Pursuing Truth, Cultivating Virtue, Creating Beauty

Temptation slips around my feet, a tide
that rises—ankles, knees—and tugs and crawls
away. The sand deceives, seems firm, but slides
and sucks my feet beneath the muck—I fall.
Temptation crashes like a tempest wave
against my feeble work to rise, and down
with giddy rage it slams me. Hope to save
myself is lost. I fear that I will drown.
But Jesus, like a seaside cliff, resists
the current’s tug and drift. And Satan’s best
temptation wave can only break and hiss
against the rock that weathers every test.
I’m washed against this cliff, and climb to stand
on ground that’s strong and safe—not sinking sand.