winter sunrise

be still and know

I felt myself increasingly sink into a sad place today.  This afternoon I put on a Wintley Phipps CD and was greatly encouraged by this hymn:

Be still, my soul:  the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul:  thy best, thy heavenly Friend,
Thro' thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul:  thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul:  the waves and wind still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul:  the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still,  my soul:  when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Katharina von Schlegel
trans. by Jane L. Borthwick