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O'Reilly, John Boyle - In this brief life despair should never reach us
Identifier
013527
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
John Boyle O'Reilly – from Songs, Legends and Ballads
In this brief life despair should never reach us
The sea looks wide because the shores are dim
The star that led the Magi still can teach us
The way to go if we but look to Him
And as we wade, the darkness closing o'er us,
The hungry waters surging to the chin
Our deeds will rise like stepping stones before us
The good and bad – for we may use the sin
A sin of youth, atoned for and forgiven
Takes on a virtue, if we choose to find;
When clouds across our onward path are driven
We still may steer by its pale light behind.
A sin forgotten is in part to pay for,
A sin remembered is a constant gain,
Sorrow, next joy, is what we ought to pray for
As next to peace, we profit most from pain