Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to header Skip to footer
All columns & sections

Questions & Answers

TAKING STOCK.—1890

What am I and whence? and whither? Whose the varied voice of wonder? Who would wrest a revelation from the universe at call? It is I, a sturdy Teuton, I, a man of metaphysics, And I speak for Celt or Saxon, I, an individual. It is I, an early Aztec; I, an Indian I, a Negro; It is I, a Greek, an ancient; I, a Hebrew, son of Shem; I, a Chaldee; I, Mongolian, Of a dynasty primeval; I, a mummified Egyptian, from the storied land of Khem.

GOD WANTS THE BOYS AND GIRLS

God wants the boys, the merry boys, The noisy boys, the funny boys, The thoughtless boys; God wants the boys, with all their joys— That he as gold may make them pure, And teach them trials to endure. His heroes brave He'll have them be, Fighting for truth and purity; God wants the boys.

Don't just sit and pray...

Don't just sit and pray For increase of your store, But work; who will help himself, Heaven helps more. The weeds while you're sleeping, Will come up and grow, But if you would have the Full ear, you must hoe! — Alice Carey.

TRUST

My bark is wafted to the strand By breath divine,— And on the helm there rests a Hand Other than mine. One who has known in storms to sail I have on board; Above the raving of the gale I hear my Lord.

UPLIFTED

I used to walk in the valley, tho' sometimes raising my eyes To the light that glowed on the hill-top and hung in the azure skies. Now I live on the mountain; and, watching the shadows below, Reach downward to help the care-worn whose footsteps are weary and slow.

"Only a drop in the bucket...

" Only a drop in the bucket, But every drop will tell; The bucket soon would be empty Without the drop in the well. Only a poor little penny; It was all I had to give; But as pennies make the dollars, It may help some cause to live.

I was wild with anxious sorrow, And knew not where to fly For help that must reach my darling Before the day went by. Must I "drink this cup?" I questioned Of Him "who knoweth all;" But an echo only answered My earnest, pleading call.

FAILURE

Therefore great heart, bear up! thou art but type Of what all lofty spirits endure, that fain Would win men back to strength and peace through Love. Each has his lonely peak, and on each heart Envy or scorn or hatred tears lifelong, with vulture beak.

IMMORTALITY

When the Daylight long expected Dawns upon the human view, Then will Life in all its splendor Be revealed to us anew. The great hereafter has no future, The past no memory house in store, The ever-present sense of goodness Fulfills the memory law of lore.

ROBINS in the tree-tops...

Robins in the tree-tops, Blossoms in the grass, Green things a-growing Every where you pass; Sudden little breezes Showers of silver dew Black bough and bent twig Budding out anew; Pine tree and willow-tree Fringed elm and larch, Don't you think that May time's Pleasanter than March? T. B.