We'd never awaken to see the light,
 And the joy of watching a new day break
Or meeting the dawn by some quiet lake
Would never be ours unless we slept
 With God and all His angels kept
A vigil through this "little death"
That's over with the morning's breath-
And death, too, is a time of sleeping,
For those who die are in God's keeping
And there's a "sunrise" for each soul,
For life, not death is God's promised goal-

 So trust God's promise and doubt Him never

 For only through death can man live forever!

-Helen Steiner Rice