Providence

When I was far from the sea’s voice and vastness
I looked for God in the days and hours and seasons.
But now, by its large and eternal tides surrounded
I know I shall only find Him in the greater swing of the years.

For all the seas are His mysteries, not to be learned from a single surf-beat,
No wave suffices Him for a revelation.
How like the seas that dower all lands with green and the breath of blossoms,
With dews that never have heard its deathless surges.

Let me be patient, then, sure that stars are not jetsam tossing,
Or meaningless waste waters of omnipotence.
Let me be patient even when man is sunk in the storm of His purpose
And swirled, a strangled corpse, under His Ages.

-- Cale Young Rice