Two Poems on Suffering

It's been a rough month. My last post touched on a news item that hit close to home, but there has been a lot of other bad news since then. We've had bombings in Boston (which also hit close to home, since I went to school there) an explosion in Texas, and earthquake in Sichuan, China, continued civil war in Syria, and a collapsed building in Bangladesh, not to mention countless other tragedies, many of which probably didn't get reported. All this bad news has caused me to think a lot about how messed up the world is. These are my best attempts at expressing my thoughts so far.

Waiting for Hope

We wait within this world of pain

Where sunlit days explode in fire

Directed by some dark desire

The shrapnel falls like April rain

We wait within this world of fear

With trembling rocks beneath our feet

Our shelters crumble in the street

And with them falls all we hold dear

We wait within these feeble frames

Where battles rage in every cell

The parts against the whole rebel

Or fall to famine, flood or flame

We wait – but if we raise our eyes

To look beyond our dying sun

In heaven sits the Living One

Upon whose wings from death we rise

We wait, and through the night we sing

Undimmed, the hidden stars still shine

Hate will give way to love divine

As ice dissolves in certain spring

And the second poem:

Prayer of Suffering

O God who hears our every plea,

When darkness blocks the sunlight’s beams

When bomb blasts shatter tranquil air

And cheers and laughter turn to screams,

We cling to hope that you are there.

O God of glory, fiercely just,

The cosmos rests within Your hand,

O master of each hurricane,

Although we do not understand,

We beg You for the grace to trust.

O Christ who bore our every grief,

Absorbed death’s fullest agony

When grief and pain impale our hearts

Back to Your spear-torn side we flee,

Your blood is balm for our relief.

O Christ who overthrew the grave

Within Your triumph we find peace,

We thirst for Your returning day

When You will cause all war to cease

And Your tormented people save.

O Spirit who grants every grace,

Infuse our hearts with mercy’s power,

To break the bonds of fear and pain

And even in this evil hour

With selfless love the night to face.

O Holy Spirit, living flame,

Send out Your glory’s radiant beams

To pierce the heart of evil’s throne,

Defeating dark, demonic schemes

And bringing honor to Your name.