"Show us the Father"

Still, as of old, ascends that earnest prayer
     From souls that yearn for His divine embrace 
And, rapt in adoration, fain would dare 
                    Behold Him face to face.

"Show us the Father!" — loved, though all unseen
     Save in the wondrous working of His hand, 
O let us, with no cloud to intervene, 
                    In that dear presence stand.

Ah ! vain the prayer so passionate and wild
     That breathed from yearning hearts would pierce the skies, 
Yet by this thought shall they be reconciled, — 
                    'Tis love alone denies.

O for that vision to whose earnest quest
     The Father's face in Nature stands revealed.
In ocean's vastitude, the mountain's crest, 
                    The lilies of the field;

In the sky's azure and the sunset glow,
     The winter-tempest and the summer shower, 
And in all life, whose flow and overflow 
                    Tell of His love and power.

Thus only by His marvelous works made known
     To the dear children of His guardian care,
And by the love that communes with our own,
                    His wisdom answers prayer.

We would see God! as they, the pure in heart,
     See Him and in His presence stand unblamed, 
Divinely helped to choose "the better part" 
                    That maketh not ashamed.

We would see God! in the sweet consciousness
     That comes through full obedience to His will, 
And in the love that seeks to save and bless, 
                    And all His law fulfill.

We would see God! for vain is human strength
     That leans not trustingly on Him alone; 
So, brought through darkness into light at length, 
                    Still will we pray, “Lead on!"

Nor more we need, nor dare we ask for less
     But shaping life on Love's divinest plan, 
Taught by the ministry of Helpfulness, 
                    We shall see God — in man.