The poem “I Once Was Lost” includes a reference to a popular hymn you probably have heard of: Amazing Grace.

But have you ever heard of the author of the poem? Christine Mulvihill, is a girl from Canada who faced cancer at an early age and wrote many childhood cancer poems about her experience.

She wrote “I Once Was Lost,” in the midst of her journey, and you can read the full poem below.

Diagnosed with cancer at the age of three, Christine Mulvihill spent the next three years battling the disease. She eventually went into remission but later developed a brain tumor that took her life at age 17 on March 25, 2005.

Sharing her writing

Her dad, who later discovered her writing, wants to share her poems widely, to honor her life and raise awareness about childhood cancer. For more of her poems, see this website.

We all face difficulties at some point in our lives, whether cancer or not, and we certainly need help and hope to rise above the darkness.

I Once Was Lost can help inspire us to do that.

Here is Christine Mulvihill’s poem:

I Once was Lost

Here I am drowning in the sea
A sea of everything I don’t want to be
A sea of all my failures and mistakes
A sea of my tears and splitting headaches.

Waves of sorrow wash over my face
I go under with a silent grace
I fall down deeper in my depression
Deeper and deeper into my obsession.

I’m overwhelmed with all my faults
My skin is burning from the salts
Salts of what I could have been
If only I could have seen
What the future has in store
How soon I would reach the shore.

Now my storm dried up in the sun
Maybe I am a lucky one.

Now I’m walking on water because I have Faith
This tortuous dungeon I have escaped
I hold His hand as He walks me to land
I bend down and kiss the merciful sand.

So happy to have found happiness again
Now the sun overpowers the rain
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
I once was lost but now am found.

To read more about Christine’s poetry, see “Seven Insights from the Childhood Cancer Poems of Christine Mulvihill.”

For help with finding spiritual hope, read Knowing God Personally.

For advice with prayer, see Asking God for Help.

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Note: We are not doctors and we cannot answer your medical questions. However, we welcome your questions about finding hope and knowing God.