“WHY?“
And as I scream, I lift my tear-stained face,
I shake my tight-clenched fist against the sky;
“WHY?“
This ceaseless, burning rage within my breast,
This ever-present grief that will not die;
“WHY?“
My future grimly dark and full of fear,
I beat the gates of heaven with my cry:
“WHY?“
**********
The answer comes: but not to tell of “why,”
It simply, calmly, points instead to “Who.”
“Peace. Be still … and know that I am God.”
“Be still? STILL? How?“
With all I suffer and with all I dread?
With all this fearsome trouble on my head?
“Yes, still. Be still and calm. Rest in My peace.
Set free the ‘prisoned beast within your soul,
Empty fear and let the anger go.
Be still … be still … be still … and know.”
“KNOW? What can I know?”
What certainty is there in all this pain?
What promise, what assurance can remain?
“Be still … and know …
Know I AM: Eternal, Almighty, and Wise.
Know in your heart what can’t be seen with eyes:
Know … that I am God.”
“Know … God?“
Creator and Sustainer, ever near,
Protector, and Collector of each tear;
The Loving Lord who bought and holds me dear.
A Savior Who has conquered every fear.
And suddenly, I can be still.
I’m still, and find myself with peace aglow;
And unexpectedly I really know.
Not “why,” that doesn’t matter, if it ever did.
The greater answer is Eternal Truth:
The universe is wrapped up in a “Who,”
And I am sheltered wholly in Him, too.
**********
I wrote this poem upon learning that my sister-in-law had a rare and deadly form of cancer. It seems appropriate, these days, to share it with you.