Poems

I looked at my brother's field and I saw tares and I saw wheat but I wept over the tares and forgot to joy over the wheat and then I thought "I will try to rid him of his tares. Yes, I will pull out these ugly weeds.

She remained, it is true, unappointed to any conspicuous post; unmentioned, even, in the larger congregation to which she belonged. She spoke no languages except her own, and—in those almost nine decades—traveled only briefly, and then not far, from a place that time and again has known shell, bomb, and the violence of armies surging through.

And then there was that servant of the high priest who was—remember?— struck at, impetuously, by one of us. One of those, that is, on the right side.

What is the town from which you came? It has no name . What was the background, in and out? Despair and doubt.

It is not said that mourning shall be turned into non-mourning: a cessation of suffering, a merciful blank like the aftermath of a crisis passed. Nor is there promised the prolonged privileges of a convalescent who earns—by the mere feat of survival—the flowers, the fruit, the ministrations of others.

I John 4:20 If I have not expressed true tenderness To him I know on earth; If there is one I feel not worth A moment's thought or second glance; If, for brief glory dearly bought, I shatter the confidence of a trusting heart, And treasure the false gold Of scornful thought; How can I claim to understand That Love divine, whose Word Insists I love another as myself? Dear Father, give to me that grace (Although I may not always merit it) Which melts the rocklike vein of thought And shapes it to Your likeness, That I may constantly show forth The gentle radiance of Your love, In words that heal and bless; In deeds that are not just so many words. Stanley John York.

Genesis 3 What did the serpent do to Eve? Simply tempt her to believe that good and evil can combine to make one's living more sublime. He didn't touch her except in thought, and if she'd been correctly taught to respond only to the still, small voice, and always make it her only choice, she would never have chosen to walk in the path outlined by snake talk.

Innkeeper, we come to escape from pressures in town such as hate's frown, flattery's smile, and serpentine guile. Book us a place in your stable.

What had she told him of that first Christmas night— He was twelve now and they were trudging uphill to Jerusalem— That first Christmas night when the hushed stillness Of Judean hills was shattered by hosts of angels Caroling their welcome of glory and peace— Of Wisemen star-led to a manger? Down through the centuries the message echoed— A Prince to come! A King to rule! And now, the promise fulfilled; the babe was here. Simeon lifting him up, And ancient Anna too.

At Shinar people settled down to build a towered city and glorify themselves, but were confounded and divided, no longer understanding one another. Met to honor Christ, men at Jerusalem received the Holy Ghost, scaled barriers of race and tongue in glad communication.