Poems (Eddy)/Resolutions for the Day

by Mary Baker Eddy

RESOLUTIONS FOR THE DAY

O rise in the morning and drink in the view—
 The home where I dwell in the vale,
The blossoms whose fragrance and charms ever new
 Are scattered o'er hillside and dale;

To gaze on the sunbeams enkindling the sky—
 A loftier life to invite—
A light that illumines my spiritual eye,
 And inspires my pen as I write;

To form resolutions, with strength from on high,
 Such physical laws to obey,
As reason with appetite, pleasures deny,
 That health may my efforts repay;

To kneel at the altar of mercy and pray
 That pardon and grace, through His Son,
May comfort my soul all the wearisome day,
 And cheer me with hope when 'tis done;

To daily remember my blessings and charge,
 And make this my humble request:
Increase Thou my faith and my vision enlarge,
 And bless me with Christ's promised rest;

To hourly seek for deliverance strong
 From selfishness, sinfulness, dearth,
From vanity, folly, and all that is wrong—
 With ambition that binds us to earth;

To kindly pass over a wound, or a foe
 (And mem'ry but part us awhile),
To breathe forth a prayer that His love I may know,
 Whose mercies my sorrows beguile,—

If these resolutions are acted up to,
 And faith spreads her pinions abroad,
'Twill be sweet when I ponder the days may be few
 That waft me away to my God.

Written in girlhood.