O God, Dear God... ================== Pancratius · CC0 · EN · poem #5 O God, dear God, lay open wide my heart, teach me to hope, to trust, to love anew. I have not seen You, yet I walk with You, let Your light through the dark make plain my road. I sought a foothold in the world's vain whirl, I fell, I rose, again I walked the dark. But on all roads, amid the crowd's conceit, You alone remained in the deep unending part… O God, dear God, do You hear how I call? I walk through wind, through blizzard and through snow. My road is lonely, and my step half-dead, yet in my soul a hope, like living April, glows. I sought my comfort in the noise of earthly days, in glory and in plenty, in shameless power's gleam. My heart was freezing in the soul's own cold, and that flame I chased then gave no warmth, no dream… O God, dear God, pour radiance on my sight, light up my paths, grant me to see through gloom. I have not seen You, yet You are life's last shore, let my road be walked in purity and bloom. I bowed down low before the thunderheads, I drank the world's deceit and bitterness from the cup, but in the dark of night a ray broke through to me — unearthly light, which only You hold up… O God, dear God, give ear unto my voice, I walk through time, through fear and through my pain. You alone light up the heights for me, You alone burn on through the dusky winds, and stay. I “found” my answers in a world of empty air, I fell and wandered through the lies and dark. But in You alone I found the light of dream, the eternal road, the joy — that too is who You are… O God, dear God, lay open wide my soul, grant me in Your own radiance to find rest. I will pass through the shadows, let it burn within — the little flame of the holy, shining quest. I sought a foothold in the mortal voices' din, I heard the earthly noise — I did not find You there. But in the hush of prayer, in the eternal skies, You sound like love, like the light of being, everywhere… O God, dear God, my heart has risen anew, all worldly shadows have sunk into the dark. I sought for answers, I longed for miracles, but in Your love I came upon the spring. In hours of suffering You were with me unseen, in days of my unrest You did not leave my side. Now I am risen, in my heart a sacred light has lit the road of the eternal height… O God, dear God, to You I give my all, Your light is in my heart forever, undimmed, alive. And with You now I go, no longer lost, in Your eternity, in Light, I am reborn!!!