REST by Bonar | AdventAI

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 26, 1876

REST

By Bonar

Not long! not long! The spirit-wasting fever Of this strange life shall quit each throbbing vein, And this wild pulse flow placidly forever. And endless peace relieve the burning brain.

Earth’s joys are but a dream; its destiny Is but decay and death; its fairest form, Sunshine and shadow mixed; its brightest day, A rainbow braided on the wreaths of storm.

Yet there is blessedness that changeth not; A rest with God, a life that cannot die; A better portion and a brighter lot; A home with Christ, a heritage on high;

Hope for the hopeless, for the weary, rest, More gentle than the still repose of even! Joy for the joyless; bliss for the unblest; Homes for the desolate in yonder Heaven!

The tempest makes returning calm more dear; The darkest midnight makes the brightest star; Even so, to us, when all is ended here, Shall be the past, remembered from afar.

Then welcome change and death! since these alone Can break life’s fetters and dissolve its spell; Welcome all present change, which speeds us on So swift to that which is unchangeable. —Bonar.