A Traveler’s Prayer

O Father, who didst Abram call
To leave his father's earthly hall
And led him, though he did not know
The land to which Thou bad'st him go,
Teach us to likewise follow Thee
In all, although we here don't see.

Fear

Perfect love casteth out fear. 1 John iv. 18.

If perfect love shall cast out fear,
How faint and cold my love must be!
How can I to my Saviour bear
So little as I feel and see?

I fear the thing unknown to me
Lest it should bring some hurtful ill,
Yet this affront must surely be
Mistrusting of thy perfect will.

I fear the pain of those I love
And losing things I dearest hold,
Yet can I hold them thee above,
To less esteem thee be so bold?

I fear the evil of my sin,
And what for me it must portend,
As if I had no love within
Or me toward thee thou ne'er didst bend.

I fear the hellish bonds of death;
What throes shall be my final pain?
Yet thou hast said my latest breath
Is but the first of greatest gain.

Beset by fears on every part,
No pow'r is mine to make them flee.
O God! Revive my fearful heart;
Restore my wayward love to thee!

—On 1 John 4:18

Unser Herrscher, unser König

Lord our maker, Lord our master,
All our good in thee begun,
Glorious is thy reputation
For the wonders thou hast done:
Unto thee be praises given,
Deepest depth to highest heaven.

Psalm 134

Ye servants of the holy God,
Come, his majestic name to laud,
And even in the lonely night
Bring your Redeemer's praise to light.

The LORD is my shepherd

Jehovah is my shepherd dear;
He careth for my soul.
He is a helper ever near
Who keeps my spirit whole.
In pastures green and springing with delight,
He maketh me to rest;
With living water streaming bright
He bringeth me abreast.

Prompte et sincere

O Father, fix mine eyes above;
Avert my gaze from earthly toys,
And teach me in Thy perfect love
To find the source of all my joys.

Lost Love

The spring came warm, and warmed my heart,
And soon its life began to part
Me from the frost that froze me fast
And make my icy lifeblood start.

And then the summer came at last;
My heart began to make repast
On poems and clouds and lovely things,
And soon the deathly chill was past.

But autumn's come, with frosty wings;
The former hopes he downward flings
As every leaf, like all the rain,
And now my heart less often sings—

Shall I anew taste winter's pain?
I think I must, and yet I fain
Would spring and summer know again,
Would spring and summer know again.

—May 2012. After Robert Frost.

Easter Hymn

Jesus lives, and with Him I;
Whence, O death, is fright betaken?
Jesus lives, and so shall I
At His call from death awaken.
He in light hath clothed me hence;
This shall be my confidence.