Poems

Ask , "What is man?" Man is most like a song Woven of tones unwaveringly his own, And yet, not his; the patterning alone Pertains to him. The pure, free notes belong To no man born; no mesh of sound so strong It can confine a single semitone To its sole texture! Still the Lord has blown These notes from open throat in myriad throng.

One night I wandered on the mountainside, Alone, afraid, Perplexed, dismayed, With no one near to take my hand and guide Me on my way, Nor yet to say A loving word to bid self-will subside. Yet God was present in that wilderness To help me prove That nought but Love Can dissipate a sense of bitterness.

Soaring , untrammeled, free! Our paths controlled by Thee! None to conflict or vie; Only to glorify, Each on his own course moves, Satisfied in God's grooves. Rising, we drop all fear, Guided through Love's atmosphere.

Man's native tongue is Spirit's language; Soul Conveys its word as flowers diffuse their scent, Unseen yet ambient as the air we breathe Spontaneously (scarce conscious it is there Till made aware of it by stir of breeze) . The speaker may be one whose utterance, Whose mother tongue, unrecognized, evokes No meaning to the untaught listener's ear, Yet Soul's outreaching love of good can stir, Divinely sensed, a oneness that seemed lost; And heart to heart speaks as at Pentecost.

"No time for God"—so mourned my burdened heart. "Such pressing needs confront each busy day, How can I set one precious hour apart To know my unity with Him, or pray? Obeying His behests should bring release; But duty sets for me too fast a pace.

I asked myself at close of day: "Did I remember each hour to pray? Did I give thanks for that journey made And the angel thought, 'Be not afraid'? Was I alert when the lie was told That a child of God was growing old? Did I accept, or did I deny When others said he was doomed to die?" Then did I answer, "I will, I can, See the perfection of God and man. " And with this resolve great healing came, For Love will redeem and Love reclaim.

Did revelation tarry? What delayed The full appearing of the reign of Mind? John sought a realm of law and order, made By God's decree, and by His love designed. He saw belief in evil self-arrayed, Swollen with fear and ignorance and sin; But trustingly the loved disciple prayed And found the answer to his quest within.

We are commanded to yield fruit each of his own kind, clear and true. Love does not say, "Be someone else," but, "Be you.

A tenth of everything I have, I give it back to Thee. Only a tenth? It is all Thine; I use it but it is not mine, Nor can it ever be.

With willing hands the building work began. But not alone of stone or wood.