Mysteries

By Ella Wheeler Wilcox

In God's vast wisdom, infinite and grand --
Too vast, too infinite, for mortal mind --
There are some things I cannot understand.
In all His paths, in all His ways, I find
Some subtle mysteries of life and death --
Some marvels that I cannot comprehend,
Nor can I hope to know them till the end,
When all shall be made plain, above -- beneath.

There are so many of His righteous deeds --
There is so much that unto me is plain,
I have no time to wonder -- have no needs
To question why, and wherefore. In the main
My mortal eyes see that His works are good.
Whatever else seems strange, and dark, and dim,
I am content to leave in faith with Him,
And in His time it will be understood.

These labyrinths wherein many souls are lost --
These waters, whereon some barks lose the shore,
But draw me nearer to the Heavenly Host,
But make me love and worship God the more.
There is enough that I do see and know --
There is enough that I can understand,
And sometime Christ shall take me by the hand,
Explaining all that seems so strange below.

1870.