Nothing can keep thee from thine own But thine own slothful mind.
To one who knocks, each door unlocks;
And he who seeks, shall find.
PRAYER
Lean on thyself until thy strength is tried;Then ask God's help; it will not be denied.
Use thine own sight to see the way to go;When darkness falls ask God the path to show.
Think for thyself and reason out thy plan;God has His work and thou hast thine, oh, man.
Exert thy will and use it for control;
God gave thee jurisdiction of thy soul.
All thine immortal powers bring into play;Think, act, strive, reason, then look up and pray.
CLIMBING
Who climbs the mountain does not always climb.
The winding road slants downward many a time;Yet each descent is higher than the last.
Has thy path fallen? That will soon be past.
Beyond the curve the way leads up and on.
Think not thy goal forever lost or gone.
Keep moving forward; if thine aim is right Thou canst not miss the shining mountain height.
Who would attain to summits still and fair, Must nerve himself through valleys of despair.
'THERE IS NO DEATH, THERE ARE NO DEAD'
(Suggested by the book of Mr. Ed. C. Randall.)'There is no death, there are no dead.'
From zone to zone, from sphere to sphere, The souls of all who pass from here By hosts of living thoughts are led;And dark or bright, those souls must tread The paths they fashioned year on year.
For hells are built of hate or fear, And heavens of love our lives have shed.
Across unatlassed worlds of space, And through God's mighty universe, With thoughts that bless or thoughts that curse, Each journeys to his rightful place.
Oh, greater truth no man has said, 'There is no death, there are no dead.'
It lifts the mourner from the sod, And bids him cast away the reed Of some uncomforting poor creed, And walk with Knowledge for a rod.
It bids the doubter seek the broad Vast fields, where living facts will feed All those whose patience proves their need Of these immortal truths of God.
It brings before the eyes of faith Those realms of radiance, tier on tier, Where our beloved 'dead' appear, More beautiful because of 'death.'
It speaks to grief: 'Be comforted;
There is no death, there are no dead.'
REALISATION
Hers was a lonely, shadowed lot;
Or so the unperceiving thought, Who looked no deeper than her face, Devoid of chiselled lines of grace -No farther than her humble grate, And wondered how she bore her fate.
Yet she was neither lone nor sad;
So much of love her spirit had, She found an ever-flowing spring Of happiness in everything.
So near to her was Nature's heart It seemed a very living part Of her own self; and bud and blade, And heat and cold, and sun and shade, And dawn and sunset, Spring and Fall, Held raptures for her, one and all.
The year's four changing seasons brought To her own door what thousands sought In wandering ways and did not find -Diversion and content of mind.
She loved the tasks that filled each day -Such menial duties; but her way Of looking at them lent a grace To things the world deemed commonplace.
Obscure and without place or name, She gloried in another's fame.
Poor, plain and humble in her dress, She thrilled when beauty and success And wealth passed by, on pleasure bent;They made earth seem so opulent.
Yet none of quicker sympathy, When need or sorrow came, than she, And so she lived, and so she died.
She woke as from a dream. How wide And wonderful the avenue That stretched to her astonished view!
And up the green ascending lawn A palace caught the rays of dawn.
Then suddenly the silence stirred With one clear keynote of a bird;A thousand answered, till ere long The air was quivering bits of song.
She rose and wandered forth in awe, Amazed and moved by all she saw, For, like so many souls who go Away from earth, she did not know The cord was severed.
Down the street, With eager arms stretched forth to greet, Came one she loved and mourned in youth;Her mother followed; then the truth Broke on her, golden wave on wave, Of knowledge infinite. The grave, The body and the earthly sphere Were gone! Immortal life was here!
They led her through the Palace halls;
From gleaming mirrors on the walls She saw herself, with radiant mien, And robed in splendour like a queen, While glory round about her shone.
'All this,' Love murmured, 'is your own.'
And when she gazed with wondering eye, And questioned whence and where and why, Love answered thus: 'All Heaven is made By thoughts on earth; your walls were laid, Year after year, of purest gold;The beauty of your mind behold In this fair palace; ay, and more Waits farther on, so vast your store.
I was not worthy when I died To take my place here at your side;I toiled through long and weary years From lower planes to these high spheres;And through the love you sent from earth I have attained a second birth.
Oft when my erring soul would tire I felt the strength of your desire;I heard you breathe my name in prayer, And courage conquered weak despair.
Ah! earth needs heaven, but heaven indeed Of earth has just as great a need.'
Across the terrace with a bound There sped a lambkin and a hound (Dumb comrades of the old earth land)And fondled her caressing hand.
'YOU LOVED THEM INTO PARADISE'
Was answered to her questioning eyes;
'You taught them love; love has no end!
Nor does love's life on form depend.
If there be mortal without love, He wakes to no new life above.
If love in humbler things exist, It must through other realms persist Until all love rays merge in HIM.
Hark! Hear the heavenly Cherubim!'
Then hushed and awed, with joy so vast It knew no future and no past, She stood amidst the radiant throng That came to swell love's welcoming song -This humble soul from earth's far coast The centre of the heavenly host.
On earth they see her grave and say:
'She lies there till the judgment day;'
Nor dream, so limited their thought, What miracles by love are wrought.
End
