STRENGTH OF LOVE

[MIRIAM JACOB]

STRENGTH OF LOVE


Your strength, O Lord, not mine

My good intentions, hope,

Hung on a fraying rope

About to break –

And my mistake

Was to call for help to late

And all the weight

Of pride that made me fall,

Yet you were all

I needed- Your strength, O Lord not mine!



Your strength O Lord, not mine,

Trying to fight the impulse on my own,

This bird had flown,

Too soon, too proud,

Now bowed,

With broken wings

No longer sings.



Your strength, O Lord, not mine,

I asked for that strength too late

Flew through the gate

Where sweet temptations wave their golden blooms-

Their sweet perfumes

Give lie to rotten roots,

The tainted shoots

Crops of forbidden field

Why did I yield?



Your strength, Oh Lord, not mine,

The strength of love, hard

As a diamond, shines

Through my sorrow, bends

To restore me, raise me up

Fill my cup with joy

I will not earn, when will I learn

That it’s your strength, O Lord, not mine?


© PAULINE GRIFFITHS