Questions & Answers
Once “joy a trembler” was, and “hope a cheat,” Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures , by Mary Baker Eddy, page 298. But now I know! With gratitude’s warm glow My heart, replete, Sings joyful praise, dear Father, unto Thee, That error’s screaming hosts must bear defeat on ev’ry hand; With humble gladness that at last I must Return to Thee, relinquish every trust In human seeming, must look up and find Serene identity in the one Mind; Glad recognition that I now can stand, Harassed by claims of ill on every hand, Above this earthly battle ground’s grim strife, Armored by Spirit, held in Truth and Life, My gaze fixed on the real; and so I thank Love that I know.
Everliving! In Thy kingdom Nothing withers, nothing dies; Glorious perfection ever Greets with joy Thy children's eyes. But the dream of separation Blurs and mars our frightened gaze; Groping midst earth's treacherous shadows We forget Thy name to praise.
I left Jerusalem, my native home, And started down the road to Jericho, A pleasant place where mortal thought may roam Among material things that gleam and glow. A band of thieves destroyed my peace of mind, Took all my holy thoughts, my wont to pray, Robbed me of tenderness for humankind, And left me destitute beside the way.
When deeply quiet I can see Some blessings, Lord, Thou givest me; And more, far more than these, I know Are hidden till my vision grow— More faith, more love, more strength to dare To claim my own as heavenly heir; More consciousness of grace and power To humbly serve this day and hour; More joy because of purpose true; More friends because more friendly, too.
If I should meet the worldling's scorn, His scoffing at the Christ; If I should test in darkened morn My truth so dearly priced— If through his claim of mortal might I need a clearer, lovelier sight, Oh, may I learn forgiveness true To follow, Lord, the way of you. And should a moment of rebuff Be mine, through his satire, May I be wrapped in love enough, And clad in love's attire, To see the shafts of mortal hate Dissolve at once and dissipate— For you did show forgiveness, Lord, In dealing with the mortal horde.
If we would know the wondrous truth, That God is Love, and Love is All, Then we must love in word and deed, Responding ever to the need Of those who call. To love thy neighbor as thyself— This was the Master's own command; The blessing of an unselfed love Is ours today for us to prove And understand.
There is no age except in mortal seeming, No creeping years to mark a certain span; No birth except the dawning joy of learning That God alone is Life — sustaining man. There is no youth except the eager striving Of wakened thought to answer Love's appeal, No fine maturity except in finding That understanding which will bless and heal.
Man knows no hesitation when climbing up the road; Love knows no limitation in His divine abode. For Truth and Life, unending, Are gracious courage lending To weary mankind bending Beneath a seeming load.
Disciple of the Christ, loving, beloved, He saw with purer faith, with clearer sight, That vision of new heaven and new earth, Wherein should be no night ; And in the place of error's ebb and flow, The mortal waves that ever seem to be, Love's quiet all around, a holy calm— And there was no more sea. The evil days for him were not prolonged, He had no fear of age, nor sense of time; And in the city of our God, the Lamb Saw, as the light sublime.
Someone has prayed for me today—how fair the day! The sun's warm tender rays make glad my way; And like still waters that in stillness bless, A holy calm possesses consciousness. Now Spirit's graces are more humbly sought: A great desire to love inspires my thought.