lift those eyes

Growing up we were taught to keep our heads bowed
Eyes closed, not peeking or looking 'round

"Humble yourself," is what they would say
Pray for your soul, repent yourself away

I always dreamed there would be more than this
More than rules and regulations and never-ending guilt

Then one day I turned my face to the Son
and He warmed my face and my guilt was all gone

We need not pay for that which is forgiven
So lift your face to the light, my friends

Pray with your head up, eyes closed or open wide
And lift up those praises; fling them to the sky

Prayer is more than confession or supplication,
It is indeed also the praise of the forgiven

"Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul."

— William Ernest Henley

we're all just looking up at the same night sky
making our way, hoping to get by
I hope that what I believe is true
that you're out there, looking for me too