If I can fill my place, calm and serene
And go through life with loving, kindly mien;
If I can live to show some other soul
The way to peace, the universal goal;
Then though my days be shorn of worldly gain,
I shall not feel that I have lived in vain.
If I can make some traveler's burden light
And help to make the dark days seem more bright;
If I can show by kindly actions meek
The way to find those treasures which they seek;
If I can show that love, when rightly viewed,
Is heaven—I have fed a multitude.
If I can fit some heavy heart with wings
Of hope, and faithful be in little things;
Can calmly smile and see beyond the woe
That seems to be, and serve and give and grow;
If I can fill my place in life and sing,
Then I have lived with God through everything.
