This roundel is based on 1John 2:23-24 which reads,

Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.  24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.

I was particularly taken with the twist of the phrase, “the beginning abides in you” which takes on a double meaning as St John is talking about what was first heard, but the new beginning in new creation.

The beginning abides in you. Do not doubt and fear
When the father of lies seeks your heart to hew
With disappointed looks, the aren’t-you-ashamed sneer.
What you heard from the beginning abides in you.

For in eternity past long before you knew
There was a Judge who sat above the world’s sphere,
He donned our humanity making one from us two.

Continue confessing, Christ who makes God’s love clear
Though the world makes ugly what is beautiful and true.
Abide in His love; his holiness draws near.
What you heard from the beginning abides in you.

© Randy Edwards 2016
artwork: Gustav Dore, The Creation of Light