"Pathway of Pain"

If my days were untroubled

and my heart always light,

would I seek that fair land

where there is no night?

If I never grew weary

with the weight of my load,

would I search for God's peace

at the end of the road?

If I never knew sickness

and never felt pain,

would I search for a hand

to help and sustain?

If I walked without sorrow

and lived without loss,

would my soul seek solace

at the foot of the cross?

If all I desired

was mine day by day,

would I kneel before God

and earnestly pray?

If God sent no winter

to freeze me with fear,

would I yearn for the

warmth of spring every year?

I ask myself these

and the answer is plain,

if my life were pleasure

and I never knew pain

I'd seek God less often

and need Him much less,

for God is sought more often

in times of distress.

And no one knows God

or sees Him as plain

as those who have met Him

on the "Pathway of Pain."

(Carole E. Tighe)