The Angel of the Commonplace
By Marianne Farningham
LIGHTEN the morning, fill the day
With visions from the Infinite;
Throw hope across the soddened way,
Change the soiled robes for garments white,
And let us see through winsome grace
An angel in the commonplace. And bid her touch, O Lord of life,
The gloomy corners where we work,
Calling us forth into glad strife,
To places where no shadows lurk,
And bid us love our every day,
And see in it the shining ray. Let us exalt all common things
To high endeavor and great aims,
And see the glint of angel wings
Shining across familiar names,
And understand that it is given
To earth to be the door of heaven. O, homely faces of dear friends,
And household pictures in the fires,
And humble duties with wise ends,
And faithful loves and pure desires,
Could we not better lose than these
All unfamiliar joys that please? So greet the angel who reveals
The beauty of the homely task,
Who hallows every heart that feels
Content and glad; nor great things
ask—
God gives us eyes to see the grace
Of angels in the commonplace.