Whatever Dims Thy Sense of Truth

Whatever dims thy sense of truth
Or stains thy purity,
Though light as breath of summer air,
Count it as sin to thee.

Let not the world thy God dethrone
Or from His smile divide;
And count compared with heavenly wealth,
As dross all things beside.

Dim not the crystal of thy soul
By sin’s destroying breath:
There lurks beneath the siren smile
Dark treachery and death.

Preserve the tablet of thy thoughts
From every blemish free,
For our Redeemer’s lowly faith
Its temple makes with thee.

And pray of God, that grace be given
To tread time’s narrow way:
How dark soever it may seem,
It leads to cloudless day.

Words: Mary W. Hale, 1840.

Whatever weak­ens your rea­son, im­pairs the ten­der­ness of your con­science, ob­scures your sense of God, takes off your rel­ish for spir­it­u­al things, what­ev­er in­creas­es the au­thor­ity of the bo­dy ov­er the mind, that thing is sin to you, how­ev­er in­no­cent it may seem in itself.

Susanna Wes­ley, mo­ther of John & Charles Wes­ley