This Family

THIS FAMILY

In another world I wandered
And it seemed as if I strayed
In a land of milk and honey
Where the laws of God obeyed.

By the steady glow of lamplight
Sat a family most rare
The parents and twelve children
The joys of home to share.

Their skill it is surprising
In their daily tasks they share
Providing food and shelter
And all the clothes they wear.

I gazed at them in silence
And scarcely could believe
That in this age of wonders
This miracle achieve.

Of filial trust and longing
To do the will of them
Who sacrificed and suffered
To raise such girls and men.

Around the organ gathered
On that peaceful Sabbath night
Their mother softly playing
And I saw God’s Holy Light.

On their faces brightly shining
As the hymns of long ago
Were rendered unto heaven
I was sure that He must know.

That in spite of man’s confusion
Breeding crime, disease and dread
Was this family succeeding
To redeem the blood He shed.

All too soon I had to leave them
Travel on o’er life’s highway
But the memories of that evening
Will forever with me stay.

Written about the Griffith Family by Mr. Queston