Ex Nihilo


From nothing were all made, one moment nothing,
   then, mankind.
Strangely, though, we seek to return to the nothing
   from which we came.
We seek our deaths, though we have been given life,
   stamped with the eternal image of the Almighty,
   given the lock and seal of Life.
We love blindness, though sight is here,
We love darkness, though the Light has come.

Into our present darkness comes the Son of Light,
   the firstborn of mankind, 
   the great shout against the nothingness.
Word and Light and Creation are one incarnated in the Christ,
   one person bearing Creator and Creation together as Himself;
He came to deny again the nothing from which He first made us,
   to draw us out therefrom again.
Still, we love nothing, though the Existing One is here,
We love death, though the Life has come.

Some few receive the Light, some few receive the Life
   and are recreated,
Some few are anointed with a new seal of life,
   bearing the image and receiving the likeness of the Word,
So as to speak the Word against the nothingness
   in submission to the Word and in humility.
Only in constant love for the Christ can we be pure,
Only in enduring love for the Christ can we see God.