He Chose This Path For Me

'He chose this path for me.
No feeble chance, or hard,
    relentless fate,
but love, His love, hath placed
    my footsteps here.

'He knew the way was rough
    and desolate;
knew my heart would often
    sink with fear,
yet tenderly He whispered,
    'Child, I see
    this path is best for thee.'

'He chose this path for me,
though well He knew sharp thorns
    would pierce my feet,
knew how the brambles
    would obstruct the way,
knew how my feet would falter
    day by day;
and still the whisper echoed:
'yes, I see
this path is best for thee.'

He chose this path for me.  What need I more?
This sweeter truth to know,
that all along these strange, bewildering ways,
O'er rocky steeps and where dark rivers flow,
His loving arms will bear me all the days.

A few steps more,
I myself shall see
this path is best for me.'

(from In Love With The Divine Outcast, compiled by A Religious, Pelligrini, Australia, 1934, pp. 186-187)

Painting:  Caspar David Friedrich, A Walk at Dusk (detail)

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