Within The Gates

I love to step inside a church,
  To rest, and think, and pray;
The quiet, calm, and holy place
  Can drive all cares away.

I feel that from these simple walls
  There breathes a moving sound
Of sacred music, murmured prayers,
  Caught in the endless round

Of bygone worship, from the store
  The swinging seasons bring--
Gay Christmas pageant, Lenten tears,
  And the sweet hallowing

Of all that makes our human life:
  Birth, and the union blest
Of couples at the altar wed,
  And loved ones laid to rest.

Into my soul this harmony
  Has poured, and now is still;
The Lord's own benediction falls
  Upon me, as I kneel.

Once more, with lifted head, I go
  Out in the jarring mart,
The spring of gladness in my step,
  God's peace about my heart.

--David W. Foley