Southern Christian Advocate

GOD
BOx
O thou Eternal One, whose presence bright,
All space doth occupy—all motion guide;
Unchanged through Time's all devastating flight
Thou only God. There is no God beside!
Being above all beings. Mighty one,
Whom none can comprehend and none explore:
Who fill'st existence with thyself alone;
Embracing all, supporting, ruling o'er;
Being whom we call God; and know no more.
In its sublime research, Philosophy
May measure out the ocean's deep, may count
The sands of the sea shore: but God, for thee
There is no weight or measure. None may mount
Up to thy mysteries, or trace thy counsels, infinite and dark;
And thought is lost, ere thought can soar so high,
E'en like past moments in eternity.
Thou, from primeval nothingness, didst call
First chaos, then existence. Lord, on Thee
Eternity had its foundations. All
Sprang forth from Thee. Of light, joy, harmony
Sole origin. All light, all beauty Thine.
Thy word created all; and doth create.
Thy splendor fill'st all space with rays divine.
Thou art, and wast, and shalt be; glorious, great.
Life-giving, life-sustaining Potentate.
A million torches, lighted by Thy hand,
Wander unwearied through the blue abyss
They own Thy power, accomplish Thy command,
All gay with life, all eloquent with bliss,
What shall we call them? Piles of crystal light?
A glorious company of golden streams?
Lamps of celestial ether, burning bright?
Sun's lighting systems with their joyous beams?
But Thou to these art as the noon to night.
Yes! As a drop of water in the sea,
All this magnificence in Thee is lost.
What are ten thousand worlds compared to Thee!
Heaven's unnumbered host,
Though multiplied by myriads, and arrayed
In all the glory of sublimest thought,
Is but an atom, in the balance weighed.
What am I then! Nought!
Nought! yet the effluence of Thy light divine,
Pervading worlds, hath reached my spirit too.
Yes, in my spirit doth Thy spirit shine,
As shines the sunbeam in a drop of dew.
Nought! but I live, and on hope's pinions fly,
Eager, toward Thy presence; for in Thee,
I live and breathe and dwell, aspiring high,
E'en to the throne of Thy divinity.
I am; O God! and surely Thou must be!
Thou art! Directing, guiding all! Thou art!
Direct my understanding then to Thee.
Control my spirit. Guide my wandering heart,
Though but an atom midst immensity,
Still I am something fashioned by Thy hand.
I hold a middle rank 'twixt heaven and earth
On the last verge of mortal being stand,
Close to the realms where angels have their birth,
Just on the boundary of the spirit land.
The chain of being is complete in me,
In me is matter's last gradation lost,
And the next step in being—Deity.
I can command the lightning and am dust,
A monarch and a slave, a worm, a god!
Whence came I here? And how so marvellously
Constructed and conceived! Unknown! This clod
Lives, surely, through some higher agency,
Since, from itself alone, it cou'd not be.
Creator, Yes! Thy wisdom and Thy word
Created me! Thou source of life and good!
Thou Spirit of my spirit; and my Lord!
Thy power, Thy love, in their bright plenitude
Filled me with an immortal soul, to spring
O'er the abyss of death; and bade it wear
The garment of eternal day, and wing
Its heavenly flight beyond this little sphere,
E'en to its source, to Thee, its author there!
O thought ineffable! O vision blest!
Though worthless our conceptions all of Thee.
Yet shall Thy shadowed image fill our breast,
And with it, homage to the Deity.
God! thus above our lowly thoughts shall soar;
Thus seek Thy presence, Being wise and good
Midst Thy vast works admire, obey, adore,
And when the tongue is eloquent no more,
The soul shall speak in tears of gratitude.