Our wayside planet, carrying land and wave,
Love and life multiplied, and pain and bliss,
Bears, as chief treasure, one forsaken grave.
Indeed, whatever wonders or beauties this earth possesses, none of them can compare with that "one forsaken grave." Without it, our lives are ultimately, as Shakespeare put it, like a "tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing" (Macbeth). Without it, ultimately there is no hope, for death would mean the end of everything for us. "But," as Paul tell us, "Christ is indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (I Corinthians 15:20). As a consequence, now we can be certain that, John Donne writes:
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And Death shall be no more: Death thou shalt die.
Hallelujah! May we ever cherish earth's "chief treasure"--the empty tomb!
Image: The myrrh-bearing women at the Empty Tomb, by an unknown artist, at the Basilica di Antapollinare Nuovo, in Ravenna, Italy (6th century), from stillblondafteralltheseyears.com