Our Father! through the coming year
We know not what shall be;
But we would leave without a fear
Its ordering all to thee.
It may be we shall toil in vain
For what the world holds fair;
And all the good we thought to gain
Deceive, and prove but care.
It may be it shall darkly blend
Our love with anxious fears,
And snatch away the valued friend,
The tried of many years.
It may be it shall bring us days
And nights of lingering pain;
And bid us take a farewell gaze
Of these loved haunts of men.
But calmly, Lord, on thee we rest;
No fears our trust shall move;
Thou knowest what for each is best,
And thou art Perfect Love.
--Eliza Cleghorn Gaskell.
Forever in their Lord abiding
Who can their gladness tell;
Within his love forever hiding,
They feel that all is well.