I Try

"There is strength found in quiet surrender..."

I try to gather strength

Like broken shards of glass

Smashed into unrecognizable pieces

As though self-determination alone

Will piece my health back together again.

I try to gather strength

Like bits of sand scattered

By the winds of affliction

As though I could stop the tempest

Wrought upon the surface of my life.

I try to gather strength

As though I can control the running

River and the course of waters

That flood and overwhelm my soul

With the tides of difficulties rising on the shores of my heart.

I try to gather strength

To fight against the rains of adversity

A storm that blows away pride and self-reliance

Breaking through any false shelters I have built

Until the nature of suffering humbles me.

I try

And then I surrender

To the futility of the task

And rest instead in the grace of the Almighty

And know that I am built on the Rock alone.

(By: Melanie Boutiette 12-6-2023; written while suffering with severe bronchitis and dedicated to my friend Mary Lu facing her serious battle of affliction.)