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:

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"Within the Maddening Maze of Things"

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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.

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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.

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Cyberhymnal link: www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/w/i/withinmm.htm