1.11.2019

Alone with the Alone


 A Poem by Sr. Natalie Sayde Salameh, MSCL

As human beings, we fear to be alone so much,
We crave the tongue that speaks, a hand to touch.

We move mountains to drown the quiet,
To erase the silence rather than try it.

Why do we fear to be on our own?
Perhaps to forget that within we sigh and moan.

Perhaps to forget the gaping hole,
The cravings that burn like red hot coal.

Why do we fear to be alone?
Perhaps we don’t want to hear ourselves groan.

Faced with ourselves, what can we find?
A soul that yearns, a heart that pines.

Perhaps a sadness that we could never fill,
An emptiness, so gnawing it hardly thrills.

But someone is there, waiting for you,
Who seeks you and speaks only what is true.

His name is Jesus, encountered in solitude,
He is the Bread of Communion, the soul’s true food.

He is there, waiting to meet us and bring us to Himself,
But to many He remains a stranger, a picture on a shelf.

We drown His voice with so much noise,
And distract ourselves with gadgets and toys.

But He is ever so close, so near to our hearts,
His love sets us on fire and pierces like darts.

He is waiting for us in the quiet of the Tabernacle,
Waiting to heal our wounds and release us from our shackles.

We may have periods of loneliness, but we are never alone,
He is always with us and by Him we are intimately known.

Do not be afraid to encounter Him in silence,
Do not run from Him in fear or defiance.

He loves us and wants to transform us into Him,
And our lives will be gloriously changed into one endless hymn.