O God, Thy Patience Moves My Soul

O God

Thy pa­tience moves my soul

To see in Thee the way of life;

Thy pur­pose an un­fold­ing scroll

Of changes all with mean­ing rife.

Thy way is sure

with mea­sured beat

The ages fol­low

one by one;

The world grows slow­ly in the heat

Of strife that welds good la­bors done.

O life

thou too must sow and wait;

Thy har­vest comes from soil pre­pared

From pow’rs well trained to mas­ter fate

Thro’ ear­ly years of pur­pose dared.

The per­fect work

the friend­ships dear

The whole-souled hon­or

just and brave

The tri­umph ov­er tri­als dear

Thy pa­tient faith will gain and save.

O soul

thy faith to pa­tience leads

With vir­tu­ous strength thou canst con­trol

The way­ward self. The spir­it pleads

For life’s de­vo­tion to its goal.

Fulfillment comes with stea­dy gain;

The years of school­ing hard and long

Are worth their cost in strife and pain

That win the glo­ry of the strong.