If Not This, Then What?

What can I claim

And hold secure

Against the rushing

Torrent of life?

 

Not money,

Able to gain only that

Which crumbles and slips

Through one’s fingers.

 

Not ability or skill,

Though notable today;

In time and space,

Insignificant and fleeting.

 

Not family or friends,

With love and support,

Cannot guarantee even

Their next breath.

 

Not job or position,

Proudly held high,

Falls from one’s grasp;

Replaced by another.

 

Not all who think well of me,

As sentiment’s barometer

Falls precipitously

With new weather’s arrival.

 

Not power or control,

A banner billowing overhead,

Then wrenched loose

At the changing of the wind.

 

In all I survey,

There is nothing,

No, no earthly thing,

That shall endure.

 

In You alone, Lord,

Do I find my light and salvation;

My security and strength;

My soul’s eternal refuge.