REST by John Greenleaf Whittier

Dear Lord and Father of us all,

Forgive our foolish ways;

Reclothe us in our rightful mind;

In purer lives Thy service find,

In deeper reverence, praise.

In simple trust like those who heard,

Beside the Syrian sea,

The gracious calling of the Lord,

Let us, like them, without a word

Rise up and follow thee.

Breathe through the pulses of desire

Thy coolness and Thy balm;

Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;

Speak through the earthquake,wind and fire,

O still small voice of calm.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,

Till all our strivings cease;

Take from us now the strain and stress,

And let our ordered lives confess

The beauty of thy peace