My Brother Suffering

Oh my strange brother suffering!

You who come forth to meet me

disguised as my worst enemy.

How I have misjudged you!

I have evaded your presence!

I have rejected the purification you offer me!

You who oblige me to leave behind

my superficial way of life

and you make me descend

into the profundities of Life.

You who bring me down low

from my pedestal of pride and self-sufficiency,

you humiliate me

and make me feel my neediness and fragility.

You who remind me of my sins and infidelities

and take me to my Divine Beloved, my Creator.

It is through you I have discovered

His immense Love for me.

My faithful companion,

you who accompany me in my encounters with Him.

You have overheard everything,

you are the witness

of the intimate sharings of our love.

Your purifying fire is converted

into the Living Flame of His Love.

How to thank you, oh dear friend?

In the presence of my Beloved

I perceive your true face

and you are changed into joy.

You accompany me in the light of day

and in the shadows of the night,

even in the deepest sleep

of my tiny slumbers.

You take me by surprise when I least expect you,

and you disappear when I don=t need you.

You are like the wind,

which cannot be trapped by the schemes of the mind.

Oh brother suffering,

you who conceal a gift of love for me,

you who are the price

of my courtship with my Divine Beloved,

you who are the Abirth pangs@ of our Love.

How to thank you, oh brother suffering?

There is no other way

but by embracing you with love.

Francis Elmo