Seek First the Kingdom - The March of Hope - Part Two

My view was larger than life; the panorama before us was brilliant.

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Photo by Jeff Kingma on Unsplash

The March of Hope, Part 2

The March of Hope
The March of Joan of Arc
With saintly sister Thérèse
Made its way toward the kingdom

My view was larger than life
The panorama before us was brilliant
The mountains were tall
And the valleys echoed deeply

Far below I could see a garden
As pure as the Virgin Mary
It was youthful and alive
It reminded me of young Thérèse

I saw a beautiful man and woman
They were living in complete freedom
They had only to obey
To keep the fruits and joys in the garden

Many others appeared on the horizon
Joan of Arc showed us time as well as space
The couple’s freedom made everyone happy
The color and joy reminded me again of Thérèse

I saw tears come to Joan of Arc
The beautiful land had lost its color
All the people were sick
The couple was in self-locked chains

The couple had given up their freedom
By stealing from God when he was not looking
They threw away God’s beauty and meaning
They made a poorer world for themselves

Suddenly I was in tears too
My chest was heaving, I hurt
Because I saw my saintly sister Thérèse
The couple’s chains made Thérèse sick, too

Then a glorious light flashed
God loved his people
He promised to save them
Through a new couple, Virgin and Son

Thérèse struggled up to a mountain top
She offered the Son her sickness
As a sacrifice for others
I cried as she mentioned me by name

Joan of Arc whispered to me
“Through the Son, the people are free”
The world was recast in gold and light
Brighter than ever before

And this is why I march
With St. Thérèse and Joan of Arc
Thérèse is my sister dear
Joan of Arc my leader, Daughter of God so near

~ Walter Emerson