To lie down weary
and rise up rested
must surely count highly
among life’s finer blessings.

To be well-filled
and rarely know hunger
must mean one lives
in a place of wonder.

To walk in winter
and yet stay warm,
to live without threat
of death or harm;

To walk in grace
and have enough to share,
the courage to love
and compassion to care;

To do one’s work
and draw one’s pay,
to sit in peace
at the end of the day;

To be with those we love
and feel the warmth of them near,
the music of laughter,
the sharing of tears;

And though these are all fine
and I’ve known every one,
at the end of my traveling
there is yet better to come.

When my labor is over
and my striving has ceased,
I hope that my ending
will be done in peace.

To lie down weary
and rise up rested
must surely count highly
among eternity’s blessings.

H. Arnett
8/25/17