Poem October 11, 1969 Issue

"THE LORD WAS WITH JOSEPH"

Genesis 39:2

Rosemary Cobham

As a child I wondered about Joseph.
How did he know that the Lord was with him?
How could he tell, down there in the dark pit,
In Potiphar's service, and later, in the deep dungeon?
Tides of hatred and envy ran always against him,
There was no certain sign of security,
No response to his universal, friendly outreaching.
How could he be so sure that the Lord was with him?

Have you been cast into depths of despair, yet
kept your sweetness?
Have you been enslaved by circumstance, yet walked
as free?
Have you been endungeoned in sorrow, yet comforted
others?
Forgotten by those you helped, yet not embittered?

Then you have known, like Joseph, that the Lord
is with you
As the sun is inseparable from the ray expressing it;
And the pit will yield up its victim,
And the dungeon will open its doors,
The servant be served with honor,
And he shall know that the Lord is forever with man,
As man, the beloved, is ever with the Lord.

Rosemary Cobham

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