No tent for you on Tabor;
no tabernacle there
where pilgrim crowds may savor
your presence on the air.
No structures; only shining
too bright for mortal eyes,
our sense no more confining
the life that yet will rise.
O Christ, what is this vision?
The Law and Prophets speak
as if they knew your mission,
the end of all you seek.
What is this brightness’ shadow
that falls upon us here?
What is this voice that shatters
and racks our hearts with fear?
And then—O Lord!—it’s over
as soon as it was there.
The barest hint of glory,
yet more than we could bear.
You were revealed before us
more bright than shines the sun:
Prepare our hearts to hold this
for endless years to come.
—Kate Bluett, “No Tent for You on Tabor” © 2023 by Kate Bluett. Reprinted by permission.
This text can be sung to HERZLICH TUT MICH VERLANGEN (7.6.7.6 D), the tune of “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” providing a thought provoking musical juxtaposition.