O God! I thank thee for each sight
Of beauty that thy hand doth give;
For sunny skies and air and light;
O God, I thank thee that I live!
That life I consecrate to Thee;
And ever as the day is born,
On wings of joy my soul would flee
And thank thee for another morn;
Another day in which to cast
Some silent deed of love abroad,
That, greatening as it journeys past,
May do some earnest work for God;
Another day to do and dare;
To tax anew my growing strength;
To arm my soul with faith and prayer,
And so reach heaven and Thee at length.
--Caroline Atherton Mason.
"INTO THY HANDS"
Into Thy guiding hands;
Along a way thy love and care forefend
Gladly I fare, or rough or smooth may bend
The longest road that leads at life's far end
Into thy hands.
Into thy chastening hands:
If e'er I yield to weakness or to sin,
Blind to the guerdon Thou dost bid me win,
Bring Thou me back, by Love's sweet discipline,
Into thy hands.
Into Thy healing hands;
No hurt of soul or body long enthralls,
The bruised heart that for thy succor calls
When, far from doubting as from fear, it falls
Into thy hands.
Into thy saving hands:
Despite assoil, infirmity, mistake,
My life a perfect whole thy power can make,
If Thou my shards of broken purpose take
Into thy hands.
Into Thy keeping hands;
As safe as Heaven kept the guarded Grail--
So safe, so pure, so compassed as with mail--
The soul committed, e'en through Death's dark vale,
Into thy hands.
Into thy loving hands;
Who made my heart to love made Thee my guest;
Who made the world to tire made thee my rest;
My joyful heart I give, at thy behest,
Into thy hands.
--Louise Manning Hodgkins.