Father, I thank you I thank you that today my mother is with her swans As I, her son, sit in a prison solitary cell I thank you that she sits in your presence I whom she has loved and served so faithfully She whom I have loved and admired I thank you that she is secure May your angels visit there as never before May your servants watch over and nurture her Speak Lord, breathe truth, destiny and healing May your Living Waters break forth in the desert You promised her we'd come into the Holy City She's there in a way, now with her swans Perhaps I am too, more than it feels I pray it is so Father of all swans, hold us close You called us to his path You ordained this Job's journey You will surely carry us through it There is nothing we encounter Which you have not foreseen All of life is in your hands As are we, in this moment So I look to you alone To bring us both to our swans With whom we can fly away in grace No longer ugly ducklings But home at last Forever with Father Swan Stephen Pursell, original: 4/9/04, revised: 9/12/14 During my years in prison I walked as a christian and thus was the object of much hatred for my ability to love those who are generally rejected by criminally-minded prison culture. My refusal to participate in prison inmate politics and my open demonstrations of love for my christian brothers(and others I reached out to in God's love) from varying racial and cultural backgrounds was feared and hated by men of evil intent. As a result I was physically attacked many times. Since the prison system does not care whether or not one is defending himself against an unprovoked attack and it only seeks to accuse, condemn, punish and abuse I was always thrown in solitary confinement for defending myself. I remember specifically(and recognize we the paper on which the original was penciled) that this poem came during one of those passages through solitary confinement due to persecution, one after which I had had to fight a man much bigger than me to avoid being abused even worse. But what a blessing to be persecuted for the the Lord and share in his sufferings! Hallelujah! |   |
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