What I Live for

I live to choose what’s right for me
To maximize my will
To find the things that I can do
Beyond a moment’s thrill:
To touch a heart
To bend a mind
Away from evil’s reach
To educate and cultivate
And soothe but never preach.

This world is full of challenges
Along every lonely ridge
When outward troubles dim my eye
I try to build a bridge
Above the flames of dark and night
So all the world can see
There’s so much more
From shore to shore
On which we can agree.

Still I am impatient
And cannot wait
For time to tear down wrongs
The hungry and the weak require
I break away from throngs—
And boldly take that daring step
That others say is wrong
And find my footing
What e‘er the cost
That’s right where I belong.

The devil has his due they say
There’s good in every one
Judge not my sins
Forget my wins
Until the race is won.
And when that day at last is here
I will not look for praise
May we both arrive
At the mountain’s top
Although in different ways.