Sunday, May 4, 2014

Exaltation: A Journey into Light

Image ©2010 Rose Braverman

©2014 Susan Noyes Anderson

The road of life is rough and steep
with little ease along the way.
Some rivers cut and plunge so deep
they throw us back to yesterday.

We pick up things along the path
to carry with us as we go.
They weigh us down when times are hard
or lift us up and help us grow.

Quite often, we can see the light
that beckons from beyond the shade,
but other times the view is dark
and progress must be blindly made.

It matters not; the trail is marked
by twists and turns beyond control.
This is the journey all must take
to sanctify the human soul.

To bend, not break is our desire
and by His hand we will succeed.
A sacrifice was made, well made,
and God alone knows what we need.

In His own wisdom, we reside.
I would not thwart His will with mine.
And yet I cannot help but dream
of gentle stream, of soft sunshine.

Why must the storms come crashing through,
the waters roil and rise so high?
The jagged rock looms slick and sharp;
the thunder swallows up the sky.

And we are left to brave the night,
a night that stretches on and on.
The moon goes out; the stars fall down;
hope flickers, wanes, is nearly gone…

And then a spark…a glow: sunrise.
The day is won. The Master’s grace
shall never yield to darkness, yet
He cedes to us our part, our place.

We lift the load, resume the journey.
Faith renewed, we carry on
with burnished hearts, the light in us
refined each time we wait for dawn.

His light will turn our hearts to gold
as we, in faith, await the dawn.

"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory 
of the Lord is risen upon thee." – Isaiah 60:1
Image ©2012 Brian J. Matis

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19 comments:

Pondside said...

Such a beautiful poem for a Sunday morning. I have surely had time in the past weeks of showing the house, to think, in my own way, about what you put so well "We pick up things along the path to carry with us as we go.
They weigh us down when times are hard or lift us up and help us grow".

Karen Mortensen said...

wow. I am speechless.

Annesphamily said...

Hi! I so love poetry. Love the photo too. Always a pleasure to visit you here. Catching up before it gets too late here. heehee

I know many bloggers know LaVoice at Thoughts from Meme's Corner (LV). She got very ill last week and they don't know what is wrong with her. If you'd like to send a card and haven;t already, let me know. You can e mail me phamilybusiness1@aim.com

Enjoy the week Sue!

Hugs, Anne

Grandma Honey said...

That reads like a beautiful hymn.

jen said...

It does read like a hymn. Know any good composers?

LeAnn said...

Sue, this is one of my very favorite poems of all that you have written. It is just so amazing. This must be published in the Ensign. This needs to be seen by many
I hope you won't mind if I use it sometime with your credit of course.
Just lovely and you will be deeply blessed for this one.

Gail said...

There was not a verse that I didn't like.

Your poem is filled with truth and the last two lines brought tears to my eyes.

Your gift, my dear, is awesome!

EG CameraGirl said...

As usual, I find so much to ponder while reading your posts. Your poetry is easy to read yet deep.

yaya said...

This would have gone great with my Relief Society lesson on Sunday! Maybe another time. So beautiful...thanks again Sue for inspiration shared.

carol l mckenna said...

Wonderful enlightening poetry and gorgeous photo to go with it for Y ~ xoxo

artmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)

Brian Miller said...

i will not thwart his will with mine...oy, i seem to relearn that all the time...smiles....def a nice reflection and worshipful....lots to take in and meditate on....hey i got your email notification...maybe yahoo and google stopped fighting...smiles...

Leovi said...

Beautiful poem! I love!

Unknown said...

This poem is filled with such hope. I really loved reading it.

karen said...

Beautiful - a wonderful reminder that we are not alone. We would learn nothing traveling an easy road. And if we stay quiet and listen, we always have the best traveling companion by our side.

Lola said...

Wonderful poetry filled with such hope and matched by a great photo!

Friko said...

A lovely poem, straight from the heart.

Sistas in Zion said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sistas in Zion said...

This was beautiful Sue! I'm finally back to reading my favorite blogs. With Google reader going bye bye it was hard to stay on top of my online reading, but I finally set up another blog reader so that I won't miss a beat. This was the perfect piece of poetry to welcome me back. Now I'm off to stalk your other posts…errr I mean catch up :)

kaykuala said...

The will of Providence and the strength of faith. Very much the ingredients for a wonderful life apparent in your poem. Great write Sue!

Hank