LEAD KINDLY LIGHT

 

          LEAD KINDLY LIGHT

            No body knows how old this world is and how it looked like at the time of its creation.

For ages together man was a savage, a brute. He was like wild animals.  Today he is refined, enlightened, cultured and civilized, yet frequently inhuman  and barbaric.

The natural world , said the English poet John Keats (1795-1821) is a thing of beauty with its planets like the moon and the sun and many other eternally charming objects which are a source of ever-increasing joy.

 What is regrettable is that instead of seeking light from God man often  becomes self-reliant for his decisions.  At such times, his decisions turn out to be awfully wrong a nd ruinous.

What  follows is a hymn Lead Kindly Light written by Cardinal Henry Newman (1801-90) . Here, he prays to God to guide him not only in the present gloom, but also in the dark and thorny tracks of the future.

Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th' encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years!

So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on.
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!

                                      **********

G.R.Kanwal

25 April 2025