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The Ministry of Sorrow

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 16, 1916

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 57.

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The Ministry of Sorrow

By Elizabeth Cornell Martin

ELIZABETH CORNELL MARTIN
At night when the shades are fast falling, And the sun is far down in the west, When the stars all above me are shining, And I linger a moment to rest, I think of the day that is ended, Of the sorrows and joys and the pain, How I long to have nothing but sunshine, And never the clouds nor the rain!
But then, as I think of the great men, Of the sorrows they bore all the years, And the cares, and great trials and sadness, The bitterness, pain, and the tears, I know that their lives were thus measured, For the Father in heaven must know How much sorrow each one of his children Must have ere in beauty he grow,
Ah, yes, that is why he sends sorrow! To make us more perfect and true, To smooth off the hard and rough places, And make us all shining and new; For those thus made lovely and holy Are the ones whom the Father hath loved: He sent them the trials to mold them And fit for his kingdom above.