(about 1994 ~ dedicated to Eliza R. Snow "a woman in time")
Truth, Light, and Love
the "unmasking" friends
I learned from woman in time
how each person, each moment,
each lie that we fear
need only to meet
with my three saving friends.
For even the demon
and monster of death,
his pains and his woes
forth to show,
hov'ring the world
each creature, each kind
his mask is of poison,
of blackness, of end.
But then face to face
with our Savior's truth
the blackness and hurt
of the mask melts away.
His light at eye-level
with once-hollow eyes
now brightens
the home-bound way.
His love, like a lantern
that's welcoming home
is clearly deep down inside
in the heart of this lie
that people called death
because they could not
see inside.
And even the day
or the hour it seems
that every clear friend
has retired,
every dear thing has been
taken from you,
nowhere to go. No love,
no company.
But again face to face
with our Savior's truth
the empty-faced,
all -alone mask
melts away.
His light at eye-level
with once-crying eyes
now beckons you
go on your way.
His love like the water
that's quenching your soul
as steadfastly
you're marching on.
The journey this moment,
though lonely, has giv'n
you're learning to look
deep inside.
For even the poor man
who begs on the streets,
his haggard and beaten-worn clothes
and wanting for money,
for shelter, for food,
his mask is of distance,
complacency, greed.
So now face to face
with our Savior's truth,
the distance you feared
in his mask melts away.
His light at eye-level
with once-hungry eyes
shines forth on mankind
equality.
His love like the shelter
that gives your soul rest
now beckons you give,
give to him.
For we are all beggars,
on mercy depend
when beyond these masks
you look
deep inside.
