Questions & Answers
The blue of lilac, gold of daffodil, With beauty, color, all my garden fill. The air is heavy-sweet with perfume rare Upbreathed from flowers on the morning air.
"O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. "— Psalms 98:1.
I stood upon a mountain peak, and sang a triumph song, The gentle winds of God came by and bore the strain along; The morning sunshine on my face, and in my heart a prayer, With earthly mists beneath my feet, I glimpsed the glory there. And from my hands and heart I felt the binding shackles drop— I sang a song of liberty upon the mountain top.
We would worship Thee, our Father, In the blessed Saviour's way; Pure of heart and childlike trusting, From our deeds of every day Build with living stones Thine altar, And in service truly pray; With compassion, healing, saving, All his love with love repay. We would praise Thee, O our Father, With the praise he rendered Thee Down among the sick and lonely, As he worked in Galilee, Proving Love alone is power, Proving Truth alone makes free, Showing Life's eternal oneness, In his constant ministry.
Beauteous the world—the flowers, the winging birds, The sky and sea and stars, the woods, the wind; And yet I lift my thought to see through soul Eternal beauty in eternal Mind. Hideous the sorrow, suffering, and fear, Sickness' and sin and death of humankind; Again I lift my thought through love to see Beauty unsullied in eternal Mind— Beauty of thought which makes all thinking turn To loveliness and purity and joy; Beauty of deed which makes all hearts to yearn For full fruition of our high employ.
To sit amid the fragrance there Of shavings from the sundered wood And listen to his simple words, His loving counselings of good; To walk with him a rugged way In sunny noon or singing shower, And drink deep drafts of living Truth— To talk with him a golden hour; To hearken to his parable Of countryside, of olive tree; To rest with him beside the road In his divine tranquillity; To pass with him such yesterdays Were sacred privilege unpriced; But ah, what greater gift to-day To deeply know the risen Christ!
No longer do I yearn for worldly pleasure, Since Truth has dawned, full-orbed, upon my sky; I only seek to gain in greater measure The vision worldly riches cannot buy. No longer do I think that worldly homage Can aught of power or grace on me bestow; In daily loving service for my Maker Is joy complete—this much, through love, I know.
Bound by strong hands and sure, with fingers deft, Unknowing hands, that moved but to obey Untoward commands; of human hope bereft— Relentless lions waiting for their prey— Yet was no tremor refuged in his eye, No faltering footstep failed the chosen path, No backward glance—as one about to die— No vain regrets; no bitterness or wrath. With steadfast faith and gentle thoughts of love, Must he have met, perchance, the lowering rope; These could not shake his trust in God, nor move A purpose full of courage as of hope! Thus Truth and Love shut fast the mouth of rage, And Mind was glorified on Scripture's page.
May the coming of the dawn, With its tender shafts of rose, Be the symbol to my thought Of that Light divine that glows With a gentle, healing touch, Scattering dark and troubled thought With the hope, and cheer, and grace That are ever with it fraught. May the sunlight's shimmering gold, Causing earth to bud and flower, Make me think of God's dear love, With its wondrous joy and power.
Give me, O God, the knowledge that can see Whatever stands between myself and Thee, Be it self-will, self-love, or pride of thought, That keeps me from the perfect self I've sought— A clear transparency to daily be, That Thou may'st shed Thy healing love through me. With deep humility I'll cast aside Each earth-born thought and in Thy truth abide, That longer still no mist may cloud my gaze, No pent-up sinful thought its voice may raise; As self-esteem goes down, thought will arise To man's true being and to Soul-filled skies.