If, at this date in life,
I can, with some semblance of grace,
Throw light upon the path
Of fellow travelers,
Or bring the balm of healing
To some aching hearts or limbs;
If only I may assuage some grief,
Revive some dying dream—
Dear God, that's all I ask.
You know no time or limitation,
No lessening of the animus divine,
No dimming sight or faintness of perception,
No coldness, hardness, dulling the sublime.
It's not how long I walk these paths that matters,
But that I walk in light and grace and love;
What matters is that, of the light Thou givest,
I've kept a gleam that comes but from above,
Resisted threats of weariness and heartache,
Rejoicing from within, despite the load
That would incapacitate the heart's warm sharing
And slow the steps taken to break error's hold.
Let caring rouse my every thought to action,
Let patience balance all in scales divine,
So that Your goodness will be seen in living
That shines on clear, undimmed by wear of time.
