“Lighten the Darkness of Our Life’s Long Night”
Lighten the darkness of our life’s long night,
Through which we blindly stumble to the day,
Shadows mislead us; Father, send Thy light
To set our footsteps in the homeward way.
Lighten the darkness of our self conceit,
The subtle darkness that we love so well,
Which shrouds the path of wisdom from our feet,
And lulls our spirits with its baneful spell.
Lighten our darkness when we bow the knee
To all the gods we ignorantly make
And worship, dreaming that we worship Thee,
Till clearer light our slumbering souls awake.
Lighten our darkness when we fail at last,
And in the midnight lay us down to die;
We trust to find Thee when the night is past,
And daylight breaks across the morning sky.
~ painting by Mary Charles
