CRY OF THE HOPELESS

WHEN I’M WEIGHED DOWN

When I am weighed down,

when I’m hard-pressed by the weight of yesterday’s burdens

and feel like I am at my wits’ end.

When cares increase within me,

and doubts set in, such that I begin to doubt your presence;

Hold me up!

When I don’t know what I’m about,

and begin to wander for no apparent reason.

When despair, uncertainty and frustration become my lot,

hold me up and let me feel the warmth

of your compassionate and sweet embraces.

When friends let me down,

and I start to doubt the value of my existence,

and your providential care;

when betrayal and denial, desolation and hopelessness cloud my vision,

hold me up to trust your enduring presence.

When the future looks bleak and discouraging,

when I’m tempted to give up on you, myself and others,

when the thoughts of my daily commitments and charges

create tension and stress within me;

and try to wrestle from me the little peace left within ,

may your sweet promises resound loudly in my ears

and hold me up once more.

(THE REST OF THE STANZAS ......)

THE LANGUAGE OF THE WORLD

When all around you

Keep to unfair means to glory and atop

While you stand alone seemingly failing

And all think you a failure and hopeless;

Don’t worry, but know;

Cunning is the language

The world best understands

When you fall back to the ground

Expecting a hand to give you a lift

And you discover none;

As all give you a hand of indifference

Never get disturbed,

Remember  that coldness and insensitivity

Is the rhetoric of the unjust universe

When you diligently apply yourself

To tasks and aspirations;

When you keep sleepless nights

And have less a time for self

When all others take you a “workaholic”

And a “busy body”;

Worry not, for slothfulness

Is the ethic of a greedy world

(THE REST OF THE STANZAS...get one)