THANKSGIVING
Our Father, whose unchanging love
Gives soil and sun and rain,
We thank Thee that the seeds we sowed
Were planted not in vain,
But that Thy hand the year hath crowned
With wealth of fruits and grain.
But more we thank Thee for the hope
Which hath our solace been,
That when the harvests of our lives
Have all been gathered in,
Our weary hearts and toil-worn hands
Thy welcoming smile shall win.
We thank Thee for the cheerful board
At which fond faces meet,
And for the human loves that make
Our transient years so sweet;
We thank Thee most for hopes of heaven
Where love shall be complete.
Though on some dear, remembered face
No more the hearth lights shine,
We thank Thee that the friends we loved
Are kept by love divine,
And though they pass beyond our gaze,
They do not pass from Thine.
If at the harvest feast no more
Our words and smiles shall blend,
We thank Thee that, though sundered far,
Our steps still homeward tend,
And that our Father’s open door
Awaits us at the end.
UNDER ROOFS
Between us and the starred vasts overhead
Broad-builded roofs we spread,
Thus shutting from our view the wonders high
Of the clear midnight sky;
Yet all our roofs make not more faint or far
One ray of one dim star.
Our souls build o’er them roofs of dread and doubt,
And think they shut God out;
Yet all the while, remembering though forgot,
That vast Love, changing not,
Abides, and, spite of all our faithless fear,
Shines nevermore less near.