Poems of the Heart and Home Part 30

Yet, anxious Soul! dost thou not hear Him say, "Cease thy vain groping,--lo, I am the WAY,-- The way to G.o.d,--the one unerring Way?

All other paths will lend thy feet astray, I only, WISDOM, am the path that lies 'Twixt man and G.o.d the Sovereign of the skies!"

Seeker of Truth!--long hast thou striven to find This only boon that satisfies the mind Through Nature's stores the treasure hast thou sought; Hast traversed all the boundless fields of thought, Questioned the lonely night, the laughing day, The ocean-depths, the founts that ceaseless play, Old h.o.a.ry mountains, cliffs, and caverns lone, Earth's secret depths--mysterious, unknown, Asked of the past, the present, future, striven To pierce the mysteries unrevealed of Heaven, Yet weary and unsatisfied remained, Longing for Truth, still far off, unattained,-- That truth which _satisfies_ the anxious quest, And with the attainment, bringeth _perfect rest_.

"I am the TRUTH!"--saith Christ,--O, wearied one!

Tired of thy fruitless search beneath the sun, Accept this boon, so sacred, so divine, In simple trust, and all thou seek'st is thine-- Truth that makes free,--that falsehood cannot dim,-- In full completeness all made thine in Him!

Lover of life! say, what wouldst thou not give, To know that thou eternally shouldst live?

Is Death a thing from which to shrink with dread?

The dreary valley dost thou fear to tread?

What wouldst thou give to pierce the unknown Dark That lies before thy feebly tossing bark.

And know what anchor in that unknown sea, Or wreck disastrous, there awaiteth thee?

Dost trembling cling to this frail thread of life, Through pain, and doubt, and weariness, and strife, Rather than trust thy dimly groping hand Its hold to fasten on that unknown land Whence none return, its secrets to declare, And tell what bliss or rum waits thee there?

Well mayst thou cling to Earth, unless thy ear Opened has been, the voice from Heaven to hear,-- To hear the Christ, amid Earth's wearying strife, Its toil and tumult, say "_I am the_ LIFE!"

"_I am_ THE LIFE!"--oh, then, undo thy clasp On this frail-being, and with deathless grasp Lay hold on Him, in whom, by whom alone, The bliss of Life Eternal may be known!-- Failing in this, how deep must be the gloom-- The unpierced darkness of the lonely tomb!-- In this succeeding, what exultant day O'er all thy future pours its blissful ray!

Is light a blessing?--He's the soul's clear LIGHT-- The blessed DAY-STAR, scattering the night!

Is peace the sweetest boon to mortals given?-- Jesus is PEACE made manifest from Heaven!

Is love the bond of life, beneath, above, In Earth, or Heaven?--His highest name is LOVE!

ROCK, REFUGE, REST. a SHIELD in conflict dire, Around His saints A WALL OF LIVING FIRE, STRENGTH, HOPE, REDEMPTION, RIGHTEOUSNESS divine; FAIREST AMONG TEN THOUSAND fair that shine On hills Of light by high archangels trod, Judah's stern LION, spotless LAMB OF G.o.d; THE SON OF G.o.d, THE SON OF MAN, THE BREAD OF LIFE, with which each heir of Heaven is fed; THE RESURRECTION from the dust of death; AUTHOR AND FINISHER of all our Faith; G.o.d's manifested thought--Eternal WORD By whom creation's eldest depths were stirred; ALPHA, OMEGA, FIRST, LAST, JEHOVAH, MAN!

So ends my song just where my song began!

JESUS!--"He saves His people from their sins!"

_Thus end all praises, where all praise begins!_