Sarah Faris- missionary to China for 27 years until the invasion of China by Japan forced the withdrawal of the missionaries. When she was a girl she came from Miami to live with Marion and Charles Wiley in Anna, Illinois, and went to the Union Academy in Anna. This was during Marion’s early pregnancies.

From The Somerville and Faris Family Histories by Joyce Wiley Swogger, 1986, p. 56


Poems by Sarah Faris

Treasures of Darkness

He giveth me treasures of darkness;
Before the day dawns, He’s so nigh;
It is then we have wordless communion,
My heavenly Father and I.

He hovers above me;
His love, it enfolds me;
His joy is within me,
And I know that He holds me.

I see my past spread out before me,
And know what I could not know then;
How the bright and the dark worked together
For good; and I praise Him, and praise Him, and praise Him again.

He knoweth what lies in the darkness,
While the light dwelleth ever with Him;
And the Father in Whom is no darkness,
Will make clear what now is so dim.
For the treasures that lie in the darkness,
And the riches that now are concealed,
By the One Who doth hold all the secrets,
Will some day by Him be revealed.


The Upper Side

While standing one day on the mountain,
In the sun, shining after the rain,
I was silvery billows of carpet,
That hid from my sight all the plain.

And I thought of the ones in the city,
Beneath the dark ceiling so drear;
For they could not see the bright sunshine,
Nor know what to me was so clear.

My brother, if you are in trouble,
If you feel that your spirits are low,
If you question the why’s and the wherefore’s,
There’s something I want you to know:

It is Satan who keeps you discouraged;
Remember, the Lord will provide,
Let your mind rise above the dark ceiling,
And look on the bright upper side.


Press On

To worry and fret o’er the wrongs you have done,
But hinders your progress to come;
Forgetting the things that have gone on before,
Press on! There’s still work to be done.

A work that’s a balm for the ache or regret;
A work that will help to atone;
A work that is needed in this world of ours,
Press on! Till your labor is done.

To brood o’er your failure to win the reward
Retards the race yet to be run;
Don’t stop for regrets, think of what lies ahead;
Press on! For this life is such fun.
‘Tis fun to press forward and try for the goal;
To laugh at the hardships is fun;
‘Tis fun to unravel the tangles of life;
Press on! Till your trophies are won.

To think you have failed His approval to win,
Is not going to help you to run;
Oh, don’t be a laggard! Catch up! Get ahead!
A crown that he giveth to those who endure,
A crown that is from Him along,
A crown that he longeth on you to bestow;
Press on! Till you hear His “Well done”.

ibid, pp. 60-61