Poems

An understanding heart—it is for this I pray: To listen for the voice that guides us on our way, To heed the gentle presence that counsels us to love, To seek to understand that good comes from above, To find God's love expressed as we greet each new day. An understanding heart—it is for this I pray.

"Stranger, thou art the guest of God. "—Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, page 254.

Christian warrior, loved of God, Who girds you with His power, Strengthened with unfailing strength, Go forth to meet this hour! Bear the mighty arms of Truth, Thy weapons forged above, The sword of Spirit's fashioning, The shining shield of Love.

Give me, O God, an understanding heart Wherewith to judge Thy people, loved and great. So prayed a Hebrew king, seeking to chart His course with God, with God to rest its weight.

They told me I was sick, and lame, and blind, Crushed with the woes of earth and anxious fears; They gave no comfort, neither hope nor aid, These friends and loved ones, for they did not see The great Physician whom I dimly glimpsed Beyond the shadow, waiting patiently. And in the darkest hour of my despair I cried aloud to Him, "0 Father, help!" And lo! beyond the reach of mortal law And human knowledge all inadequate, I heard a sound of voices, strong and clear, Singing in sweet accord a wondrous song: "Who told you you were sick, and poor, and blind? Can vain decree of mortal sense impair 'The likeness of the glory of the Lord,' Which is yourself, God's nature manifest? Can mortals make His image otherwise Than radiant, flawless, like Himself, divine?" And still the voices sang in unison, Persisting in their basic questioning: "Do you not know you are the evidence Of all that He created 'very good'? That all the strident noises of the world, Of discord, ill, and death, and poverty, Are but illusive dreams, unknown to God, Without foundation or intelligence?" And suddenly I saw the blessed Christ, True selfhood bathed in glorious majesty; God and man, one, inseparable! And with this vision of reality I rose, and ran, and laughed in ecstasy, Shouting aloud my joy, for I was free!

Should evil ever tempt you to forget Your true selfhood—God's pure and radiant child— If you are weighed with care, and made to fret, By mortal pride and doubt and fear beguiled, Then pray for growth in grace, to be expressed In patience, meekness, love, good deeds; See Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, page 4.  and so In daily watchfulness and work find rest, In right reflection your true selfhood know.

On wings of gratitude this night I lift my thought. In songs of praise My voice I raise To God, who said.

Though wayward winds may toss my craft Upon a chartless sea, I need not fear the wave or storm, God's presence is with me. Though death may roar from out the night, And fiery blasts may sear, I have no doubt, for God is Life; I feel His presence here.

Angel thoughts descending On human consciousness, A stream of Love unending, To comfort and to bless— Like dew on morning flower, All glistening in the sun, These angel thoughts with power Restore the troubled one.

You are not friendless, not alone; Love is so near, so very near, That when your ears are Love-attuned Its tender message you can hear. Like dew at eventide it falls So softly sweet, so gracious, low, It soothes away all bitterness And heals the heart of every woe.