The Contented Man

“How good God is to me,” he said;

“For have I not a mansion tall,

With trees and lawns of velvet tread,

And happy helpers at my call?

With beauty is my life abrim,

With tranquil hours and dreams apart;

You wonder that I yield to Him

That best of prayers, a grateful heart?”

“How good God is to me,” he said;

“For look! though gone is all my wealth,

How sweet it is to earn one's bread

With brawny arms and brimming health.

Oh, now I know the joy of strife!

To sleep so sound, to wake so fit.

Ah yes, how glorious is life!

I thank Him for each day of it.”

“How good God is to me,” he said;

“Though health and wealth are gone, it's true;

Things might be worse, I might be dead,

And here I'm living, laughing too.

Serene beneath the evening sky

I wait, and every man's my friend;

God's most contented man am I...

He keeps me smiling to the End.”