For who is Lord but the Lord?
Who is God except our God?
The highest.
The most good.
The most mighty.
The most omnipotent.
The most merciful, yet most just.
The most hidden, yet most present.
The most beautiful, yet strongest.
The stationary, yet incomprehensible constant.
You cannot change, yet You change everything.
You are never new, yet never old.
You make all things new, yet conquer the proud with old age before they know of its approach.
You are ever working, yet ever at rest.
You are still gathering, yet You lack nothing.
You are still supporting, filling, and overspreading;
still creating, nourishing, and maturing;
still seeking, although You have all things.
You love without yearning, are jealous without bitterness;
share our regret without self-reproach; express anger without losing serenity.
When all others fail to finish what they propose, Your purpose remains unchanged.
You receive what You found yet had never lost.
You are never in need yet rejoice in what You gain.
Yet who has anything that is not already Yours?
You pay debts when You owe nothing, but in remitting debts You lose nothing.
- Augustine of Hippo
HT: Kingdom People
