Just Folks

As It Is

          I might wish the world were better,
            I might sit around and sigh
          For a water that is wetter
            And a bluer sort of sky.
          There are times I think the weather
            Could be much improved upon,
          But when taken altogether
            It's a good old world we're on.
          I might tell how I would make it,
            But when I have had my say
          It is still my job to take it
            As it is, from day to day.

          I might wish that men were kinder,
            And less eager after gold;
          I might wish that they were blinder
            To the faults they now behold.
          And I'd try to make them gentle,
            And more tolerant in strife
          And a bit more sentimental
            O'er the finer things of life.
          But I am not here to make them,
            Or to work in human clay;
          It is just my work to take them
            As they are from day to day.

          Here's a world that suffers sorrow,
            Here are bitterness and pain,
          And the joy we plan to-morrow
            May be ruined by the rain.
          Here are hate and greed and badness,
            Here are love and friendship, too,
          But the most of it is gladness
            When at last we've run it through.
          Could we only understand it
            As we shall some distant day
          We should see that He who planned it
            Knew our needs along the way.