Where goest Thou?

(The Gospel History, Section 77)

Jesus therefore said, Yet a little while am I with you, and I go unto him that sent me.

(The Saviour of the World, Vol V Book II Poem XX)

Our Lord, where goest Thou? we too would know:

As babe who sees his mother borne away,
And stretches hands and cries on her to stay,—

So are Thy people, hearing,—Thou wilt go!

Where art Thou all this while we cry on Thee?

Distresses manifold beset our way;
We see Thee not, yet cry on Thee and say,—

“For we are friendless, Thou, our Succour be!”

To be alone, how awful! There is none

Comes nigh us in that solitude, is left
When Thou departest, leaving us bereft:

But knew we where in space our Lord is gone!

Then would we rise and follow Him with haste,

Would catch the hem of the robe He used to wear,
Would make Him pity us for that despair,

Came on us out there in the lonely waste.

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“My children, ye do err, nor understand

That, not removed am I to any place
Remote from him, in meekness, seeks My face;

Lo, I am there, in every time and land:

As loving mother holds out tender arms

To shield her little one when danger’s near,
So do I cherish these my children dear;

Yea, shield them from all perils and alarms.

But, see you, place doth not condition Me;

I am and I am not in any place,
To them who seek not, them who seek, My face:

The wilful, proud, and stubborn shall not see!”

St. John vii. 33.