Salena Hadin Ma Thaniyama

With a trembling heart, all alone, in the midst of a sandy desert,
I cannot set my feet alone in the midst of thick darkness
alone in the dark of night, upon desolate ground,
in this darkness, will you come to me, my God?

Crossing the desert, worn and weary, I go on searching, searching,
I go on seeking the lamp-light that cuts through the dark
in the shade of the lamp-burning Lord I will spend my life
the journey is not lonely, my Lord, I come along with you

“I am the way, the truth, and the life,” I too become,
having heard the words you spoke, I come seeking you
you are the light for my life, Christ my Lord,
the lamp-flame shining in the darkness, you are my God

I saw you come, breaking the darkness, bringing the light,
erasing the desolation and loneliness, I sing your praise
you made even the human heart light, this I know,
carrying the lamp and the light, I come to you

This is a hymn of a pilgrim soul crossing a dark wilderness toward the light of Christ. It opens in a frightening place, “with a trembling heart, all alone, in the midst of a sandy desert,” where “I cannot set my feet alone in thick darkness.” The desert and the night are the ancient images of a life without God, and the singer’s first cry is a question full of hope, “in this darkness, will you come to me, my God?”

The middle verses answer that fear with a search and a discovery. “Worn and weary, I go on seeking the lamp-light that cuts through the dark,” and once he finds it, he vows to live “in the shade of the lamp-burning Lord.” And then the loneliness lifts entirely: “the journey is not lonely, my Lord, I come along with you.” The dark road becomes bearable, even good, once it is walked in company with God.

The song reaches its centre by quoting Jesus’ own great words from John’s Gospel, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Christ is named “the light for my life,” “the lamp-flame shining in the darkness.” And the ending is pure resolution: “I saw you come, breaking the darkness, bringing the light,” and, carrying that light himself, “I come to you.” What the listener is left with is the movement of faith from fear to fellowship, a frightened traveller alone in a dark desert who finds that the Light of the World comes to meet him, walks the hard road with him, and turns a lonely wilderness into a way home.