FATHER, I KNOW THAT ALL MY LIFE

[1]
Father, I know that all my life
each day can prove anew
that, in your hands, I will not fear
the changes that ensue:
I simply ask a present mind
intent on pleasing you.

[2]
I ask you for a thoughtful love,
through constant watching wise,
to meet the glad with joyful looks,
to heed the troubled sighs:
a heart at leisure from itself
to care and sympathize.

[3]
Wherever in the world I am,
whatever my estate,
I have a fellowship with hearts
to keep and cultivate:
a work of simple love to do
for you on whom I wait.

[4]
I ask you for the daily strength
to none that ask denied,
a mind involved in outward life,
still keeping at your side,
content to serve in humble ways
if you are glorified.

[5]
The service I am called to do
no bondage is for me,
my heart and soul are taught the truth
that makes your children free:
a life of self-forgetting love–
a life of liberty.