p. 15 | A MOTHER'S GOOD-BY

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Mar 7, 1906

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 32, No. 10.

A MOTHER'S GOOD-BY.

Sit down by the side of your mother, my boy; You have only a moment, I know, But you will stay till I give you my parting advice; It is all that I have to bestow.

You leave us to seek for employment, my boy; By the world you have yet to be tried; But in all the temptations and struggles you meet, May your heart in the Saviour confide.

You will find in your satchel a Bible, my boy; It is the Book of all others the best; It will teach you to live, it will help you to die, And lead to the gates of the blest.

I gave you to God in your cradle, my boy; I have taught you the best that I knew; And as long as His mercy permits me to live, I will never cease praying for you.

Your father is coming to bid you good-by. O, how sad and how lone we will be! But when far from the scenes of your childhood and youth, You will remember your father and me.

I want you to heed every word I have said, For it comes from a heart filled with love, And, my boy, if we never behold you on earth, Will you promise to meet us above?

Hold fast to the right, hold fast to the right, Wherever your footsteps may roam, O, forsake not the way of salvation, my boy, That you learned from your mother at home! —Selected.