Louise Ayres Garnett

From “Resurgam”

OUT of the dust Thou hast raised me, God of the living;

Out of the dust Thou hast raised me and brought me to the light of morning.

My eyes are full of the wonders of creation,

And my spirit leaps within me.

I behold Thy glory lifted into mountains,

Thy kindness deepened into valleys,

Thy hospitable mercies poured unmeasured in the seas.

In plenteous ways Thou hast devised the telling of Thy dreams,

Entreating beauty from the clay,

And quickening man from out his dusty silence.

Thou floatest flakes of color in the air, and, breathing on them,

Wingest them to life;

Thou callest the dazed leviathan up from the watery reaches,

And summonest vasty creatures who come lumbering past,

Astonished at their being.

Who am I, Lord of Creation, that Thou shouldst think upon me?

Beside a mountain or a soaring bird, what am I that Thou shouldst give me place?

I can praise Thee, O God!

I can praise Thee to the summit of my singing;

With the flesh of me, with the breath of me, with the height of me!

Increase my stature even as the trees,

Increase my stature till I pass the oak and glimpse the towers of heaven!

With the waters of gratitude I brim my cup and pour it at Thy feet;

For thou hast shared the gift of life, and my spirit sings within me!