I live for those who love me,
For those who love me true;
For the heaven that smiles above me
And awaits my presence too:
For the human ties that bind me,
For the tasks by God assigned me,
For the bright hopes left behind me,
And the good that I can do.
I live to hail that season,
By gifted minds foretold,
Where men shall live by reason,
And not alone by gold—
When man to man united,
And every wrong thing righted,
The whole world shall be lighted,
As Eden was of old.
I live to hold communion
With all that is divine;
To feel there is a union
"Twixt Christian hearts and mine;
To profit by affliction,
Reap truth apart from fiction,
Grow wiser from conviction,
And fulfill each grand design.
I live for those who love me,
For those who know me true;
For the heaven that smiles above me,
And awaits my being too;
For the wrong that needs resistance,
For the cause that lacks assistance,
For the future in the distance,
And the good that I can do.
