Any mother might have worried
not to see her son each day:
might have felt that only she
could properly rear her child.
But Samuel grew before the Lord.
And Hannah was content
to make a new coat every year
and take it to her son.
Hannah's thought kept pace:
did not hold him back a babe
or rush him into manhood,
but tenderly, patiently clothed
his every year.
Have ever coats been made
in which the threads of pure affection
were more firmly woven?
Or patterned in more solemn purpose
to fit so perfectly a great lifework?
May we wisely clothe our sons and daughters,
distant or at home,
in coats that do not bind or chafe
or cause to stumble
—tenderly, patiently made
of Love's genuine fibers, which at once protect
from heat and cold of fleshly ties.
New coats each year, keeping pace with progress as
our sons and daughters grow before the Lord.
