Wednesday, May 2, 2007

A Hymn for the May Maze

The month of May is a busy maze of fieldwork, gardening, graduations......at least around this farm and household. Here's a rather appropriate hymn penned by American poet John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) in 1867:
******************************************
"Within the Maddening Maze of Things"
******************
Verse 1:
Within the maddening maze of things,
When tossed by storm and flood,
To one fixed trust my spirit clings;
I know that God is good.
Verse 2:
No offering of my own I have,
Nor works my faith to prove;
I can but give the gifts He gave,
And plead His love for love.
Verse 3:
I know not where His islands lift
Their fronded palms in air;
I only know I cannot drift
Beyond His love and care.
Verse 4:
I know not what the future hath
Of marvel or surprise,
Assured alone that life and death
His mercy underlies.
******************************
I like that.....the thought of faith as a "fixed trust". And verse 4 offers a simple prescription for living each day. Mr. Whittier was a Quaker, involved in politics and the antislavery movement of his day. He condemned what he considered the hypocrisy of a nation that was founded on ideals of freedom but allowed slavery.
*********************