Past, Present, Future

A hundred years ago, not one
Of us had sprung to birth;
A hundred years to come, and none
Can hope to walk this earth.

We are, we were not! here our mind
Looks round with hopes and fears;
This point is Time; before, behind,
Eternity appears.

'Tis yet, through grace, within our power,
To choose what we would be;
On the decision of an hour,
Depends eternity.

This hour! this moment, let us take
The narrow upward path;
This hour, this moment, all forsake
The broad down road to wrath.

O Lord, our Shepherd! lest like sheep,
Thy children go astray,
Feed us with knowledge, guide and keep
Our souls in Thy right way.

So, when a hundred years are fled,
Remembering this day's choice,
On earth, though number'd with the dead,
In heaven, may we rejoice.