December 31 ~

For me, to live is Christ -- His life in me; and to die is gain -- [the gain of the glory of eternity] ... And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son ...
Phil.1:21 (Amp); 1 Jn.5:11 (RSV)

I'll soon be gone. No secret doth this be.
And shan't return to this brief trysting-place.
Yet I grieve not. Though here Thou art in me,
yet there I'll dwell fore'er in Thine embrace.
No higher bliss could soul e'er dream or find
than always with Thee in Thy Glory live!

But yet ... there are those souls I'll leave behind
for whom I pray the same gift them Thou'd give.
They've sought Thee not, and hence they don't yet know
Thy Self, Thy Love, Thy Joy ... To Thee they're blind!
They cannot grasp that even here below
a perfect peace awaits those who are Thine.
Couldst open them to Thee before I go?

If not, Lord, could it be before their time ...