Questions & Answers
The April sun rose up to see How beautiful the earth might be. It kissed the vapor from the hills, Dried up the tears that April spills, And icy chains that bound the rills It broke—and set them free! Mist, water, ice, these three are one, And vanish 'neath the April sun.
How amiable Thy tabernacles, Lord, How beautiful the vision all divine Of sanctuary hid with Christ in God! Look Thou, O Love, on Thine anointed; shine! Shine out through them to bless all humankind, In good works let their lives redound to Love, In wisdom lead them on from strength to strength, For thus they will Thy perfect beauty prove. Within Thine altar's courts, O Lord of hosts, Birds sing in rapturous safety with their young.
I carry with me as I go All that I know of heaven, And from each lesson rightly learned I glean the joy that I have earned, And more of glory is discerned By Love's tuition given. I look, and see my brother man His home of hope defining.
The powers of darkness—what are they? Mere phantoms of thy fear— Denounce them! They are nothingness, For God, thy light, is here. False dreams are they—God made us free; To us dominion's given.
Enslaving chains of habits and of fears Are broken oft but by our scalding tears; Thoughtlessly we so often seek to cling To things which only vain regrets can bring; Then in our desperation we reach out For hope and comfort—yes, through many a doubt; And Truth triumphant casts its beam of light, And consciousness emerges from the night. Then opened eyes behold that things once great Have lost so much of their important weight; The fires of Spirit have consumed the dross, And there, where mortal mind had pictured loss, We find ourselves possessing nuggets rare, Dug from the depths, where anguish and despair Had seemed to be.
I will go back, and find the path I lost, I will seek patiently wherein I strayed; I must go back; for all these flowery ways End but in desolation, and the maze Of trackless forest where the blind bat flies. Footsore and weary, tears of hope betrayed Are in my eyes.
Who said that man immortal knows a past Of sin, of sickness, failure, want, and woe? Who said that yesteryear was darkest night, Forgetting whence the tides of goodness flow? Who thus would veil the perfect work of God, And say that Love hath ceased to give its light; That fair creation once in beauty dawned, And then, alas! began to droop and blight? We thank Thee, Father-Mother, that we know That dreams of sense in Life have never been; That past and present, all the future holds, Are radiant with Thy love and free from sin; That in this Love, this Mind, we e'er abide, To sin and death, to change and time, unknown, The humble servants of Thy perfect will, Upheld in peace before Thy shining throne.
Dear Father-God, give me such clear discerning That I may know the way Thou leadest me; That every thought, an ever-constant yearning, Will be a step from sense and self to Thee. Dear Father, teach me gratitude for healing, And for Thy blessings, daily, which are mine; And may the truth, an ever-clear revealing, Help me to yield my will, O God, to Thine.
Shall we start the day with prayer—God is Love! Shall we lift a hymn of praise for the wonder of God's ways, Shall we laud Love's loving-kindness—God is Love! Shall we render homage true—Life is Love! Shall we try by word, by deed, to relieve another's need, Shall we offer praise in gladness—Life is Love! Shall we seek the Horeb height—all is Love! Shall we follow joy's bright gleam, shall we rouse us from the dream, Shall we swell the victor's chorus, All is Love!
The eternal now of an endless Life Holds only the good and true. The infinite Mind knows naught of time, For Truth is forever new.