Classic Poem

All one in Christ, — though, plains and hills dividing,
Our earthly homes are far asunder placed;
All one in Christ, — in Him our souls abiding,
O'er the broad earth or on the ocean waste.

All one in Christ, — bound in divine communion,
And He the cynosure, — the changeless Word.
One Sovereign rules; the watchword of our union,
One faith, one baptism, and one risen Lord.

All one in Christ, — should grief, or joy, betide us;
Or health, or sickness, life, or death, be ours, —
His word shall cheer, His loving hand shall guide us,
His name revive, like incense-breathing flowers

All one in Christ, — His voice the fiercest battle,
Like Galilee's wild waves, can quell and calm;
Assuage the tumult, still the tempest's rattle,
For pain give ease, for waiting, victory's psalm.

All one in Christ, — man's passions, like the billow,
May roar and dash around with frightful shock;
Held in His leash, light as the air-swept willow,
They lash in vain the Everlasting Rock.

All one in Christ, — our paths, in varied winding,
May seem unheeding of Heaven's grand accord;
The rills of life, new channels ever finding,
Shall all converge in Him, our loving Lord

All one in Christ, — life's discipline and rasping
May fret, and grind, and wear the sufferer down;
But there's a gracious Hand, the faint form clasping, —
The cross to-day; be patient, then the crown.

All one in Christ, — the fields must have their tilling;
O'er earth, His heritage, for Him we roam;
With ready hands we toil, and spirit willing,
Till the great Husbandman shall call us home.

All one in Christ, — soon will the great forever
Yield to the weary workers needed rest;
Toil waste no more, and sorrow grieve, — no, never, —
The loved disciple on the Master's breast.