Poems

Dear Shunammite! Courageously you stood Affirming only all-persuasive good! Repudiating human evidence, Exalted vision, piercing mists of sense, Beholds reality, and down the years Enables others to surmount earth-fears. For those who conquer evil will impart New confidence to every fearful heart.

The greatest man that walked this earth Was servant; He knew the highest, deepest worth As servant. Who better knows how work is blest Than servant? To whom belongs the sweetest rest? The servant.

Enlarged appreciation of her thought,    Her tireless patience, and her gentle grace, Enable us to grasp the truths she taught,    To comprehend her purpose and her place. Joseph W.

Where? Here! Friend, look close: beneath your feet is holy ground. Under all questions the heart longs for a people, a place in the morning light Where? Here! Look again: place is community, is one— whatever lies bright in each of us.

Self-will cannot accomplish it, nor wishful supplication, Mortal mind must be deposed through self-renunciation. Affirmation of Truth's power, denial of all other, This is the prayer that heals oneself, The prayer that heals one's brother.

Lazarus slept. Human sense Knew it not Jesus wept.

Behold, O men, Love's quickening message: Eternal life, through Christ assured By Jesus' triumph in the Spirit— A faithful witness to the Lord. Yea, all the hosts of heaven declare it! And all earth's creatures bow the knee To that unseen dynamic presence Whose truth transfigures you and me.

Reflection of perfection Remains forever pure; Since man is this reflection His being is secure; This fact, through endless ages, Makes the resurrection sure. Edna E.

Companion, met within the great adventure, hold my hand in love that casts out fear. Together may we not reveal perfection, the flawless knowing of the always-near? Salvation sought is solitary, granted, and yet, though each one see the dawning day through cloistered vision, still the Lord's beloved are drawn together on the upward way.

On how many bright mornings have I broken this bread— Bread of Truth, bread of Life, bread of hope; The soft early sunshine falling on the pages, The light of Truth shining in my heart; Refreshed by Thy mercies, new every morning, Awake and satisfied in Thy likeness. Mary Dunham.