Scripture Verse

Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Ecclesiastes 11:1

Introduction

Words: Ar­ranged from Ma­ry A. de Vere, The Wind-Swept Wheat (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: R. G. Bad­ger, 1904), page 87. Some hym­nals show the au­thor as Ma­de­line S. Bridg­es, de Vere’s pseu­do­nym.

Music: C. Thou­ret, in Heart and Voice, ed­it­ed by Charles W. Wendte (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: George H. Ell­is, 1909), num­ber 157 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know Thou­ret’s full name, or where to get a good pic­ture of him or de Vere (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

There are loy­al hearts, there are spir­its brave,
There are souls that are pure and true.
Then give to the world the best you have
And the best will come back to you.

Give love, and love to your life will flow,
A strength in your ut­most need.
Have faith, and a score of hearts will show
Their faith in your word and deed.

Give truth—your gift will be paid in kind,
And hon­or will hon­or meet;
The smile that is sweet will sure­ly find
A smile that is just as sweet!

Give pi­ty, com­fort to those that mourn,
You will ga­ther in flow­ers again;
So scat­ter the seeds of love and peace,
Even when sow­ing seems but vain.

For life re­flects both the king and slave,
It is just what we are, and do.
Then give to the world the best you have
And the best will come back to you.