Rescue

Last night, I prayed for rescue, for an answer to my pain
It wasn't fair, I told Him, all this trouble, all this strain
I cried I couldn't manage, I was weak and I was lost
I couldn't face the future and I couldn't meet the cost

I visualised a mighty hand that plucked me from the storm
And set me down upon a beach, where all was safe and warm
But then there boomed an awesome voice, I knew it came from Him:
"Get back into the water, son, you're learning how to swim!"

Will Hames, November 2008

Busy Man

He clearly is no thinker
Barely educated, little sense of humour
No way with words, no fine artistic skills
And yet he has his busyness, doing what he can
He wastes no time in dwelling on his limitations
Too absorbed in getting on with all the life he has
And who am I to look down on him
When my own mind and heart are filled
With all the things I cannot do?

Will Hames, November 2008

Who Rules the World?

She has her wants, and some of them are needs
But who can tell where needs end
And the whims begin?
She is so vulnerable, fragility her strength
For who can stand against the needy and say “No”
When “No” is nothing but the truth?

I have my wants, and some of them are needs
But all I crave is harmony
And so I let myself be ruled
Because to take a stand for what I know is right
Will lead to battles I’ve no stomach for
A world is shaped around the strongest will
And in her weakness
She is Queen

How long can this go on? How long before the whimsy
Eats away the very bedrock of our lives?
Seen from outside, I am the ruler of this little state
I have the health, the strength, the wisdom drawn from time
Among real people, real objectives, triumphs and disasters
Unafraid to go out into the world
Whenever need or fancy call me through the door
So all the obligations fall to me
But all the power I could bring to bear
To carve our lives into a noble form
Lies uncollected at her feet.

Will Hames, Nov. 2008