Through cross to crown! And though thy spirit's life Trials untold assail with giant strength, Good cheer! good cheer! soon ends the bitter strife, And thou shalt reign in peace with Christ at length. Through woe to joy! And though at morn thou weep, And though the midnight find thee weeping still, Good cheer! good cheer! the Shepherd loves his sheep; Resign thee to the watchful Father's will. --Rosegarten, tr. by Charles Timothy Brooks. Talk Happiness. The world is sad enough Without your woes. No path is wholly rough; Look for the places that are smooth and clear, And speak of those to rest the weary ear Of earth, so hurt by one continuous strain Of human discontent and grief and pain. SERVE GOD AND BE CHEERFUL Serve God and be cheerful. Make brighter The brightness that falls to thy lot; The rare, or the daily sent, blessing Profane not with gloom or with doubt. Serve God and be cheerful. Each sorrow Is--with thy will in God's--for the best. O'er the cloud hangs the rainbow. To-morrow Will see the blue sky in the west. Serve God and be cheerful. Look upward! God's countenance scatters the gloom; And the soft summer light of his heaven Shines over the cross and the tomb. Serve God and be cheerful. The wrinkles Of age we may take with a smile; But the wrinkles of faithless foreboding Are the crow's-feet of Beelzebub's guile. Serve God and be cheerful. The winter Rolls round to the beautiful spring. And o'er the green grave of the snowdrift The nest-building robins will sing. Serve God and be cheerful. Live nobly, Do right, and do good. Make the best Of the gifts and the work put before you, And to God without fear leave the rest. --William Newell. BRING EVERY BURDEN Be trustful, be steadfast, whatever betide thee, Only one thing do thou ask of the Lord-- Grace to go forward wherever he guide thee, Simply believing the truth of his word. Earthliness, coldness, unthankful behavior-- Ah! thou mayst sorrow, but do not despair. Even this grief thou mayst bring to thy Saviour, Cast upon him this burden of care! Bring all thy hardness--His power can subdue it, How full is the promise! The blessing how free: "Whatsoever ye ask in my name, I will do it; Abide in my love and be joyful in me." THY LOVING KINDNESS Not always the path is easy; There are thickets hung with gloom, There are rough and stony places Where never the roses bloom. But oft, when the way is hardest, I am conscious of One at my side Whose hands and whose feet are wounded, And I'm happy and safe with my Guide.