The Next Covenant

Don’t despair, my people.
      Lift your drooping heads.
Focus your eyes on the sky.
      There I am bringing something new.
In the days ahead I will come to you again.
      Like light returning to the sky
      I will jewel your air with song.
In the night wind you will hear me.
      The day will shout my shine.
I will save you from the tangle of technology
      and the loneliness of your loves.
I will bring you peace and praise.
      The Lord himself will be your Star.
Don’t look on a hill or in the sea
      because I will not be there.
You can search for me in libraries and museums
      but my face will not be there.
Long ago you climbed mountains to find me.
      In groves of great oaks you heard my voice.
But in that day I will come from the stars.
      On an unknown world I will be known again.
Your fathers journeyed through the desert.
      In sandblown wastes they lived and moved.
But your children will travel
      on folds on time to worlds unknown.
And there, above a barren plain,
      I will come to you in light and song.
Who will open their arms to receive the Lord’s gift?
      Who will we choose to carry the message of the Lord?
She who is humble and loves knowledge,
      a woman of heart and goodness.
      The helper will help humankind.
She will speak my words
      and lead the lost to a new land far from Earth.
And there I will fill your empty hearts.
      From the sky I will come to you.
I will fill you with new water.
      From cloudless skies rain will fall.
Your bodies will run in a thousand rivers.
      Gardens will grow in your limbs.
Praise will shine from your mouths of steel
      and your tongues will bloom in song.


—Eric Nelson