In the beginning all lived in the light
Each creature was a glorious and noble sight
Every work was a joy, every burden light
All sheltered by a hand of benevolent might

Then one was tempted by a lofty goal
That she could be greater than her wondrous soul
She saw a little shortcut, took a little bite
Then began to sense that she should fear the coming night.

Her husband shared her misery by joining in her act
They sought the shadows to obscure their little selfish pact
Their trespass was discovered, their paradise was lost,
But still they could have no idea how much their sin would cost.

Their descendants travelled further from the true and rightful path
With pride leading to jealousy, to strife and deadly wrath.
Reckoning was more delayed from each sinner’s offence,
And so it seemed that shadows could deflect all consequence.

Filled with the thrill of their success, they honed deceitful arts,
And sought out deeper darkness to betray more trusting hearts.
They took great pride in their own guile and ingenuity,
As they dug down into the mire of dark iniquity.

Piece by piece, a gnawing hole grew in their sordid souls,
And of all those that they harmed, who played their sordid roles.
Vengeance was paid back in full and bitterness increased,
Transforming once majestic creatures into wretched beasts.

More and more they soaked in darkness, ate and drank the void
Hoping it would hide their degradation and avoid
The mounting pile of consequence, the troubling pangs of guilt
That festered in the putrid cores that they themselves had built.

They dug so deep, the mire collapsed and buried them alive
They did not dare admit they now had no hope to survive
Their deeds closed in around them, ‘til they were paralyzed,
And then they gave a feeble cry to Him they had despised,

The faintest pinprick of pure light then seeped into their hole
And grew, exposing all the wretchedness of their vile souls.
Ashamed and terrified, they scramble weakly, helplessly
Away from piercing truth’s fierce glare to foul obscurity.

But the light pursues them still, ‘til they surrender all,
Awaiting their destruction in hell’s deep fiery halls
But all the mire around and in them is then torn away
And piled upon an innocent who chose the suffering way.

He takes the pain, abandonment and suffering they earned,
Dies in their place for all the wholesome choices that they spurned
Their stains are all removed and their souls have all been freed;
He rises up in glory and then offers them a creed:

To follow in His footsteps, though they may stumble still;
He’ll catch them as they fall if they will only seek His will,
A whole new life before them, a noble worthwhile way,
A journey of abundant love towards eternal day.