I don't know if I should post this here or in the poetry section. I'm choosing to place it here because of the spiritual content. Being held in the arms of Jesus is not where I find myself on a daily basis although I am starting to find myself there more and more. In my mind, it is a safe and secure place where I always long to be. A place where nobody can use or hurt me.

I realize that the thought of being held in the arms of Jesus may be offensive to some. That again is why I place this post here where I hope one would expect to fine such references. Please understand that no offense is intended.

Hold me

Hold me in your arms Jesus
Hold me close in your strong and mighty arms.
Let me hear the sound of your heart Lord.
Just let me hear the beating of your kind and loving heart.
And if I should shed a tear,
Just hold me close and let the teardrops flow.
Close to your heart Lord.
Close to your kind and loving heart.

Touch me where it hurts Jesus
Touch me with your gentle healing hands.
Set me free from this nagging pain Lord.
Just set me free and heal the pain within my hurting heart.
And if I should shed a tear,
Just hold me close and let the teardrops flow.
Close to your heart Lord.
Close to your kind and loving heart.

Wipe away my tears Father.
Wipe away the tears that never seem to stop.
Let me sing a new song Lord.
Just let me sing a new song of praise to your Holy Name.
And take those tears that I’ve shed,
While held so safe within your arms,
Replace them with laughter Lord,
Laughter from your kind and loving heart.

The story behind the poem:

At the time I wrote this, I worked in a skilled nursing facility where I taught the certified nursing assistant class. I had just come out of one of the residents rooms and returned to my office. The resident had been watching CNN, The news story was about a case of CSA. I was very "triggered". Anger, tears and all the rest.

As I sat there, the words of the first verse started to form in my mind and within five minutes I had the first verse on paper. No sooner was that done, than one of my co-workers came into my office and sat down across the desk from me. It was obvious that she had been crying.

She told me that now that she had gone through chemotherapy and had one brest removed and had no hair, her husband had asked her for a devorce because he needed a complete woman. I wanted to go find the #%#^! and kill him but insted, all I did was to push the paper I had been writing on across the table to her for her to read.

We both cried.

When I see her again, she will be complete, and so will I. And Jesus will hold us all in his arms.

Hang in there

Darrel

THE DAY, A POEM CAME TO ME

Till then,
my life had been
a sad story.

Till then it was all bad
and gory.

But that day,
something changed within me
as I decided to thank Thee,
for giving a second chance to me.

That was the day,
I set myself free
as a poem came to me.

That was the day,
my life became
a poem.

Thanks Morning Star

Darrel, Your poem/prayer is beautiful. I can't imagine it offending anyone here, no matter what their spirituality. It says what so many of us have said. There seems to be a need to be held in the arms of a strong man who will protect us and love us and make the hurt go away. I know that even as a small child, that was a fantasy of mine. I would be alone in a wilderness of some kind, not knowing what to do, and a strong man would appear to rescue me and to love me and to take care of me. That was before I had any memory of my abuse. For so many of us, the things you describe were taken from us at such an early age, and we have felt their loss all of our lives, and still ache for them is mature men. If you are of the Christian faith, what better de>

As a young man, I wanted so badly to heal the miseries of the world, while actually I wanted to heal my own. When I was looking for a saviour all around I was looking for me.

Who can provide us with hope or healing than the one who made us. Rest, we are just mortal men.

The best thing we can do to Save the World would be to allow God to heal us. I wish we would allow him to heal us more willingly, so that healing would be joyous rather being painful, it becomes painful only when we are not alllowing growth to happen quickly.

When it hurts something is aching to come out, it might be a new tooth or a broken one.

Darrel,

I think any of us, regardless of their spiritual orientation, can learn something from your poem.

Maybe the first would be that we can't do this on our own. We need to recognize our need for help and to ask for that help.

I think another would be that the harm done to us was spiritual as well as physical, our need for support as we heal also needs to include a spiritual dimension.

Much love,
Larry

Darrel,
An awesome poem with a wonderful spiritual feeling, warm, welcoming, safe. Thank you for sharing. Peace, Andrew