And the LORD said to Cain
‘Why are you angry and
why has your face fallen?
Will there not be a lifting up
if you do good?
And if you do not do good,
Sin lurks at the door,
its desire is for you,
and you must rule it.’
O Lord, in whom is our hope,
remove far from us, we pray thee,
empty hopes and presumptuous confidence.
Make our hearts so right with thy most holy and loving heart,
that hoping in thee we may do good;
until that day when faith and hope
shall be abolished by sight and possession,
and love shall be all in all.
Christina Rossetti (1830-94)