Nearer Home

One sweetly solemn thought
Comes to me o’er and o’er;
I am nearer my home today
Than I have ever been before;

Nearer my Father’s house,
Where the many mansions be;
Nearer today, the great white throne;
Nearer the crystal sea;

Nearer the bound of life,
Where we lay our burden down;
Nearer leaving the cross;
Nearer gaining the crown;

But lying darkly between,
Winding down through the night,
Is the silent, unknown stream,
That leads at last to the light.

Closer and closer my steps
Come to the dark abysm;
Closer Death to my lips
Presses the awful chrism.

Oh, if my mortal feet
Have almost gained the brink;
If it be I am nearer home
Even today than I think!

Father, perfect my trust;
Let my spirit feel in death,
That her feet are firmly set
On the rock of a living faith!

-- Phoebe Cary

 

[Editor's Note:  Numerous versions of this hymn exist.  This version is taken from the 1906 The World's Brightest Jewels in Poetry and Prose.  -DJMc.]