The day has awakened Lord
From the womb of the night
And once again I am on my way
In search of life
And all that gives life.
Each day is a new beginning
That carries the hope of finding
The life that truly satisfies!
It is the life that only you can give,
If I but open my eyes to see it!
I search for it everywhere
But it is right in front of me:
It is the promise of life in Jesus
And His enduring peace!
But, like many others,
I seem not to see it,
For I keep looking in wrong places,
Following wrong promises
That lead me to wrong decisions and choices!
When I thought I had found it,
It quickly slipped through;
For there is no life there,
No life out there,
Outside you, My Lord and God!
I often do everything well
Except the one thing I need the most:
To seek you and find you;
For in finding you, I find life
And true peace!
For this reason,
My Dearest Lord,
You call me to repentance;
Not to regrets and guilt:
These are not really profound
As they seem and sound.
Often, in truth, they are excuses,
Evasive emotions from the real change
To which your love invites me!
You call me to true repentance,
Which is a recognition, a knowing
Of the illusion I have been living in:
That I could make myself without you!
It is the recognition of the truth,
That it is illusion to live
Totally vested in anything in this passing world,
Pretending that I do not need You!
Until I feel it within me,
Until I feel the emptiness,
The void created left behind by every pleasure,
By everything – indeed everything, but You
My Dearest Lord!
No wonder, like many others, I seek excitement
Hoping to find happiness;
Pleasure hoping to find joy;
Fame and success thinking they give meaning!
But I am wrong – so wrong!
For my heart remains unsettled; searching
It is searching for life, for true life.
To find this life, I need to repent;
To recognize the truth,
This profound truth: that only YOU can satisfy;
Only YOU give true life.
Every other thing is great,
As long as they lead me to YOU!
When I repent, I find true peace,
Your promise to all your children;
When everything takes their place
In YOU!
I praise YOU,
My Dearest Lord!
Illumine my mind and inspire my heart
To bow down to the truth
And let it set me free,
And I will be free indeed.
Amen
Father Cornelius Okeke