The Vision Of Brother Thomas

Behold, it was not a dream.......but yet it was:
An ever crescendoing cloud, I saw;
A malevolent, creeping midnight,
Fencing up the ways of men, that they cannot pass;
And setting a darkness in the pathways
Of princes, men of reason and war,
And voices famous in the congregation:
Such as dwell in the nighttide,
Amid the shadow of death;
Being bound in affliction and iron;
Consumed by a fire not blown.

They shall look unto the earth,
Beholding trouble.......a dimness of anguish.
Amidst foundations out of course;
And they are driven to a union of casuistry.
Therefore do they beckon the euphuistic one
To mollify and conjoin, in a subtle dance of death.
He cometh in with vanity and flowery words,
Though his name be covered in darkness,
And he opened his mouth in blasphemy
Against God and all that dwell in heaven;
Declaring war upon the saints and all that is fair in His eyes.

Straightaway speaketh the Lord unto His elect:
Discretion shall preserve thee.......
And understanding shall keep thee;
To deliver thee away from the evil that seekest thee.
For My candle will I shine upon thee,
And in My light shall you pass this darkness.
Yet now the ravens sing; for they will come upon you;
Grim and growling as the gray wolf.
Stand and prevail, that thy heart may be found faithful;
For thou art My battle axe and weapon of war,
And with thee I will break the darkness asunder.

They shall hold the bow and the lance;
They are cruel, and will not show mercy:
Their voice shall roar like the sea,
And they shall ride upon mighty horses;
Every one in array, as a man off to war.
The sound of battle carries over the lands;
The noise of a multitude; the tumultuous blaring
Of the kingdoms of nations gathered together.
Then shall the Lord muster His host,
To fight as when He fought in the day of battle;
And He shall smite with the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.