Come back and smile in greeting, And everything’s wonderful. If we could only remember This sweet sense Of the passing world so dear, No one would ever hurt anyone, War would cease And angels would descend Brining God’s peace. Let there be light, Let there be light. In the suffering, Let there be kindness And mirth. Let there be more, Let there be more Than the world’s deep woe. Let there be peace on the earth. Let there be joy in the children And sweetness in the crops. Let there be peace in the valley, And joy on the mountain tops. Let there be… Let there be angels around you, And peace like the rain from above. Let there be heaven, Let there be heaven Before and behind you, And kindness, And kindness, And love.