by Andrew Taylor-Troutman

They say Jesus went to the wilderness
driven by none other than the Spirit.
There must be something gracious
found in trials.
                           You, who have been

through much, it is time to rest awhile.
Some of the most barren and desolate
places are also the most beautiful.
You must sit. Feel your weariness

down in your bones. Be still and know
your exhaustion. Stripped of perfection,
you may live with expectation,
but not agenda. True enough,

there is “wild” in wilderness.
Yet, in trials, there must also be rest.

Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of Gently Between the Words: Essays and Poems and pastor of Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 

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