Cross of Wood

When deadened mood and fatigue both intrude,
How then does life keep its joyful savor,
When mind and body forsake life's flavor
And embrace dark states of mind that obtrude?
When gripped by the steel claws of hebetude,
Whose razor-sharp edges make them quaver;
Souls tremble in fear and doubt and waver
With such deep despair and dead lassitude.
When beset by much sadness or sorrow,
Faith and hope in God's love, along with prayer,
May grant the hopeless strength for the morrow
And ease the soul and make the days less grayer:
    For God turns sadness into something good,
    When doubt is nailed onto that Cross of wood.