We were exiled from the Garden of Eden. \rIts sinless wonders nevermore to regain.\rSo every man on life's toilsome journey,\rMust enter the valley of pain.

We don't enter because of desire\rAnd it's certainly not a voluntary fare.\rBut, rather, it's a matter of destiny\rCompelling and forcing us there.

Eden's garden; its beauty so magnificent,\rCan't be reclaimed; it is a lost paradise.\rTrees of knowledge and life gone forever,\rWe are now paying consequences price.

The valley of pain is bleak and lonely,\rAnd all heartache must be suffered alone.\rThe petty and trite ceases to matter.\rWhen facing hurt as never before known.

In pain's valley, no restaurants exist.\rShopping malls can't be found anywhere.\rThere's no joy to be had from entertainment.\rThere are no parks, for it is no picnic there.

There are no banks in the valley of pain,\rNo theaters, no lounges, no beach.\rIn this valley, we have no lofty aspirations,\rSurviving the only goal we hope to reach.

Pain's valley in not a poor man's haven;\rWe'll find no comfort, or ease or rest.\rNor will we encounter family or friends\rFor this valley is one's own personal test.

Bitter anguish is experienced in this valley,\rA site of conflict on a titanic scale.\rA place of failing and spiritual torture,\rOf deficiency and interminable travail.

When we enter the valley of pain,\rWe no longer worry about unpaid bills.\rWe don't fret about outstanding car notes,\rWe don't care about acquiring new skills.

When we enter the valley of pain,\rWe don't dabble in vain vanity.\rFor this valley inevitably drives us,\rTo the very brink of human sanity.

When we enter the valley of pain\rFamily prayer just will not do.\rPraying in the church is insufficient,\rAnd social prayer is inadequate too.

We must find our own secret hideaway\rClose the door to the world and all its strife.\rWe must surrender ourselves to our God\rAnd let Him work a miracle in our life.

Saundra L. Washington is the author of two coffee table books: "Negative Disturbances, Homilies that Teach," and the book from which this poem is taken, "Room Beneath the Snow, Poems that Preach." She can be contacted at: http://www.clergyservices4u.org