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“The Elixir” by George Herbert 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (3 Apr 1593 – 1 Mar 1633)
Teach me, my God and King,
In all things Thee to see,
And what I do in anything
To do it as for Thee.
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Not rudely, as a beast,
To run into an action;
But still to make Thee prepossest,
And give it his perfection.
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A man that looks on glass,
On it may stay his eye;
Or it he pleaseth, through it pass,
And then the heav’n espy.
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All may of Thee partake:
Nothing can be so mean,
Which with his tincture—“for Thy sake”—
Will not grow bright and clean.
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A servant with this clause
Makes drudgery divine:
Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws,
Makes that and th’ action fine.
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This is the famous stone
That turneth all to gold;
For that which God doth touch and own
Cannot for less be told.