Questions & Answers
Thou sweet, beloved will of God, My anchor-ground, and fortress-hill, My spirit's silent, fair abode. In thee I hide me and am still.
Our senses can but teach what seems, Never what is; not truth, but dreams. The passing pictures fade away While yesterday becomes to-day; Neither the pictures while they fade , Nor the swift moments while surveyed, Are more than counterfeits which pass Mockingly mirrored on the glass.
"You call me Master, and you ask me nothing. "You call me the Light, and you do not see me.
Clouds fill the skies and hide the blue, Their leaden pall no light breaks through. Swift falls the rain, keen blows the wind, E'en storm-bird hastes to shelter find.
A song is in my heart, For blessings by the way; The old year now departs, And portals of the day Swing back and open wide For holier, new desires To enter and abide. May contemplation be, Each hour, O Love, of Thee— Then, when is passed the year, No vain regret, nor tear, But from the heart A song borne forth; A lay without alloy— My symphony of joy!
How fair is the world to-day! Are the skies cloudy, looks it like rain? See, they are surely blowing away, For now I have no more pain. Oh, listen to the music of that bell! In joyousness intense we stand, While its glorious echoes fill The waiting ears of the listening land.
Christmas returns. There comes again The cloudless sky, with stars alight; The shepherds' watch; the sweet refrain Of angels,—and the quiet night.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. —23d Psalm.
Beware thy fears! 'Tis Love that steers Thy ship through all the stormy years, However wide thy journey veers; And oft the cloud that drops its tears, Into a rainbow disappears. Learn faith! Beware thy fears! Be not afraid! Storms have waylaid Thy ship, but Christ before hath stayed The darkened waves; be not dismayed, For "Peace, be still!" must be obeyed, And Love's glad sunshine cannot fade.
There is no unbelief! Whoever plants a seed beneath the sod, And waits to see it push away the clod, He trusts in God. Whoever says, when clouds are in the sky, "Be patient, heart light breaketh by-and-by," Trusts the Most High.