I, too, once opened
my heart to happiness!
Everything around me
I heard speak of holy love;
I wept at others tears,
suffered at others pain;
ah! to that lost enchantment
who will return me one day?
I wept at others tears, etc.
From Verdi Nabucco
In the golden years of early youth,
My heart was filled with pristine love.
I marveled at transport to the gates of heaven,
Beholding the Savior and the angelic hosts.
Yet, as time wore on my vision became dim.
It seemed as if I were enclosed in impenetrable fog.
Nevertheless, I struggled on,
Making the best of a defective condition.
In the unavoidable course of life
We are encumbered with necessary tasks
That tend to cloud spiritual view.
And which bring distress.
There is found the restoration in the Scripture:
“Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience
by the things which he suffered” (Heb. 5:8).
There is, then, the perfection of suffering.
This mode of suffering yields
Closeness to the suffering savior,
We thus enter into a new relation with Him,
Securing the radiance of the lost enchantment.