Dear Lord...
Please grant that I shall
Never waste my pain; for...
To fail without learning,
To fall without getting up,
To sin without overcoming,
To be hurt without forgiving,
To be discontent without improving,
To be crushed without becoming more caring,
To suffer without growing more sensitive,
Makes of suffering a senseless, futile exercise,
A tragic loss,
And of pain,
The greatest waste of all.
-- Dick Innes
I found this poem in a random google search on Hosea 2:14. I found it interesting that the poem was in a sermon preached on my birthday six years ago, since I've taken this verse as my "own".
