Oh gentle presence, peace and joy and power;
Oh Life divine, that owns each waiting hour,
Thou Love that guards the nestling's faltering flight!
Keep Thou my child on upward wing to-night.
Love is our refuge, only with mine eye
Can I behold the snare, the pit, the fall;
His habitation high is here, and nigh,
His arm encircles me, and mine, and all.
Oh make me glad for every scalding tear,
For hope deferred, ingratitude, disdain!
Wait, and love more for every hate, and fear
No ill — since God is good, and loss is gain.
Beneath the shadow of His mighty wing;
In that sweet secret of the narrow way,
Seeking and finding, with the angels, sing;
"Lo! I am with you alway,"—watch and pray.
No snare, no fowler, pestilence or pain;
No night drops down upon the troubled breast,
When heaven's aftersmile, earth's teardrops gain,
And mother finds her home and far-off rest.
Copyrighted, 1893, by National Christian Scientists' Association.
