January 21
THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
“I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of Life.”—St.
John viii. 12.
Light comes not only from the East,
But through far windows seen by few
In lands where they on manna feast,
With faith they every hour renew;
Light is not fixèd here or there,
For such it shineth everywhere.
In darkest nights there is a sun,
And sometimes from the West it breaks,
When lesser lamps their course have run
And all the inmost heart awakes;
Then beams a brightness not of earth,
Alike on altar and the hearth.
The souls that humbly watch and wait
'Mid bleak horizons black with sin,
And stand though in an iron strait,
Shall find a better day within;
When prospects are most blank and blind,
The morn is creeping up behind.
Dawn bursts not only on the eye,
Down in the sabbath of the breast
It kindles powers that cannot die,
And deeper rest beyond the rest;
For those, that catch its faintest gleam,
Have read at last the ages' dream.
