Stay

Stay. I want to run away
Run to sleep, or run to play
But today I sense God saying,
Stay.

What would happen if I stayed?
If I trustingly obeyed?
Declined temptation’s cunning call,
Declined to run away at all?

Would I cry? Would I pray?
Would one become the other if
I would choose to stay?

Such a weight of living!
Failures endlessly
Time advancing, merciless—
Easier to flee.

God’s love alone has power
To fight the inner war;
He understands the unseen things
That make us what we are.

Lord of all things possible
Grace to light the way
Help me let my demons go
And in Your Presence, stay.

By Linda Abner

(Linda Abner is a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Indianapolis.)

The Criterion