When I look all around in this world 

There appears so much darkness and pain;

Deep heartbreak and sorrow abound

Hearts fight, and they lose once again

Such strange “truths” we hear everywhere

That mind begins to grow faint,

At the strength and the waves of these forces 

And the ever returning complaint

But You are our light, Dear Lord;

You are the Love, and the Good

That the heart of every man looks for

As we wander through valley and wood

You are our savior, you make

All things in the end turn to right,

You are the glorious dawn

That follows the bleakest of nights 

It is true we fight daily, and then 

We get up and we do it again,

And our nose is so close to the grindstone

That it’s hard to feel we can win

But you have a better perspective 

Your eyes see all in true light,

And true battles are won in stages

By inches hard gained through the night

It is hard to feel progress when we wake 

To the battles we fought yesterday,

But if you think this battle worth fighting

We’ll fight by your side every day

Our trust is in you, dearest Captain

You are our heart and our reason,

You give to this ragged battalion

The courage to fight against treason

We trust that you know all the things

You see every warrior’s plight,

And if you will keep us at battle

We know you will make things all right

Our hearts we will steel, and our eyes

We will keep on our Captain till dawn,

We trust in your reason and command

We will win this battle and go on

Courage, then – hearts on the line!

For this battle, so strange can be won

Only by bravest of warriors

Who hold past all bearing, and still gun

For strange battles reap dear rewards

And highest honors go only to braves,

Such fighting wins more than a bag –

This testing true warriors makes 

So we fight to help others, and help 

Our Cap; but plan still he betters; 

By fighting for others, we earn

Our own wings, and release from our fetters

For he teaches our hands how to fight

And teaches hearts courage to gain,

He helps us reject and to war with 

That darkness that makes beasts of men

He never loses sight of one soldier

For any battle – be it ever so grand.

In this is his goodness tested;

Even a sparrow can’t fall from his hand

This Man we can never out-give,

For everything received he gives more,

He matches our efforts times a hundred

Then adds eternity to the score 

Heart is safe in these hands — soldier

No better commander can find,

Let us trust in his heart, we who can

He cares for us, body and mind 

If he cares for the sparrow then he

Cares for our heart, and the things 

Left behind; He will keep our affairs

And when we come home from the wings

Of his service afield we will find 

Our concerns all kept by his hand, 

He is making our life’s story better

Than anything we could have planned

Rest now, dear heart; trust 

In his arms, these battles are our making, 

When we come through the world’s last night,

We’ll be brighter than gold on our waking

~ Beth Frances 🌸

Discovering Goodness Journey The Path of the Disciple Beth and Bear Courage perseverance strength The Battle Worth Fighting