Poems

What is this courage men long to possess; Without which steps may falter, hearts may tremble? How can you gain this firm support when stress And fear press hard; when doubting thoughts assemble? Have you conviction that your Cause is right? Have you some consciousness of God's protection; A childlike faith in prayer's uplifting might; An understanding of Love's clear perfection? Have you glimpsed Truth, the shining two-edged sword; And Life, from which man never can be parted; The ever-presence promised in His Word, Which saves from error, every danger thwarted? When you can claim these treasures as your own, Then courage too is yours, and fear is gone.

Would glaring headline, strident-toned announcement portray my brother in the guise of sin? Oh, let my thought, alert with understanding, refuse to take this untrue picture in! Turning alike from fear and condemnation, with true discernment let me clearly see that this unlovely garment sin has woven belongs no more to others than to me. Then let my joyous heart behold my brother divinely clad in radiant purity; immortal likeness of our Father-Mother; beloved child! Unfallen, whole, and free.

The servants at the marriage feast in Cana Filled the waterpots, as Jesus asked; And, even more, they filled them to the brim. Although the governor of the feast Knew not whence the good wine came, The servants knew, and they had helped.

He led them out, he who had overcome All earthly claims to fetter and destroy. Resistless, deathless Truth he voiced to men; Tender compassion touching all their woes To joyful wholeness.

When once the heart discerns its deepest need, When truths unclasp beliefs that would impede Our warm expression here and now of all We know of God, we hear the gentle call Of unselfed love: "Arise! On higher ground More opportunities to give are found. " When Mind reveals the hidden, barren places Awaiting nourishment from Spirit's graces, The verities that Love and Soul bestow Pour forth their glory, spread their afterglow, Over the readied consciousness—then Love's allness meets the deepest need of men.

" If a man die, shall he live again?" Job asks the question, and who will reply? If Life is helpless to care for its own, Shall death, in power unbridled, take charge? That hoary reaper, the ultimate foe— Can death create the fresh budding of life? "If a man die, shall he live again?" Here is the answer, Job: Life does not die. When Jesus called to the man in the tomb He did not speak to a dead man at all, He spoke to the living one; and from the tomb, Swaddled in graveclothes, Lazarus came forth.

Ask , "What is man?" Man is most like a song Woven of tones unwaveringly his own, And yet, not his; the patterning alone Pertains to him. The pure, free notes belong To no man born; no mesh of sound so strong It can confine a single semitone To its sole texture! Still the Lord has blown These notes from open throat in myriad throng.

One night I wandered on the mountainside, Alone, afraid, Perplexed, dismayed, With no one near to take my hand and guide Me on my way, Nor yet to say A loving word to bid self-will subside. Yet God was present in that wilderness To help me prove That nought but Love Can dissipate a sense of bitterness.

Soaring , untrammeled, free! Our paths controlled by Thee! None to conflict or vie; Only to glorify, Each on his own course moves, Satisfied in God's grooves. Rising, we drop all fear, Guided through Love's atmosphere.

Man's native tongue is Spirit's language; Soul Conveys its word as flowers diffuse their scent, Unseen yet ambient as the air we breathe Spontaneously (scarce conscious it is there Till made aware of it by stir of breeze) . The speaker may be one whose utterance, Whose mother tongue, unrecognized, evokes No meaning to the untaught listener's ear, Yet Soul's outreaching love of good can stir, Divinely sensed, a oneness that seemed lost; And heart to heart speaks as at Pentecost.