SECURITY

If I had not been in this place
I would have missed so much.

I would not know the total assurance
That You are in control,
And my anxieties are wasted.

I would never have known
What it is to reach the end of everything,
To discover that it is just the beginning.

The relief of being at the very edge,
And find it holds no fear
Because that is where You are.

To have You help me
Stare terror up close,
And find it doesn’t have a face.

I would have only been able to guess
How much detail You control,
How You arrange all things for our good,
Even though we do not always know
That is what You are doing.

Now I am certain that You are with me,
Everywhere, all the time.
That I am Your child,
That I am in Your care,
That I am loved,
That I am safe.

(I wrote this poem in July 2002, on completion of follow-up treatment for cancer.)