Yesterday, I wrote a blog post called When Life is Hard. In the post, I quoted a poem that talks about taking life step by step, instead of worrying and fussing about the future or the past—or even about the rest of this day. I promised to post, over the next while, some more poems and other writings related to life’s difficulties and how to handle them. Here is today’s poem. It might seem old-fashioned and too religious to some people, but why not read through it and think about what it says? It provides a solution which people have been reaching out to and trusting in for millennia, so if you’re feeling skeptical, why not give it a try.

One Day at a Time

One day at a time with its failures and fears,
With its hurts and mistakes, with its weakness and tears,
With its portion of pain and its burden of care;
One day at a time we must meet and must bear.

One day at a time to be patient and strong,
To be calm under trial and sweet under wrong;
Then its toiling shall pass and its sorrow shall cease;
It shall darken and die, and the night shall bring peace.

One day at a time—but the day is so long,
And the heart is not brave and the soul is not strong.
“O Thou pitiful Christ, be thou near all the way.
Give courage and patience and strength for the day.”

Swift cometh His answer so clean and so sweet;
“Yea, I will be with thee, thy troubles to meet:
I will not forget thee, nor fail thee, nor grieve;
I will not forsake thee; I never will leave.”

Not yesterday’s load we are called on to bear,
Nor the morrow’s uncertain and shadowy care;
Why should we look forward or back with dismay?
Our needs, as our mercies are but for the day.

One day at a time, and the day is His day.
He hath numbered its hours, though they haste or delay.
His grace is sufficient; we walk not alone.
As the day, so the strength that He giveth His own.

—Annie Johnson Flint