Questions & Answers

How tenderly the veil of night Enfolds each sleeping flower, Till morning's all-pervading light Proclaims the waking hour. How lovingly God guards the thought Engrossed with that which seems, Till Truth's irradiance has brought Release from earthly dreams.

The title to our new-found wealth, dear friend, Runs with the power to make our lives more free, More generous, more gentle; to the end That all may share God's gift to you and me. I see thy features in each human face, I hear thy mandate in each civic call, I own thy kindred in the lowliest race, I love thy likeness in the souls of all.

A day seemed long when it came to earth, And many the hours it bore, And the daily tasks and waiting joys Lay heaped on the dusty floor. There seemed no sunshine of God's good will, No breeze of His promise kind, No generous breath of sacrifice On the still and sullen wind.

I humbly ask To tent today, O Love, in Thy pavilion, From dawn's first mask Of pearly gray To vespertine vermilion. Then, when the moon Shall slip adown And shapeless shadows close, Grant Thou this boon Thy day to crown,— Secure repose.

Changeless stand the mountain summits, Voicing psalms to winds that wing them; Changeless rolls the circling ocean, Round the world with thundering anthems; Changeless swings the great procession, Hosts of stars across the heavens. Yet shall all be changed and vanish, While the strength of Love eternal Falters not, but waxes mightier, Through the breadth of God's dominions.

While yet 'twas dark, ere break of day The women hastened on their way And sought the place where Jesus lay. And there, behold! at break of day, As fled the shadows thick and gray, The stone already rolled away! Seek we a Saviour in the tomb, Amid the shadows and the gloom? Before us does some great stone loom? Be not dismayed! though dark the way, We too shall see, at break of day, The Christ hath rolled the stone away!

Sleep, little bird, 'neath thy mother's wing; The sun sinks low in the purpling sky, While gently the night-winds thy cradle swing And croon thee a tender lullaby. Sleep, little one, on thy mother's breast; Now deeper and deeper the shadows fall As twilight covers the dreaming west, And the evening's peace broods over all.

I gazed from a rugged mountain height On a little lake below, Where lay in mirrored splendor The mountains clad in snow; Each towering crag and rock-faced cliff And timbered deep ravine Were shown in perfect image Within the lake serene. Again I stood on the mountain height Beneath the sky so blue, And the colors on its rugged side Shone out in brightest hue; But the lake was irresponsive To all that splendid scene Of azure sky and mountain white And verdure's varied green.

I will not fear, For God is here. His hand divine, upholding mine, Now strengthens me, And makes me see His pathway straight.

Sunshine : with showers now and then, For so the rainbow hues have birth. Green fields: with here and there a place Where we may sow to brighten earth.