Parables for the People

For Allyson

THE SENSE OF GOD

by Rev. Lawrence Keister

In a quiet hour there came to me
A sense of God as good;
More sweet than ever before I knew,
And truer to me than ever true;
So sweet and so true, and yet so new,
The sense of God as good.

In a trying hour there came to me
A sense of God as wise;
Who ruled my heart with a gentle hand,
And lead me away from the sinking sand,
And bound me close with an unseen band,
The sense of God as wise.

In a trustful hour there came to me
A sense of God as near.
My God was great and my God was good,
And came to my heart, and there He stood
While I bent low, as anyone would,
When God, my God was near.

In a holy hour there came to me
A sense of God as love;
And with it came such a sense of rest
As human tongue has never expressed,
But belongs to those who God has blessed
With th' sense of God as Love.

In a happy hour there came to me
a sense of God as life;
A vision arose upon my soul,
The brightest I ever saw unroll;
The vision of life as one great whole;
And God, my God was life.