Precept and Practice – DECEMBER 14 – The E’en Brings a’Hame
Upon the hills the wind is sharp and cold,
The sweet young grasses wither on the wold,
And we, O Lord, have wandered from Thy fold,
But evening brings us home.
The darkness gathers. Through the gloom no star
Rises to guide us. We have wandered far :
Without Thy lamp we know not where we are :
At evening bring us home.
The sharp thorns prick us, and our tender feet
Are cut and bleeding, and the lambs repeat
Their pitiful complaints. Oh, rest is sweet
When evening brings us home.
We have been wounded by the hunter’s darts,
Our eyes are very heavy, and our hearts
Search for Thy coming, when the light departs
At evening bring us home.
Among the mists we stumbled, and the rocks
Where the brown lichens whiten, and the fox
Watches the straggler from the scattered flocks:
But evening brings us home.
The clouds are round us, and the snow-wreaths thicken.
O, Thou dear Shepherd, leave us not to sicken
In the waste night our tardy footsteps quicken :
At evening bring us home.
(Skelton)
oooOOOooo
From the Introduction to Precept and Practice
The kindly welcome given to my other little books, ‘Being and Doing’ and ‘Character and Conduct,’ must be my excuse for adding another collection of extracts to the number now in circulation.
The quotations are gathered from the books of many earnest thinkers, and deal with Life in all its length and breadth, with ourselves, our characters, our plain unvarnished faults and weaknesses, our often untoward circumstances, and with all that drags us down;- with our purposes, our religion, our love and friendships, and with all that uplifts us;- with our relation to others, our influence and responsibilities, and finally with those stages of our journey which bring us to the Road’s Last Turn and to the Silent Land.
CONSTANCE M. WHISHAW
Suffolk Vicar 