Through the Wilderness

By Annelise St. Clair

The night is far and dark

and you are a single soul

wandering the waste places,

stretching wide as the years

the locusts have eaten.

And they say the only way out is through.

But each step is a day

and you feel your life slip

through the barren ground

beneath your feet, asking

How long?

Lord, why do you tarry?

Return the life to each footfall,

restore each creaking joint,

ease the ache of burdened sinews,

lift the load too dense to bear.

Above, below, behind, before—

encircle the wearied walker

with mercy and comfort and care.

May you know your heavenly company

who carries you along the way

and one frosty morning—

soon, may it be!

you awake to find

you have journeyed through.

Contributed by Annelise St. Clair. Annelise is a on staff at the Harvard Program on Biblical Law and Christian Legal Studies.