A Sacrament Hymn

By Orson Scott Card

Our faces may conceal our pain,

We greet each other cheerfully,

But well we know why we are here:

For thee to heal our hearts again,

For thee to calm our fear.

The world we live in is not pure,

But this has never done us harm:

We are not fouled by what we’ve seen.

Our own acts are what need a cure,

Our own thoughts what we’d clean.

And now with outward acts we show

The emptiness we feel inside,

For, showing need, our cleansing starts.

And filled with signs of love, we know

Thy comfort for our hearts.