TE DEUM

Praise God for all things:

Praise Him for birth,

Praise Him for death,

Praise Him for health,

Praise Him for sickness;

For sorrow and sin,

For gladness and gain,

For failure and loss,

For friend and for foe —

Praise God for all things!

God is the All,

So all must be praised

And welcomed and trusted

As angels from Him:

Angels of light,

Angels of darkness

Angels of joy,

Angels of woe —

Each as a messenger

Swift from His throne.

“Nothing can hurt you!”

Sings little Brother;

For each in its place

Serves but one end,

Namely, to shape you —

Fit you — complete you:

Till from the terror

And from the thunder

Grow through the gloom

Gleams of your Godhood!

Laugh at the voices,

Wailing in valleys

Like to Gehinnom —

Lurid with fires

Fed by the bodies

Of dead men forgotten!

Rise up and claim

All things as yours,

You who are God —

God in Becoming!