Questions & Answers
May I be grateful today, dear Lord, For all that would speak of good— For health, for home, for the love of friends, For work, and for daily food— Symbols each one of Thy tender care, Thy love surrounding us everywhere. May I be joyful today, dear Lord— Every thought that is sick or sad, Fearful, foreboding, be swiftly replaced With the happy, the free, and the glad.
Alone I seemed, the world a barren waste Of sunless hours stretching into the years Of ceaseless struggle and unfruitful haste, With harvests of discouragement and tears. Unlatched, the door swung open, discord sought To blot out joy, when softly a still voice: Is this the faith the blessed Leader taught? Oh, how unworthy! Trust Love, and rejoice.
Faced by the shadow of uncertain days— Even the dark valley that untutored fears Would have us dread as the sure end of years, Trust as we may in hope of happier ways— Faced by defeat, she turned her thought to God, Opened her Bible, in those sacred pages Seeking the healing truth that down the ages Has ever marked where seer and prophet trod. Pondering the story of the palsied man, Raised up by Jesus to his rightful ease, She likewise rose, healed by the Christ, that frees From every falsity—and ever can.
Day softly approaches the slumbering east And gently illumines the veil Enshrouding the landscape in shadowy gloom, With light that is tender and pale. Then quietly follow the floods of the dawn In silence displacing the night, The radiance seeking each inky recess, Revealing its hidden delight.
To the one with seeing eyes, Ruddy fields of ripening wheat, Crescent moon in clear, pale skies, Flowers' glow, with fragrance sweet— All of nature's beauteous scenes Speak Love's perfect plan, complete, Love, whose image never dies.
I can endure, though long the night and weary, And lengthened shadows fall across my way, Since our great Master marked the course before me Which leads to where awaits the dawning day. I can be patient, since our dauntless Leader Discovered for this age the path he trod, Removed the tangled growths of creed and dogma, And so made straight the highway of our God.
I thank Thee, Lord, for Thy great smiling sky, For silver rain, for sun and stars on high. I thank Thee, Lord, that every human need Is met with prayer Thou never fail'st to heed.
Once as I walked with low bent head And eyes fixed on the rocky road, The way seemed long, my progress slow, While wearily I bore my load. And then I saw that others walked With lifted face and eyes aglow, Because they looked beyond the space Their faltering feet were forced to go.
When I would ask, "Lord, .
Shine through the mist of mortal mind, O Truth, today; For it would claim Love's child to blind, Obscure Love's way. The potency of Truth divine I fain would see, For—seeing thus—the mist will melt, And I go free.