The Infinite and the Finite

THOU GREAT I AM,

Fill my mind with elevation and grandeur at
      the thought of a Being
  with whom one day is as a thousand years,
  and a thousand years as one day,
A mighty God, who, amidst the lapse of worlds,
  and the revolutions of empires,
  feels no variableness,
  but is glorious in immortality.
May I rejoice that, while men die, the Lord lives;
  that, while all creatures are broken reeds,
    empty cisterns,
    fading flowers,
    withering grass,
  he is the Rock of Ages, the Fountain
    of living waters.
Turn my heart from vanity,
  from dissatisfactions,
  from uncertainties of the present state,
  to an eternal interest in Christ.
Let me remember that life is short and
    unforeseen,
  and is only an opportunity for usefulness;
Give me a holy avarice to redeem the time,
  to awake at every call to charity and piety,
  so that I may feed the hungry,
    clothe the naked,
    instruct the ignorant,
    reclaim the vicious,
    forgive the offender,
    diffuse the gospel,
    show neighbourly love to all.
Let me live a life of self-distrust,
  dependence on thyself,
  mortification,
  crucifixion,
  prayer.

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