LIFE IS WHAT WE MAKE IT.
By Sel.
The world is all dark, or the world is all bright,
Just as we choose to make it;
Our burden is heavy, our burden is light,
Just as we happen to take it;
And people who grumble, and people who groan
At the world and its every proposal,
Would grumble and groan if the world were their own,
With the sun, moon, and stars at disposal. It is all very well to have beauty and health,
But if these are denied, we must bear it;
It is all very well to have oceans of wealth,
Though we find if we must, we can spare it;
But healthy and wealthy, or sickly and poor,
We are wise to be hopeful and cheery,
There are blessings to lighten the ills we endure,
Though our lot may be ever so dreary. In the broadway of life, though we're jostled and torn,
There's a “beautiful gate,” at whose portal
The robes which the great and the lowly have worn,
Must be changed for the garments immortal;
And knocks he a beggar, or knocks he a king—
To the Master but little it matters—
Be his heart but in tune, he may enter and sing,
Though his raiment be sables or tatters. Not all can be noble, not all can be great,
But our lives with God's love we can leaven,
And whether of high or of lowly estate,
'Tis the same to our Father in Heaven;
The world may seem dark, or the world may seem light,
As we cling to the old, old story,
And cheerfully work, with our lamps burning bright,
Till we enter the portals of glory.