The Living Way

“Out of nothing into nothing,” runs the ancient lore;
Man’s brief life a spark of glory, then forevermore
Quenched in emptiness and darkness, sea without a shore.

Out of darkness into glory – moderns say we go,
Falling back and climbing upward, painfully and slow,
Reaching thus the heights supernal; but God says not so.

Out of glory into darkness, God declares man fell;
By the way of his own choosing going down to hell,
Down to woe and death eternal; thus the Scriptures tell.

Out of darkness up to glory, God bids man arise,
By the Living Way of Jesus, mounting to the skies,
They who seek it for life’s journey are the truly wise.

And the Way of God’s providing is the only Way;
By the Cross it leads man upward now as yesterday,
Home to God and home to heaven, there to dwell for aye.

- Annie Johnson Flint -

background and graphics by Mary Stephens
vintage graphic: unknown source
Aug. 2022; CA