To stand at the post of duty

Whether we rise or fall,

If this be a place of beauty,

Or the homeliest lot of all.

To walk with a soul undaunted

In the God appointed way,

Whether with praise enchanted,

Or in shadow land it lay.

The good of the world’s bestowing

Is vanishing as the air,

And its loftiest honors throwing

A burden of ceaseless care.

But to live as always seeing

The invisible source of things

Is the blessedest state of being,

In the quietude it brings.

For in all of the strife and clamor,

And the evil that is done,

We know that the Lord will finish

The good that he hath begun.

And we need not grope in blindness

Because of the dreadful days,

But sure of the Infinite kindness

May stand in the certain ways.

Oh! for a strong uplifting

And a courage that will stand

While the Judge of the earth is sifting

The peoples of every land.

Oh! Earth so full of the glory

Reflected from above,

We wait for your finished story,

In the faith of a deathless love.