Thus said the great Apostle,
Many years ago:
"I've learned the secret of being content
In any situation,
Whether poverty or plenty."
I, too, have been content in plenty,
In seasons of sweet friendship,
Of tea and books and restful sleep.
And I've been content in poverty,
With dirt floors and cockroaches
And just three pairs of clothes.
So why is it so hard to be content
In the gray expanse between,
Neither poverty nor plenty?--
Where comforts and blessings are multiplied,
But mixed with weariness, stress,
And unsought disconsolations--
I've more of poverty and more of plenty
Than I've ever had before,
But in all this much-ness, all this less-ness,
The Apostle's secret--
Abiding joy, deep-running peace--
Secretive still remains.