The journey done, the rest begun

1 The jour­ney done, the rest be­gun
The day of death now ende­d;
To life ab­ove on wings of love
The freed one hath as­cend­ed:
Why do we weep? For Christ doth keep—
He died that He might save us;
The bo­dy trust we to the dust,
The soul to God who gave it.

2 Our tears must fall at loss of all
That time can­not re­store us;
But to the skies we lift our eyes,
And think of what’s be­fore us:
There safe ab­ove, with Him whose love
For all their wants pro­vid­eth,
The spir­its blest, in change­less rest
In Pa­ra­dise ab­id­eth.

3 Your muf­fled chime, ye bells of time,
Ring out with chast­ened glad­ness;
The hap­py soul needs not your toll,
As if it dwelt in sad­ness:
Toll for the dead who, liv­ing, tread
Earth’s sin­ful ways, hard-heart­ed;
But hap­py chime, ye bells of time,
Ring out for Christ’s de­part­ed.

4 Their war­fare o’er, now nev­er more
Shall sin or sor­row grieve them;
Against that day, not far away,
In ho­ly earth we leave them:
Why should we weep? For Christ doth keep—
He died that He might save us;
The bo­dy trust we to the dust,
The soul to God who gave it.


Source: The Cyber Hymnal #16498

• MIDI file from The Cyber Hymnal #16498