Poems (Hoffman)/The Christian Life

by Martha Lavinia Hoffman

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

'Tis glorious to live and know
 That my Redeemer lives,
And that where'er my footsteps go
 A lamp of light He gives.

'Tis happiness to live and know
 That life shall never wane;
For though man dieth here below,
 Yet shall he live again.

To live and know that not for time
 Each thought and deed shall be;
But for (oh, calling grand sublime!)
 For all eternity.

'Tis wonderful to live and find,
 In all below, above,
The stamp of the Infinite mind,
 The story of God's love.

To live with guardian angels near
 And peace an hourly guest,
To face the darkness without fear
 Amid the storm to rest.

To feel the strivings of a soul
 That nevermore can die,
Longings whose wide, unbounded goal
 Is immortality.

'Tis beautiful to die and feel
 This earthly house decay,
Then rise and seek with new-fledged zeal
 That mansion far away.

To bid the stream of death roll on
 Though rolling very near;
To say, "The chilling tide is gone
 There is no river here."

'Tis glorious to live and know
 That my Redeemer lives,
And that where'er my footsteps go
 A lamp of light He gives.

Tis happiness to live and know
 That life shall never wane;
'Tis Christ for me to live, but oh,
 To die is endless gain!