A Lull in Life
Oh, for “a desert place” with only the Master’s smile!
Oh for the “coming apart” with only His “rest awhile!”
Oh, for “a desert place” with only the Master’s smile!
Oh for the “coming apart” with only His “rest awhile!”
Many are “coming and going” with busy and restless feet,
And the soul is hungering now, with “no leisure so much as to eat.”
Dear is my wealth of love from many and valued friends,
Best of the earthly gifts that a bounteous Father sends;
Pleasant the counsel sweet, and the interchange of thought,
Welcome the twilight hour with musical brightness fraght.
Dear is the work He gives in many a varied way,
Little enough in itself, yet something for every day,
Something by pen for the distant, by hand or voice for the near,
Whether to soothe or teach, whether to aid or cheer.
Not that I lightly prize the treasure of valued friends,
Not that I turn aside from the work the Master sends,
Yet I have longed for a pause in the rush and whirl of time,
Longed for silence to fall instead of its merriest chime.
Longed for a hush to group the harmonies of thought
Round each melodious strain that the harp of life hath caught,
And time for the fitful breeze Eolian chords to bring,
Waking the music that slept, mute in the tensionless string:
Longed for a calm to let the circles die away
That tremble over the heart, breaking the heavenly ray,
And to leave its wavering mirror true to the Star above,
Brightened and stilled to its depths with the quiet of “perfect love”:
Longed for a sabbath of life, a time of renewing of youth,
For a full-orbed leisure to shine on the fountains of holy truth;
And to fill my chalice anew with its waters fresh and sweet,
While resting in silent love at the Master’s glorious feet.
There are songs which only flow in the loneliest shades of night,
There are flowers which cannot grow in a blaze of tropical light,
There are crystals which cannot form till the vessel be cooled and stilled;
Crystal, and flower, and song, given as God hath willed.
There is work which cannot be done in the swell of a hurring tide,
But my hand is not on the helm to turn my bark aside;
Yet I cast a longing eye on the hidden and waveless pool,
Under the shadowing rock, currentless, clear, and cool.
Well! I will wait in the crowd till He shall call me apart,
Till the silence fall which shall waken the music of mind and heart;
Patiently wait till He give the work of my secret choice,
Blending the song of life with the thrill of the Master’s voice.
“And He said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile; for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.” -Mark vi. 31.
Frances Havergal