When to the wilderness our Master went,
Three angel friends did bear him company:
Courage, the first, strong warder of the thought!
Amid the loneliness, distrust, and doubt,
Fearless and undisturbed he ably stood,
With heart unwavering, and with head unbowed.
Next, Patience, gentle handmaid of the heart,
Strong toiler, firm, and faithful as the day!
Ready to serve; no lesser joy she seeks;
Living to love. In loving, finding life!
The third staunch friend who watched through forty days
And forty nights with our untiring Lord,
Self-conquest was. He never left the side
Of that brave warrior, fighting for a world
As yet unborn; he failed him not through all
The weary days and hours of ceaseless toil
In this lone wilderness, this vestibule
Where matter is no longer 'throned in thought,—
Where Spirit's sense perceives true images.
Here he was tempted, like as we are tried;
Yet, without sin. In those long days and nights,
Kind Patience ministered; Courage forsook him not.
At length Self-conquest made the triumph sure;
And he stood forth true conqueror of the world,
The flesh, and every evil of its train,
Because of his sole victory over self.
Dear Father, when this wilderness we face,
And Love invites us, may we never pause,
Nor falter. Thy good angels wait us there,
To guide, encourage, bear us in their hands.
When we have learned the lessons, fought and won,
Like our great Master, may we forth again
With shining faces lighted from above.
All that was true before will true remain:
Nothing be lost, when self is found in Thee.
The dross consumed is proof that Love doth bless,
When in obedience we face the wilderness.
