The Rock
by Paul Purdayhttps://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PaulPurdayPaintings?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
Joyfully I walk among the eternal hills
Towards the rippling edge, the shimmering water
This deepest English lake they call Wastwater
As beauty overflows and over-fills
With wonder, and the heart and mind fulfils
And now with onward look my footsteps take
A path onto the turf, but soon will make,
A spongy marshy course to damp my thrills
Each sinking step a possible mistake
As if through treacle I now move along
Hoping to reach the sky-reflecting lake
While mountains play their fresh eternal song
Almost I feel my steps did not belong
And from this latent dream I would awake.
I tread a rock, to stabilise my way
And know that God will always hold my hand
That though my ground seemed like the sinking sand
And though the view may draw my eyes away
The ground on which I stand would help me weigh
How I proceed or even stand or fall
Perhaps my route is to obey the call
And stand secure upon the rock that day
To learn a vital lesson where we all
Would learn that steps towards enticing views
That are but scenes that earthly loves recall
But this is where my heavenly hopes infuse
And bring a longing for those heavenly dews
A flow of Grace from God's own waterfall.
No longer do I sink, and His rainfall
Endues the head with boundless stores of Grace
The Rock is firm whatever should befall
I stand secure, this is the only place
That all can stand, and know the Rock is Christ
Who's love would every other love displace
And Grace and only glorious Grace sufficed
To show the beauty shining from His face!
This poem was a finalist in the
October 2023 poetry contest
