On Sowing

Fear not, O seed, to perish in the spring;
The pretty fields will only bloom awhile;
What though the earth doth greenest, gayest smile,
Its pleasures no true joy nor lasting bring.
Awinter thou wast safe in silo kept
From trial’s frost, unto this sowing hour,
But never barn could nourish what must flow’r,
However warmly there thy kernel slept.
But when at last in soil thou art lain,
Thou shalt see beatific, summer sun
And sprouting shoot rise up in thee again
As yet more perfect life be then begun,
Until in ripened plenitude of grain
Thy resurrection-harvest’s fully done.

—2/24/26

Beatific is an important word that maybe not everyone knows. It is half of the phrase beatific vision, which Sinclair Ferguson defines as “the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that we will see God” in a brief explainer at Ligonier.