By gracious powers so
wonderfully sheltered,
and confidently waiting come what may,
we know that God
is with us night and morning,
and never fails to greet us each new day.
Yet is this heart by its
old foe tormented,
still evil days bring burdens hard to bear;
Oh, give our
frightened souls the sure salvation
for which, O Lord, you taught us to
prepare.
And when this cup you
give is filled to brimming
with bitter suffering, hard to understand,
we take
it thankfully and without trembling,
out of so good and so beloved a hand.
Yet when again in this
same world you give us
the joy we had, the brightness of your Sun,
we shall
remember all the days we lived through,
and our whole life shall then be yours
alone.
By gracious powers so
faithfully protected, So quietly, so wonderfully near, I’ll live each day in
hope, with you beside me, And go with you through every coming year.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Letters and Papers from Prison”
