Increase My Faith

O thou who know'st the secrets of the stars

Look in this heart, all lingering darkness rout

And see if there remains behind the scars

A love with strength enough to seek thee out.

For it is late, the years steal quickly past,

I cannot boldly press towards the light,

Give me the inner strength that I may last

Beyond the crowding shadows of the night

And patience to behold thy face again

Beyond the vacillating moods of prayer,

The remnants of desire causing pain;

For yet the vital clings to its despair,

The mind distracted focuses its aim

On too familiar things or circles round

Remembrances, forgetting that it came

To grow in spirit on the spirit's ground,

This earth we cherish more than heaven's throne.

When all is dryness, desolate and sere,

The future's face a blank, the soul unknown

Increase my faith to feel thy presence near.