Gone Astray

Oh my God ,

My Lord above,

How far I have strayed.

I find excuses, so many reasons

Not to pause a moment

In your presence.

I have this or I must do that,

Tomorrow I will pray.

I’ll take a moment to praise

And a little time to worship

Or so I keep saying.

Somehow tomorrow never comes

It just gets further away.

What if you, my Father

Were to do the same?

I would truly be lost

Without your precious abiding presence.

Then I would really have a reason

To complain and cry.

But that is something you never do.

You are always there waiting

For me to stop and listen.

To take some time in your love sublime,

To receive a refreshing.

You hold your hands out to me

Yearning for my attention.

But I just keep blindly walking

And hoping that time will come.

It is me who has kept

So far from you.

Oh my God forgive me

And hold me once again

In your tender embrace.

By: Ann Martin

August 2, 1999