Truly Loved, Truly Known (a poem)

Loved but obscurely known,

at ease can long endure.

Superficial at best,

intimately unsure.

Unloved but truly known, 

the deepest of our fear.

When pierced by rejection,

Short days become long years.

Unloved and hardly known,

lives of men are spent lost.  

Hurts beget solitude,

hearts hidden deep in frost.

True love and deeply known,

for heart doth yearn and long.

Freed from masking pretense,

humbled and rebuilt strong.

Loving and yet unknown,

Abba found His lost race.

This action all His own,

revealed Himself in grace.

Inspired by Tim Keller's book 'The Meaning of Marriage'.  

"To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial.  To be known and not loved is our greatest fear.  But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God.  It is what we need more than anything.  It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty live can throw at us."