Shalom Talk

“Aeterne rerum conditor” (Eternal Creator of All Things)

Eternal Creator of all things,
who governs day and night,
who gives light to the morning,
and marks the turning of the night,

Hear our prayer as the morning rises,
and guide our steps in your light;
keep us from the works of darkness
and lead us in your truth.

Life is like a stormy sea
That tosses to and fro,
But God’s Word will ever be
A ballast for my soul;
By its truth I’ll be held fast
Till I reach heaven’s shore
Where I will be home at last
And sail life’s sea no more!

—Perry Boardman

“Te Deum” (Thee, O God, We Praise)

(c. 4th century, attributed to early Church tradition)

We praise thee, O God:
we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.

All the earth doth worship thee,
the Father everlasting.

To thee all Angels cry aloud,
the heavens and all the powers therein.

To thee Cherubim and Seraphim
continually do cry:
Holy, Holy, Holy,
Lord God of Sabaoth.

Only a little while, sowing and reaping,
Only a little while, our vigil keeping;
Then we shall gather home, no more to sever,
Clasped in eternal love, blest, blest forever.

Only a little while, heartbreak and sorrow,
Dark though the night may be, cloudless the morrow;
Only a little while, Earth ties to sever,
Then in our Father land, blest, blest forever.

Only a little while, shadow and sadness,
Then in eternity sunshine and gladness;
Only a little while, then o’er the river,
Home, rest and victor palm, life, joy forever.

—Fanny Crosby

Breaking through the clouds that gather,
O’er the Christian’s natal skies,
Distant beams, like floods of glory,
Fill the soul with glad surprise;
And we almost hear the echo
Of the pure and holy throng,
In the bright, the bright forever,
In the summer land of song.

Yet a little while we linger,
Ere we reach our journey’s end;
Yet a little while of labor,
Ere the evening shades descend;
Then we’ll lay us down to slumber,
But the night will soon be o’er;
In the bright, the bright forever,
We shall wake, to weep no more.

O the bliss of life eternal!
O the long unbroken rest!
In the golden fields of pleasure,
In the region of the blessed;
But, to see our dear Redeemer,
And before His throne to fall,
There to bear His gracious welcome,
Will be sweeter far than all.

—Fanny Crosby