OUR Father! while our hearts unlearn <br />The creeds that wrong thy name, <br />Still let our hallowed altars burn <br />With Faith's undying flame! <br /> <br />Not by the lightning-gleams of wrath <br />Our souls thy face shall see, <br />The star of Love must light the path <br />That leads to Heaven and Thee. <br /> <br />Help us to read our Master's will <br />Through every darkening stain <br />That clouds his sacred image still, <br />And see Him once again, <br /> <br />The brother man, the pitying friend <br />Who weeps for human woes, <br />Whose pleading words of pardon blend <br />With cries of raging foes. <br /> <br />If 'mid the gathering storms of doubt, <br />Our hearts grow faint and cold, <br />The strength we cannot live without <br />Thy love will not withhold. <br /> <br />Our prayers accept; our sins forgive; <br />Our youthful zeal renew; <br />Shape for us holier lives to live, <br />And nobler work to do!<br /><br />Oliver Wendell Holmes<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/hymn-written-for-the-twenty-fifth-anniversary-of-the-reorganization-of-the-boston-young-men-s-christian-union/
