To Jesus, in the silence of the night,
came Nicodemus, ruler of the Jews.
Had he not witnessed mighty healing works,
listened in troubled wonder to the words
of benediction from the Master's lips,
"Come unto me...and I will give you rest"?
Here no fanatic, swayed by ecstasy
and zeal untempered to a burdened world,
but holy love, persuasive and serene,
yet graced with an authority innate
that seemed to touch susceptibility
to heights beyond the worn and arid paths
of creed, observance, rite, or human reason.
So to the Nazarene the teacher came,
seeking a knowledge of the things unseen,
and in the quiet of that heavenly tryst
humility gained access to the Christ.
We must be born again, the Master said,
of water and of Spirit—purified,
awakened from the Adam sleep and dream
of life apart from spiritual good,
and in obedience to the still small voice
of Truth and Love follow with childlike trust
each gentle leading of the Father's will;
then in the light of spiritual rebirth
will understanding melt away the mist,
the mortal cloud of sickness, sin, and fear,
and man immortal, upright, Godlike, free,
imaged in Love's perfection, will appear.
