Questions & Answers
The Syrians by companies had gone out And captive brought away from Israel A little maid to live in servitude, A friendless orphan in a foreign land. I love thy story, little captive maid; The Book's brief chronicle a volume speaks, And humbles us with wonder and amaze.
Oh , dear, dear heart, when thy dark hour is come, And thou canst see no ray of hope, bow not Thy head in grief, nor sit in silence dumb; But stand, and know that sorrow cannot blot The joy from out thy heart. 'Tis but a lie That would deceive thy frightened human sense Of things.
She asked not any rest, nor any praise, This meek and dauntless messenger of God; Only the right, amid the many ways, To seek and find the path her Master trod. And so she found it.
I stagger on with weary shoulders bowed Beneath the burden of my self-made cross. Tired arms I lift to Thee, but manacled In self-forged, rankling chains.
That I may touch a heart, O God, with song; That I may heal a wound, through Truth and Love, Or gently lift some toiler's weary load As o'er the steep and rugged way he strives; That, knowing true compassion, I may free Some sin-bound thought, and lead it toward the light Which ever shines, though men may heed it not, While dreams of mortal sense hold blinding sway; That, knowing full at-one-ment, Lord, with Thee, Its ever perfect peace I may attest, Though storm-tossed waves at times should seem to roll, And mortal night its darkest clouds should spread. Such is my longing hope, my constant prayer; Thus would I ever share Thy treasured gifts; For Thy all-truth, and life, and love supply The needs of all who come with childlike trust.
Love spread the feast, then bade me come and eat, Drink the sweet wine, and taste the heavenly bread; But I did eat the fruits of emptiness, And drank of dreams instead. Within the deepness of this cup lay grief, Regret, and hidden bitterness and pain; Across the hurrying phantom of the years, Love called to me again.
As when, triumphant o'er the grim array Of leaden clouds drawn up in seeming might, The sun, a living splendor, greets the day And floods a waiting world with warmth and light, So, through the doubts and fear of humankind, From Zion, in her beauty, "God hath shined. " Earth's lessons were so hard to understand; Its devious ways so dim and meaningless, Till, cleaving clouds of error, Love's command Pointed the way, a lamp to guide and bless; And on the eager, thirsty, waiting mind, From Zion, in her beauty, "God hath shined.
I gazed upon the lilac buds one cold and bleak spring day, All pinched with midnight frosts, but bravely waiting for the sun; I grieved a little, for they seemed so thwarted on their way, So checked in life's endeavor, that had only just begun. And then I thought, beyond it all, tho' hidden from our sight, God's sun shines on eternally, with warmth of truth and love; And the patience of the lilac buds, just waiting for the light, Revived my slack'ning energies Love's radiant power to prove.
For the last time he gained the mountain's height: The plains beneath him lay: we know he paused, Now at the summit of his earthly path, And gazed once more adown the dimming years: Saw the sweet face that launched him on the flood Of Nile: proud yet compassionate, the level brows Of royal Egypt: Miriam, well beloved By God and man, sister and prophetess: Aaron, the mouthpiece of the Word of God, Brother, yea more than brother, faithful friend: And Zipporah, with eyes whence pain had passed. Dear dreams! fair shadows of reality.
In the dawn of this new day, When the air is clear, Untainted by the mists of man's material living, In true humility I come to Thee, To lay upon Love's altar My simple off'ring: Ev'ry impure, unkind, or idle thought, All envy, jealousy, or senseless fear,— All that denies Thine omnipresence. Consume with fire this mortal dross, And from the ashes may there then arise That spiritual sense of Thee, O Mind divine, Whose thoughts it is my eager joy to image forth!