The little Gate to God

Walter Rauschenbush, 1861-1918

In the castle of my soul 
is a little postern gate. 
Whereat, when I enter, 
I am In the presence of God.
In a moment, in the turning of a thought, 
I am where God is, This is a fact.

The worls of men is made of jangling noises;
With God is a great silence.
But that silence is a melody
Sweet as the contentment of love,
Thrilling as a touch of flame.
When I enter into God, 
All life has a meaning. 
Without asking I know; 
My desires are even now fulfilled, 
My fever is gone
In the great quiet of God. 
My troubles are but pebbles on the road, 
My joys are like the everlasting hills.
So it is when I step through the gate of prayer
From time into eternity. 
When I am in the consciousness of God
My fellowmen are not far off and forgotten,
But close and strangely dear.
Those whom I love
Have a mystic value.
They shine as if a light were glowing within them.

So it is when My soul steps through the postern gate 
Into the presence of God.
Big things become small and small things become great. 
The near becomes far, and the future is near.
The lowly and despised is shot through with glory
God is the substance of all revolutions; 
When I am in Him, I am in the Kingdom of God 
And in the Fatherland of my Soul.