by Isaac Alamantus

Created on: July 17, 2008

"Of Better Things"

Many years through the wilderness
I aimlessly have walked,
Stopping every here and there at
Stations and rest stops -
Many years in dry, dry deserts,
Empty and unstocked.

Then one day I found a Rock,
A great foundation stone.
I clutched to it and felt its shade,
And it soothed my weary soul.
I knew that I was here to stay,
That this should be my home.

I hewed away that desert Stone;
I made its surface flat,
And built with wood of great Oak Tree.
My home looked great - In fact,
That house, it stood through many storms
And still it stayed intact.

After sev'ral years, the desert 'round
Sprung up in fertile green.
And flowing just a throw away,
Began to flow a Stream.
Never had I ever thought that
Life be this serene.

Life in this house grew comf'table
And laze swept through my mind.
All this happened on its own,
It was no work of mine.
I used that pleasant founding stone
And wasted all my time.

One day there was a mighty storm that
Let out such a roar;
The Stream swelled up and flooded out
And burst right through my door.
With a start, I looked about: an
Ocean with no shore.

I knew not where my house had gone,
I floated questioning.
Why today sweep home away?
I have lost everything!
Is nothing left worth living for...
What shall this Great Tide bring?

Swept away with questions running
Deep all through my thoughts;
Then mind and soul lose all control,
The Rock is all I want!
Carried by a mystery, I reach
The shore I sought.

Wherefore bring me misery,
Accursed little stream?
Wherefore crush my house and home
And all my lazy dreams?
I cursed the storm, I cursed the sea,
But all for naught, it seems.

For when I turned about, I fell
Right down to my knees.
I stayed right there in quiet awe;
My clothes dried in the breeze.
My name engraved on mansion brave -
A humbling mystery.

Long there I sat, my heart gone slack,
Before I went inside -
I sat ashamed with who I was
In all my selfish pride.
'How could this be,' I thought to me,
'That this could be my prize?'

Such wonder in the lovely house,
The house I now call home -
This mansion give as gift to me
By Stream and desert Stone.
My heart is filled with gladness and
I let my tired mind roam.

On precious Stone with mighty Wood was
The mansion made for me.
And etched by Water was the plaque
Which said whose house it be.
Before too long, my mind found peace
In these strange mysteries.

Oh God, my Rock, my Founding Stone,
Who maketh my life steady.
Oh Savior, Jesus, Oak of Life,
Whose sacrifice was deadly.
Oh Holy Ghost, my Stream of Change,
Who leads when I am ready.

Teach me, Lord, of better things,
And ready me for change;
You fill my life with comfort then
Thrust me into the strange.
Lead me, Lord, to better things and
Free me from my cage.

For as a bird takes comfort with
Its cage; its narrow truth,
Yet knoweth not of open air which
Was made t' soar free through,
Was I before my Lord and God
Shook me from narrows, too.

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