I Remember You

I remember you, my dearest childhood friend
My confidant, my companion, my protector to the end
I know you as well as I know my own name
I’m a lot older now, but you’re exactly the same

Yours was the hand that held mine when I walked alone
The voice that calmed me at the height of the storm
The face I saw when I closed my eyes to pray
The arm around my shoulders at the end of every day

I don’t know how or when I lost hold of your hand
And wandered away to follow my own plan
Adrift in a world where so much is wrong
Searching for something I had all along

The world’s ugliness and hypocrisy turned me inside myself
I believed in me and mine and nothing else
I thought I was so smart, so gifted, so urbane
Certain that someday people would know my name

But something was missing from every small success
I needed to share them with the one who knew me best
I was jaded and bitter, so I had to wonder why
Those childhood songs about you would always make me cry

I’m so glad you didn’t forget me while I wandered away
I know how it must hurt you for one of us to stray
Thank you for your patience, your love, and your grace
And for welcoming me back into your embrace

You were the place in my heart that nothing else could fill
Calling to me from the shadow of a cross on a hill
In a voice I knew well from sweet childhood memories
Telling me in song that yes, Jesus loves me

Each line on my face is a lesson I have learned
And I know you’re the prize for which I’ve always yearned
No longer do I wonder what it is I should do
Everything I need I find in knowing you