Celebrate this month — Easter Sunday is coming.
I am celebrating Easter this month.
I took a poem I drafted a few years ago and revised it and gave it a title, “This I Believe,”
This I Believe
Jesus said, “I am he who lives,
And was dead, and
Behold, I am alive forevermore.
Amen.” (Revelation 1:18)
This I believe!
Foreboding darkness covers the land;
Jesus hangs on a cross.
He cries, “It is finished.”
Life ebbs away; bowing His head, He dies.
Earth shakes, lightning flashes,
Rocks split, graves open,
Saints are raised, seen among the living.
The temple veil is rent, top to bottom.
Great is the fear that falls on all people.
This I believe!
Away slip the disciples, hearts full of sorrow.
Dead is the One in whom they’ve hoped–
His body’s sealed in a tomb, guarded by soldiers.
Death seems triumphant.
Frightened, in a darkened room,
They hide behind locked doors.
This I believe!
The third day dawns; earth shakes again,
But instead of darkness, a great light shines.
An angel descends to roll back the stone.
Guards shake; in fear, fall like dead men.
On the rock sits an angel who speaks to
The women — the ones who love Jesus,
“Do not be afraid for I know
That you seek Jesus who was crucified.
He is not here, for He is risen as He said.
Come see the place where the Lord lay.”
This I believe!
Peter and John hear
A strange tale from the women.
Dare they believe? Can it be true?
To the tomb they hurry. They enter.
They see Jesus is not there
He is risen. He is alive.
This I believe!
Remember the words of Jesus,
“I am
The resurrection and the life.
He who believes in Me
Though he may die
He shall live and whoever
Lives and believes in Me
Shall never die.”
This I believe!
The same Spirit that raised Christ
From the dead lives in me.
That same Spirit gives me life,
And the life that I now have
Is in Christ. I live, yet not I,
But Christ in me.
This I believe!
Through His death, Jesus ransomed
Me from darkness, forgave my transgressions
Though they were as scarlet,
He has washed me white as snow
In Him
I am
Alive
Forevermore.
This I believe!
© 2016 Alice Nine All rights reserved.
You really must come on over
and celebrate at Discover Play Build
with Ruth Ayres and others who have linked in
to share their celebrations this week.
Thank you, Ruth, for hosting a place
for us to celebrate with you!
#Celebratelu
What a wonderful Easter poem. I really enjoy how you turn the Biblical verse into your own verse. It helps me see it again anew. And the refrain is joyous!
Thank you, Amanda. It must become to each of us our own verse, mustn’t it? There is joy in believing.
JOY was in the air then and it is in the air now as Easter renewed the earth. Join me in creating a springsational poem, Alice (http://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2017/04/invitation-to-springsations.html.
You’ve declared a powerful statement, Alice. I hope you had a blessed day.
Thank you, Linda. It has been a lovely day.
This I believe is a beautiful recounting of the Easter story, Alice. Last night when we were at the Easter vigil, I wondered what the women thought when they went to the tomb and found an angel there. I hope you had a wonderful Easter Sunday.
What an amazing experience they had! And I wonder at the joy Mary must have felt when she heard Jesus say her name.