The Light of Understanding

LAURA GERAHTY

Pray in the silence of the listening night,
That God unclose dull eyes and give them light.

You may not seem to need surcease from pain,
You may not dread the call to work again;
Your path may be secure, you firmly shod,
For you have glimpsed the light that gleams from God.

Pray then for those who, through the listening night,
Wander in darkness yearning for the light.

One does not always learn from lip or eye
The anguish that is hidden 'neath a sigh,
Brave smiles draw curtains o'er the trembling breast,
When fears lie covered from the intruder's quest.

Pray for those brave ones who, this listening night,
Know not to find Love's all-sustaining light.

Mountains may separate and seas divide,
Loved ones be missing from the accustomed side.
In God we live—united, every one;
Hand clasped in His, no one can be alone!

Pray for the lonely. Angels of the night
Stoop to your prayers, and carry them the light.

Some may be famished, in the wilderness
Hungering and thirsting after righteousness.
We would a cup of water gladly give
From that deep well of Life by which we live.

Pray for the hungry, then, this listening night,
Pray earnestly for all: Let there be light!

For some a sickness that seems nigh to death
And brings foreboding with each heavy breath—
They need a prayer of strength and vigor given,
To crush the fears that bar their way to heaven.

Pray for the suffering, while this listening night
Pauses, then passes into morning light.

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