A song of living

A Song Of living

It is so good to be alive ;
To have deep dreams : to greatly strive
Through the day’s work :to dance and sing
Between the times of sorrowing _
To have a clear faith in the end
That death is life’s best ,truthful friend .

To be alive : to hear and see
This wonderful ,strange pageantry
Of earth ,in which each hour’s session
Brings forth a new unknown procession
Of joys :stars ,flowers ,seas and grass
In ever new guise before me pass .

To have deep dreams : ah me , al me !
To bring far things close by see ;
To have my voyaging soul explore
Beyond my body’s ponderous door .
To make my love from a thousand graces ,
Seen in a thousand women’s faces .

To greatly strive :perform my share
Of work : for the world grows more fair
To him who measures Time and Fate
By what his laboring days create-
For work is the voice that lifts to God
The adoration of sod .

To dance and sing :my body’s praise
For being fair in many ways .
It hath no other voice than this
To thank God for a moment’s bliss –
When art and heaven together trust
Joy to the perfection of the dust .

Times of sorrowing :yea , to weep :
To wash my soul with tears , and keep
It clean from earth’s too constant gain ,
Even as a flower needs rain
To cool the passion of the sun ,
And take a fresh new glory on .
To have clear faith :- through good or ill
We but perform some conscious will
Higher than man’s the world at best
In all things doth but manifest
That God has set His internal seal
Upon the unsubstantial real .

Jan Bagwell 07/04/09

THE CHRIST OF COMMON FOLKS

I love the name of Christ the Lord ,the man of Galilee ,
Because he came to live and toil among the likes
of me.
Let others sing the praises of a mighty King of kings;
I love the Christ of common folks , the lord of common things .

The beggars and the feeble ones ,the poor and sick and blind ,
The wayward and the tempted ones ,were those he loved to find ;
He lived with them to help them like a brother and a friend ,
Or like some wandering workman finding things to mend .

I know my Lord is still my kind of folks to this good day ;
I know because he never fails to hear me when I pray .
He loves the people that he finds in narrow dingy streets,
And brings a word of comfort to the weary one he meets .

My job is just a poor man’s job ,my home is just a shack ,
But on my humble residence he has never turned his back .
Let others sing their praises to a mighty King of kings ;
I love the Christ of common folks ,the Lord of common thing.
Jan Bagwell

O Night of Wonder

O night of wonder and delight !
O night of glory and surprise !
With one road stretching clear and bright
Before our eager ,dazzled eyes .
Drawn by the magnet of a star ;
Drawn by an unseen power we take
A silver road that leads afar ,
And follow it for Christ’s dear sake .

O King of Kings ,and Lord of lords ,
We fall before thy starlit throne .
Humble we are –there are no words
With which we fitly can make known

Our heart’s elation and desire .
We search for words we cannot find –
The air is drenched with silver fire ,
Too bright for eyes that are struck blind .

Accept our silence as high praise ,
Our rapture ,as a thing of worth .
We are stricken with the old amaze :
The strange sweet wonder of thy birth .
Jan Bagwell

THE HEART OF THE ETERNAL

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy ,
Like the wideness of the sea ;
There’s a kindness in His justice ,
Which is more than liberty .

For the love of God is broader
Than the measures of man’s mind ;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind .

If our love were but more simple,
We should take Him at His word ,
And our lives would be all sunshine
In the sweetness of our Lord .
Jan Bagwell

Faith and Hope

FAITH AND HOPE
When gathering clouds around I view ,
And days are dark ,and friends are few
On him I lean, who ,not in vain ,
Experienced every human pain ;
He sees my wants ,allays my fears,
And counts and treasures up my tears.

If aught should tempt my soul to stray
From heavenly virtue’s narrow way –
To fly the good I would pursue ,
Or do the sin I would not do –
Still he ,who felt temmptation’s power
Shall guard me in that dangerous hour .

When sorrowing ov’er some stone ,I blend ,
Which covers all that was a friend ,
And from his voice ,his hand ,his smile ,
Divides me ,for a little while ,
My Saviour sees the tears I shed ,
For Jesus wept o’er Lazarus dead .

And ,if when I have safely passed
Through every conflict but the last –
Still,still unchanging ,watch beside
My painful bed – for thou hast died ;
Then point to realms of cloudless day ,
And wipe my latest tear away .
Jan Bagwell

Lord , Take Away Pain

Lord , Take Away Pain

The cry of man’s anguish went up unto God ,
“Lord , take away pain ! –
The shadow that darkens the word Thou hast made;
The close-coiling chain
That strangles the heart ; the burden that weighs
On the wings that would soar –
Lord , take away pain from the world Thou hast made ,
That it love Thee the more !”
Then answered the Lord to the cry of His world ;
“Shall I take away pain ,
And with it the power of the soul to endure ,
Made strong by the strain ?
Shall I take away pity , that knits heart to heart ,
And sacrifice high ?
Will ye lose all your heroes that lift from the fire
White brows to the sky ?
Shall I take away love ,that redeems with a price
And smiles at its loss ?
Can you spare from your lives that would climb unto\
mine ,
The Christ on his cross ?”
Jan Bagwell

An Ode

AN ODE

The spacious firmament on high ,
With all the blue ethereal sky ,
And spangled heavens ,a shining frame ,
Their great Original proclaim .
The unwearied sun from day to day
Does his Creator’s power display ,
And publishes to every land
The work of an almighty Hand .

Soon as the evening shades prevail ,
The moon takes up the wondrous tale ,
And nightly ,to the listening earth ,
Repeats the story of her birth ;
Whilst all the stars that round her burn,
And all the planets in their turn ,
Confirm the tidings as they roll ,
And spread the truth from pole to pole

What though in solemn silence all
Move round the dark terrestrial ball ?
What though nor real voice nor sound
Amid their radiant orbs be found ?
In reason’s ear they all rejoice ,
And utter forth a glorious voice ,
For ever singing as they shine ,
“The Hand that made us is divine ! ”
Jan Bagwell