Poems

As winging birds cleave in their aerial flight The clouds which seem their passage to impede, And with unlabored motion skim the height, Their goal to compass with untrammeled speed, So does the Word of God on wings of thought Fly to its goal within the waiting heart; Bird-swift, precipitant, its passage fraught With eagerness His message to impart. Pinioned with might it still pursues its way, Cleaving with strength the clouds of fear and doubt.

I cried : Grant me grace and courage, Lord, To meet the coming day. Give me love, compassion, too, To guide me on my way.

When fear subsides as faith increases, When love abides and sorrow ceases, Oh, then we find God's world of cheer: The sky, how kind! The stars, how near!

God is over all! Because I know His presence near, I feel secure, devoid of fear; I lift my thought in grateful prayer, Since finding God is everywhere. I need not pray for love or life, For God to conquer sin or strife, For Him to compass land and sea; He has revealed Himself to me.

I think that Jesus must have taught With artist skill, in Galilee, And many were the ones who sought The secret of his artistry. I think he saw within each child The eager, reaching mind and heart; I think his love, so patient, mild, Inspired hopes and deeds to start.

Behold how good it is for men To dwell in love and peace! Who loves another as himself Has found his own release From strife and anger, from the woe Of separation's pain. Hatred is death, but he who loves, In newness lives again.

An understanding heart—it is for this I pray: To listen for the voice that guides us on our way, To heed the gentle presence that counsels us to love, To seek to understand that good comes from above, To find God's love expressed as we greet each new day. An understanding heart—it is for this I pray.

"Stranger, thou art the guest of God. "—Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, page 254.

Christian warrior, loved of God, Who girds you with His power, Strengthened with unfailing strength, Go forth to meet this hour! Bear the mighty arms of Truth, Thy weapons forged above, The sword of Spirit's fashioning, The shining shield of Love.

Give me, O God, an understanding heart Wherewith to judge Thy people, loved and great. So prayed a Hebrew king, seeking to chart His course with God, with God to rest its weight.