p. 154 | The Home Circle by M. C. F.

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 1, 1880

The Home Circle.

By M. C. F.

ABOVE THE CLOUDS.

[The scene here described was witnessed on the Palney Mountains, in Southern India, in the year 1845.]

THE darkest clouds, the poets say, Have all a silver lining; Above the storm and whirlwind’s roar The sun is always shining.

’Twas once my lot this fact to prove, With closest observation, As, far above the clouds and storms, I occupied a station.

’Twas in the sultry clime of Ind, Upon the lofty mountains, Where many rivers, long and broad, Flowed from their tiny fountains.

The sun was pouring forth his beams In a bright flood of glory, While lightning’s crash and thunder’s roar Shook all the hills below me.

Below, the clouds, with angry frown, Were pouring down a torrent: Above, their white and fleecy folds Of peace gave truest warrant.

Their smooth, bright surface spread afar, With scarcely any motion, Whilst crags and knobs peered here and there Like isles in a silver ocean.

Here, balmy odors filled the air, From flowers perennial blooming, And fairest landscapes everywhere With radiant luster looming.

Here, of our lives behold the type, The favored and the lowly; The clouds that shroud our pilgrimage Are shades to screen His glory.

While in life’s journey, then, we toil, Though storms are bursting o’er us, We’ll upward press our toilsome way, For Heaven is just before us. —M. C. F., in N. Y. Observer.