WHY THESE TEARS?

March 15, 2003

If I believe my Loved One lives,
The very hope the scripture gives,
Then why these tears upon my cheeks,
That rend my soul for weeks and weeks?

Are they wholly self-concern?
Does my soul refuse to turn
Toward Him who with His every breath
Proclaimed our life; denied our death?

If I have lived the selfless way,
Guided by what scriptures say
And by looking at my Savior,
Why this "All is Lost" behavior?

Where is that enthusiasm
That so often spanned the chasm
Of unknown, uncertain ways
To end in glad triumphant days?

Am I to say, "Without her hand
It is impossible to stand
Against the foes we once defeated,
Before which now I have retreated?

Was it her hand that always led?
Or by God's Spirit were we fed?
If WE ate the Bread of Life,
Can I not stand without my wife?

God's Spirit seems to say to me
That I can be what He can see;
That if my eyes are set on Him,
The way I grope will be less dim.

So, Father God, here am I;
Lift my face toward Heaven's sky;
No more my call let me defer;
In full response, I'll walk with her.

HOME FROM THE PARTY

March 5, 2003

Again I saw my precious wife,
Not alive, but in a dream;
Again she dulled the painful strife
That renders lives not what they seem.

This dream flashed back across the years:
My youngest child was just fifteen,
An age of laughter, and sometimes tears,
Always child, yet still a queen.

The party over, she said, "Dad,
Let's go home and talk to Mom;
I want to share the fun I've had,
A junior in this senior prom".

Mom, a teacher, tired from grading,
Was asleep on our wide bed,
And gently, not her sleep invading,
Dad laid down at her feet, Glenda at her head.

What comfort those sweet feet gave
As I drifted off to sleep;
How many times they'd rushed to save
From pains that cause strong men to weep!

Her body sleeps and endless sleep,
Which none can say about her soul,
But here's a thought I'll always keep,
Her soul will always make me whole.

And so I know that even now
Angel feet run to our cause,
And I know that she somehow,
In our behalf, gives heaven pause:

She entreats God, in his great love,
To witness pain our sad hearts feel,
And by that love, from heaven above,
His kindest comfort to reveal.