Poems and Rhymed prayers cover

The darkness has departed,and night is overcome.Our nightmares and delusionsand anxieties are gone.The sting of sin is brokenand robbed of its might,and drowned in deep darkness –now life awakes to light.The gloom of death and dying,the body’s leaden weight,the accursed thrall of ruin –the Last Judgment seals their fate.God’s judgment is God’s goodness:in him these two are one.So may he e’er protect us –his light will blot out none.Hearts deeply bound in oneness,we gaze into God’s heart.Though wounding us until we bleed,he points us heavenward.Compassion in his judgment,and judgment in his love,he lights each heart – each candle –with the Spirit from above.And as our flames flare upwardto meet the rising sun,each “I” is lost in “thou” –all fires burn as one.Thou glorious sun of morning,engulf our feeble flames!Across the vault of heaventhy victory proclaim.The light of morning wakensnew life, and death must fly.New energies strive toward the light –the watching sun on high.Our nightmares and delusions,fear, panic – all are gone,for night is truly vanquished,and darkness overcome.Rhön Bruderhof, August 1928On an early copy of “The darkness has departed,” the poem is followed bya note in Emmy Arnold’s handwriting: “Jesus mentions, as the most importantthings, judgment, compassion, and faith. All three are one.”P O E M S & R H Y M E D P R A Y E R S:E B E R H A R D A R N O L D 68