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Prayers: Pain

 

Be not afraid of pain,
For life and pain have been
Such close companions
Ever since the shell of darkness cracked beneath
The Warmth of light;
They say that even God felt pain
When, from eternal womb,
The sun was born.

Be not afraid of pain,
For it is the sure sign of life,
And where there's life, there's hope,
Though even hope itself will
Bring sometimes the pain
Of broken dreams.

Be not afraid of pain,
for it is but a hurdle over to be leapt,
A price to pay, a burden borne,
Before a real joy is known - the joy
Of being alive.

Be not afraid of pain,
For often it will make us
Search and find
Within ourselves a source of power
Hidden in the body, mind and soul,
Of our stricken life.

Be not afraid of pain,
For even though its cup we,
Ourselves,
Must hold and drink,
The touching of a friendly hand
Will give us yet again more strength to cope,
And when we grasp
The hand of God
We have the power of the universe
To ease the yoke
And make the burden light, and so,

Be not afraid of pain.

(Elwyn Davies, 'Pain' in Be Not Afraid, p. 11)