A Day of New Life

A day of new life delivers joys,
To welcomers receiving the priceless gift:
This soul with power to bond,
To know, to delight, to love.

That power given from Life himself,
Who rejoices in relating,
And relates with rejoicing,
Gracing his image from above.

Conceiving in women the concept of man,
Living beings who also relate,
Loving souls who also rejoice,
Laughing children together, girls and boys.

And now the joy of jubilant tidings,
Now the joy of infancy’s voice,
The joy of beholding and holding,
This day of new life delivers joys.

_________

A day of new life delivers joys,
To farewellers releasing irreplaceable friend:
This soul who touched our hearts,
Who loved, delighted, and knew.

Knew us and more, the Image of Life,
Still knowing in fact; still being known,
By him who first gave and then gave again,
Redeeming to make the concept true.

And conceiving in men a pregnant new birth,
With supernatural power to relate,
With eternal power to rejoice,
And share family laughs, like eternal toys.

And now the joy of triumphant parting,
Now the joy of angelic voice,
The joy of beholding our hope,
This day of new life delivers joys.

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Notes:

Within a week’s time on successive Thursday mornings, my church family said “farewell” to a dear sister in Christ and “welcome” to a new baby. What has struck me is that both of these moments are days of new life. A baby is a new soul miraculously created in God’s image, and a passing saint instantly gains true wholeness in the presence of the Lord. For Christians, both first days and last days are life days.

This poem is an attempt to capture both realities and frame them with the joy they are due. Look for a number of parallels between the first stanza and the second. The only rhyme scheme is in the last lines of each section. The central idea to the poem is that the joy of new life is the prospect of sharing wonderful relationships forever with God and with each other. In Christ, this prospect is realized.

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