Saturday, September 13, 2008

Is The Cross You Wear Too Heavy To Bear? - Poem by Helen Steiner Rice

Is The Cross You Wear Too Heavy To Bear?


Complainingly I told myself,
“This cross was too heavy to wear!”
And I wondered discontentedly
Why God gave it to me to bear.

I looked with envy at others
Whose crosses seemed lighter than mine,
And wished that I could change my cross
For one of a lighter design.

Then in a dream I beheld the cross
I impulsively wanted to wear...
It was fashioned of pearls and diamonds,
And gems that are precious and rare.

And when I hung it around my neck,
The weight of the jewels and the gold
Was much too heavy and cumbersome
For my small, slender neck to hold.

So I tossed it aside, and before my eyes
Was a cross of rose-red flowers;
And I said with delight as I put it on,
"This cross I can wear for hours."

For it was so dainty and fragile,
So lovely and light and thin;
But I had forgotten about the thorns
That started to pierce my skin.

Then in a dream I saw my cross ...
Rugged and old and plain;
The clumsy old cross I had looked upon
With discontented disdain.

And at last I knew that God had made
This special cross for me;
For God in His great wisdom
Knew what I before could not see...

That often the loveliest crosses
Are the heaviest crosses to bear;
For only God is wise enough
To choose the cross each can wear.

So never complain about your cross,
For your cross has been blessed;
God made it just for you to wear
And remember... God knows best.

~ Helen Steiner Rice ~

(Note: this is not an endorsement of all this author has written, though I do appreciate this poem and several others.)

There seems to be several slightly different versions of this poem online. If anyone can email me a copy of this poem from a published book of her poems, I will edit this page to reflect the official version. Thank you.

2 comments:

  1. Yes - you have permission to post any of my poems on your page of poems. Just give me credit for composing it. (Aliene Sanchez)
    Also, if you don't mind post my blogspot somewhere so I can get more flow. I am fairly new at the blog world and all I want is to lift up the name Of Jesus. I aqm anxious to read your poems that you have posted. God bless!

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  2. Thank you, Sis Aliene. If I get an opportunity, I will post one today and put the link to your blog within that post, so others will be able to find it. May the Lord continue to bless you in your ministry to others.

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