Poems (Hale)/A Mother's Counsel
A MOTHER'S COUNSEL.
"Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself."
The Mother of John Wesley
Whatever dims thy sense of truth, Or stains thy purity,Though light as breath of summer air, Count it as sin to thee.
Let not the world thy God dethrone Or from his smile divide;And count, compared with heavenly wealth, As dross all things beside.
Dim not the crystal of thy soul By sin's destroying breath:There lurks beneath its siren smile Dark treachery and death.
Preserve the tablet of thy thoughts. From every blemish free,While the Redeemer's lowly faith Its temple makes with thee.
And pray of God, that grace be given To tread time's narrow way: How dark soever it may be, It leads to cloudless day.