Questions & Answers
O healing Christ! so calm my troubled heart That all its anguished questionings are still; Lead thou me on, from blinding doubt apart, To recognize and do thy perfect will, Obeying thee in thought and word and deed, Rejoicing in thy wondrous law of right, From error's thrall in fuller measure freed, Emerging more and more into the light. Be mine the joy this saving light to bring To others who amid the shadows stray, With might and meekness truly ministering To those athirst, and hungering by the way.
Is hard the way? Does error flaunt its claim With sickness, lack, discouragement, or shame? Do friends desert and trusted ones defame And cherished hopes turn ashes in the flame? Have selfless gifts been spurned? Is blame Returned for consecration to His name? Oh, then, rejoice! For great His love of thee. These tests of faith are opportunity To prove thy God, to learn humility, To grasp the truth and shake the fetters free.
When error tempts my wayward feet to stray, Lord may I see Life holds no joy or pleasure, hope or peace, Severed from Thee. When sorrow, pain, or sin would fetter me, I can abide In that sure freedom of sustaining Love, Close to Thy side.
Dear Father, to my waiting heart Thy gift of gentleness bestow, That all my actions and my words With this sweet Christliness may glow. The tender touch of gentleness Is sweet as fragrance from a flower, And heavy burdens fall away When touched by its God-given power.
The hands of wisdom build my house; In consciousness it is designed To stand secure upon the rock, To glorify the might of Mind. And holy beauty lends her hands, Unveils perfection's purity In strength of line, in colors rare, In forms of grace and symmetry.
The Word of God is bringing reassurance That all is well in every height and deep; This truth sustains the prophet in endurance, That there is wealth for men which they can keep. Men gather things which with the using perish, They build their hopes like phantoms in the air; They see the fading of the loves they cherish, They cannot find a respite from their care.
When outward semblance paints a scene unkind, No intuitions of the Life divine appear, No outward joy is viewed afar or near, We turn for inspiration to pure Mind. Within Love's sanctum heavenly light we find, Glad music, hymns of praise, inspiring, dear, Thoughts of the victories won, Truth conquering fear, The realm of Soul, with radiant peace entwined.
She stood alone upon the rock of Truth, And scanned the pale horizon's distant rim; The waves of malice, like the ocean deep, Dashed fierce and high, and flung their warnings grim. The lightnings flashed; the thunder roared and rolled; The elements of evil warred on good; And earthquake, fire, and tempest's breath passed by, But could not shake the rock on which she stood.
I close the door, no light of sun or lantern Is here to guide my way; I reach into the silence and the darkness, I wait and watch and pray. I still the clamor of insistent voices, All restless worldly strife; Then round me grows a wide and boundless silence, Within a quickening life.
These gifts I sought to make my own, Expectantly: To gracious be, That I might sweetly do the task So near to me; That I might never be too deep entwined With daily care, Nor overlook the small, kind deeds That make life fair. And when desire was satisfied, At least achieved in part, Lo! there a precious, pure behest Lay in my hand without request— An understanding heart!