Questions & Answers
What is our Church? A habitation pure Which, set apart From all the cares and worries of the heart, A refuge is; for all our ills a cure. Where is our Church? In consciousness divine Where perfect Mind, Serene and sure with Truth and Love entwined, The Builder is, of structure fair and fine.
Naaman hears the prophet's word, Dip thyself in Jordan's wave; Seven times thou shalt go down; So thy cleanness thou shalt save. Nay, but Naaman will not stoop In the dull descending stream: Abana, winding bright and sweet Over many pleasant stones, Pharpar, wide and warm and fleet— These alone shall lave his feet! Still he hears the prophet's word, Wash in Jordan seven times; Wash, and cleanness thou shalt know.
Not more two thousand years ago than now Did human anguish need the Christlike touch, The truth that maketh free, the solemn vow Of the Christ's ever-presence. And to such As seek God's will to do in thought and deed, Ready to minister unto their brothers' need, Hopeful and patient, loving, quiet, true, To-day Christ speaks.
To Thee, O Lord, I lift my thought in sorrow, When fear, or doubt, or pain beset my way, When dark forebodings of the unknown morrow Becloud the light of Thine eternal day. To Thee I lift mine eyes when tired with seeking, And crave that peace which only Thou canst give; I strain my ear to hear the still voice speaking, And pray that I may yet know how to live.
Though in the wilderness we find the pathways rough and steep, The wild and tangled places, and the valleys dark and deep, Yet as we tread the pathways o'er with willing, patient feet, We find them fringed with flowers of God and budding roses sweet. We see the dry and thirsty ground there in the wilderness, The desolate, deserted land, all dim with weariness; Yet there we see the little streams of living water flow, Reviving, healing, blessing all the land wherein they go.
O precious Word, that through the Master came, To bring sweet peace and healing in God's name; The Word which, spoken to the swelling crowd, Rebuked the swinish thought, Made evil cry aloud, Torment us not; And yet in tender might Brought the repentant to the Master's feet! God's Word is law; and when it is obeyed, No matter what the trial, We need not be dismayed; His word a lamp, whose glorious shining rays Point on and up to higher, holier ways.
Father of all, in whom each one is living, Humbly and gratefully to Thee I pray; I have received so much, I would be giving. Father, I ask Thee to show me the way.
A jewel fair among encircling hills it lies, A mirror clear, wherein on surface still As in a glass reflected are the mountains, trees, Sky and sun and cloud; So pure, so peaceful, and so holy, quiet. So may my consciousness, O Love divine, Be still and quiet as this gentle lake, That Thou and Thou alone in it reflected be— Thy beauty, peace, Thy glory and Thy love; So losing self, lo! I am one with Thee.
To greet the gray dawn with a smile and say, Father, I thank Thee for another day, For the calm hours of a reposeful night Marked by Thy grace and guarded by Thy might; To store each glint of sun and leave no room Within a joy-filled heart for grief or gloom, Seeking the sky in every dancing brook And scent of violet in sheltered nook; To hear God's voice amid the city's hum, Where sense seems paramount and goodness dumb, Marking each day by growth of grace within, By healed conditions and forsaken sin; To make a barren life one harvest field Of God's abundance, by our prayers revealed; To stretch out hands and cry, Ah! God is here, There is no loneliness, or want, or fear; To make the evening bright with thanks and say, Father, I thank Thee for another day!
If I am then the guest of God, may I Not well rejoice? My every need is met. None sick, no sinner there; our Father's board Is laid abundantly.