Slides Down by Thrills

They say that God lives very high;

But if you look above the pines

You cannot see our God; and why?

And if you dig down in the mines

You never see Him in the gold;

Though from Him all that's glory shines.

God is so good, He wears a fold

Of heaven and earth across his face -

Like secrets kept, for love, untold.

But still I feel that his embrace

Slides down by thrills, through all things made,

Through sight and sound of every place:



As if my tender mother laid

On my shut lips her kisses' pressure,

Half-waking me at night, and said

'Who kissed you through the dark, dear guesser?'

~A Child's First Thoughts of God by Elizabeth Barrett Browning