University of Virginia Library


325

484.

[God is the plenitude of good]

God is the plenitude of good,
The Source, the Pattern, and the End;
The goodness on mankind bestow'd
Doth as a drop from Him descend,
And daily, if we still believe,
Out of His fulness we receive.
By faith we our Example trace,
And more and more like God appear,
Beholding Him with open face,
Transform'd into His image here;
Yet still we by reflection shine,
And own the glory is Divine.
To Him in all our steps we tend,
And fresh degrees of glory gain,
Living and acting for this end,
Till full perfection we attain,
Till of ourselves we cease to be,
Absorb'd in His immensity.