(Spem in alium, by Thomas Tallis)
Heaven, not a place, a door to the eternal,
opening at the touch of love,
the sound of singing spilling out
around us and above.
Springs of life are bubbling up
in the harmony of voices,
so sweetly carrying us along
as everything rejoices.
The divine is surrounding us
in bird song, and in wind,
it’s not a far off paradise
but close at hand I find.
No need to think of dying or
clouds and angel’s wings,
we open heaven’s treasures
in ordinary things.
Sunlight on a raindrop, or
the sigh of sea on shingle,
a blackbird song at dusk, all
with our senses mingle.
We are part of nature’s choir,
human voices blending, with
all creatures great and small
their contribution lending.
Sing together, sing for love,
sing for joy and laughter,
all creation joins with us
it’s here, and not hereafter.