"Choose tonight"

"I said, 'Lord, let me walk in the fields'
He said: 'No; walk in the town'
I said, 'There are no flowers there.'
He said, 'No flowers, but a crown.'

I said, 'But the skies are black, there is nothing but noise and din.'
And He wept and sent me back, 'There is more.' He said, 'There is sin.'

I said, 'But the air is thick and fogs are veiling the sun.'
He answered, 'Yet souls are sick, and souls in the dark undone.'

I said, 'I shall miss the light, and friends will miss me they say.'
He answered, 'Choose tonight if I am to miss you or they.'

I pleaded for time to be given.
He said, 'Is it hard to decide?
It will not seem hard in Heaven
To have followed the steps of your Guide.'

I cast one look at the fields,
Then set my face to the town,
He said, 'My child, do you yield?
Will you leave your flowers for a crown?'

Then into His hand went mine;
And into my heart came He;
And I walk in the light divine,
The path I had feared to see.'

- George MacDonald -