Dear Lord, You’re not simply so close to me

And not only closer than most to me

You’re “closer than close”*, than

Heartbeat or breath, than

Even I am to myself**

+++

I wish I could stroll in the rain with my Savior

Beneath one umbrella we’d stay dry and warm

Not simply close, but

Closer than close, so

Lord, let it rain! Let it storm!

+++

And if I could skydive strapped tight to the Savior

Then hurtling to earth I’d feel safe ‘spite the fright

Not simply near to Him

Nearer than near to Him

Lord, turn my falls into flight!

+++

I’d love to climb mountains while roped to my Savior

Then struggling together we’d rise “to the heights”***

Not simply taut, but

Tauter than taut, so

Lord, on heav’n’s peaks set my sights

+++

I often repeat the “I do!” of the Bridegroom

For He is my All beyond all my desire

Not simply dear, but

Dearer than dear

Closer than close

Nearer than near!

May our hearts melt as one in love’s Fire

***********

*Credit for this phrase goes to Thora Kate Wease

**St. Augustine, Confessions: “Lord You were closer to me than I am to myself.”

***Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati’s phrase that he wrote on a photo of him mountain climbing