Poems

The crowd had passed; the mocking, scornful crowd which had accused her and pronounced her doom. Trembling, bowed with the weight of condemnation, she found she stood alone with one they had called "Master," nor dared to raise her face until he spoke.

A light shines through the darkness And penetrates the chill. I turn to it from wandering The wilderness at will.

What tribute shall I bring to God, how shall I prove my worthiness to call myself His child? Often I asked. Then, as I prayed, On wings of Love the answer softly came.

One gleam of light illumining, One ray of Truth, discerned In mortals' dark room of ignorance, Releases knowledge in a small and busy flame, Until at last the fire springs into being And burns away the litter and the heap, Leaving the walls upright and unbuckled, Resting upon conclusions absolute and deep.

Again the winds were violent and cold; They pinned the listing ship between two seas— Yet in that plight a higher power controlled The storm: Paul prayed in their adversities. Prayer turned confusion into joy and cheer.

When he said to me, "Go, wash in the pool," Some may have wondered why he did not lead me there Or fetch the water to me. The clay he spat upon clung to my eyes; I myself must cleanse myself from earth.

What is healing? The vanishing of pain, or life made richer in the joy you gain through walking fearlessly, unhampered, free from weight of worry, ills, or poverty? Well, these may follow healing, it is true, but they are only added things to you. Far richer, lovelier than these, is thought acquainted now with God, and by Him taught.

Keep me alert to Christ's command, "Love one another. " And let me humbly understand, O Father-Mother, That every gift—each perfect gift Which cometh down from Thee To bring Thy light, to banish night— Is meant no more for me Than for my brother.

Not as a hireling, Father, would I be, that, when fierce wolves of error come, I flee. Ah, no, a trusted, faithful shepherd would I be to watch and guard so tenderly Thy sheep for Thee.

" And he must needs go through Samaria.