Poems

How substanceless the ocean Peter trod With faithless doubt, in wind-tossed dark: He sought the Christ outside himself And sank! How unsupporting, wavering, weak, The place whereon I stand, If I believe that Truth's afar And seek the Christ remote, apart! But Jesus, inly calm and buoyed by Truth, Outshone the outside world Of white-crest wave and liquid shock And frightened, shaking ship; He showed the way to Peter, as to us: He walked on ocean firm as rock.

I gave my mite content to know that all I had was wanted. The little light, the simple word, though trivial to many, counted.

All night my heart has held new-feathered words, Deep-nested, not yet strong enough for flight, But, pushing upward like small winging birds, They seek their freedom in the morning light. My lips must be made ready with the curve That love imparts to send words forth at length With tone of voice empowered to preserve Their innate grace and God-provided strength.

When Jesus prayed, his prayers included all. "Neither pray I for these alone," he said; his love was universal, not a small measure for a chosen few.

The first time you didn't know what to do. It was in London, and she was a pianist with something of an international reputation.

Bricks without straw! What more sadistic or inhuman law could cruelty impose? Yet out of grief's white ashes there arose undying flame of courage to go forward in His name. No fleshpot worth the cost of further degradation.

Like Abram, we too hear God's stirring call: "Look from .

I like to think of God as Principle, Divine foundation upon which to raise The structure of my life, invincible. From boundless base to heights I lift my gaze.

There was a glory in the Master's work; A power and presence glowed in all he wrought. His healing, law, but also tender love, The deep compassion that he felt and taught.

When I read those Bible verses. Written long ago, How one man saved a city Besieged by a mighty foe, And afterevents tasted bitter That friends and neighbors forgot His wisdom stopped their fall, Their defeat, and a slave's hard lot, How I wished I could find and tell him That for more than two thousand years Others, through his inspiration Have conquered their foes and their fears!