As It Is

I might wish the world were better,

I might sit around and sigh

For a water that is wetter

And a bluer sort of sky.

There are times I think the weather

Could be much improved upon,

But when taken altogether

It's a good old world we're on.

I might tell how I would make it,

But when I have had my say

It is still my job to take it

As it is, from day to day.

I might wish that men were kinder,

And less eager after gold;

I might wish that they were blinder

To the faults they now behold.

And I'd try to make them gentle,

And more tolerant in strife

And a bit more sentimental

O'er the finer things of life.

But I am not here to make them,

Or to work in human clay;

It is just my work to take them

As they are from day to day.

Here's a world that suffers sorrow,

Here are bitterness and pain,

And the joy we plan to-morrow

May be ruined by the rain.

Here are hate and greed and badness,

Here are love and friendship, too,

But the most of it is gladness

When at last we've run it through.

Could we only understand it

As we shall some distant day

We should see that He who planned it

Knew our needs along the way.