Poems

How well did Jesus know the mountain's calm With hallowed peace—alone with God in prayer, Discerning false beliefs as void of law Or power to hold mankind within the grasp Of sin, with all its myriad claims of pain. One day, descending from communion's mount, He saw a pressing multitude surround A stricken lad, bowed down with grim despair.

Sometimes to human consciousness may come The errant whisper to step forth from home, To leave the haven of the Father's house For the fitful beauty of the mortal storm, The aching longing and the fevered hope, The fascination of the promise unfulfilled. And, as step by step, inexorably, The defrauding promise fails, Desolation haunts the heart of him Who sought this lonely path until, Prodigal-wise, he wakes to find His Father's house at hand And all his needs clearly defined And richly met, and knows, at last, He is his Father's own dear son—none other; He sees, in sweet relief and gratitude, God's tender care for prodigal and brother.

With what complete exactitude the trees Are mirrored in this quiet sylvan lake; Each leaf and branch repeated here to make Within the amber depths an emerald frieze. So, too, does man—God's image of perfection— Live steadfastly in effortless reflection.

Rejoice ! God's chosen witness has revealed All truth and kindled in our hearts the fires Of Christianity, no more concealed By ancient creeds; for world-awakened choirs Shall sing the song of Science, swell its theme In constant prayer and living praise. Rejoice! Truth's messenger has caught the radiant gleam Of Life; the God-crowned heart has heard Love's voice.

Does anyone to me seem less Than the expression of all good, And am I tempted to transgress The law of riftless brotherhood? Then oh, be still, my heart; abstain From criticism of this one. A voice from heaven speaks again: "This, too, is my beloved son.

In the beginning God, eternal Mind, with His own Word His boundless realm defined. The one benevolent circle of His wing, enfolding everyone and everything, arches about His works, below, above, with His protecting Father-Mother Love.

" Learn to trust in growth. " These were the words Of one I sought out when my way seemed slow.

There seem at times to stand within my path Impediments that bode of storm and wrath, With discord looming as an aftermath. Then I recall a day when from a pier I saw out on the sea a fishing weir Limned quite distinctly, sturdily and clear.

Intellectualists may scoff At childlike faith and trust in good. Who dwells in Spirit's hemisphere Knows Love and Truth are understood.

Peace , not in sleep, but in tranquil expectancy of good: Security, not in caution, but in God's presence understood; Faith, as the airman knows faith, flying in on the beam; Hope, born of certainty that evil is only a dream. Courage that comes of humility, knowing we stand Upheld by no power of our own, but by God's powerful hand; Allegiance that holds us to Him because well we know There is none else in heaven or earth to whom men can go.