‘It Matters Little’
“Therefore we are always confident”
It matters little whence this spirit life
Departeth unto God—
Whether from seas ‘profound’ it takes its flight,
Or from earth’s beaten sod.
’Tis unimportant, if the shell it leaves
As dust, be swept away;
Or if each atom, sunder’d far from each.
In ocean’s depths decay.
No change for me—whether or light or shade
Come upon earth or go;
Whether the tale, that once I lived a man,
Time doth efface or no.
Vain strife of tongues!
Ye rise not where on high
‘Graven’10, my record stands
Imperishable—howe’er described
Below by human hands.
And there for me God’s ‘Man of counsel’ stands,
My name upon His breast—
The Advocate, who knew each failure here,
Whose work secures my rest.
There ruleth He—while faith and hope and love,
These are my portion here,
Upborne by them I taste the “things above”
My spirit’s proper sphere.
Mid this wild rush and clang of “earthly things”,
Whose waves around me roll,
His Spirit, Pilot sits and steers my bark
Calmly towards its goal.
From Mutual Comfort—vol 10, 1917
