New Thought Pastels | Page 4

he who flees his kind,?Some mountain fastness, or some cave to find;?But he who in the city's noisiest scene,?Keeps calm within--he only is serene.
AFFIRM
Body and mind, and spirit, all combine?To make the Creature, human and divine.
Of this great trinity no part deny.?Affirm, affirm, the Great Eternal I.
Affirm the body, beautiful and whole,?The earth-expression of immortal soul.
Affirm the mind, the messenger of the hour,?To speed between thee and the source of power.
Affirm the spirit, the Eternal I -?Of this great trinity no part deny.
THE CHOSEN
They stood before the Angel at the gate;
The Angel asked: 'Why should you enter in?'?One said: 'On earth my place was high and great;'
And one: 'I warned my fellow-men from sin;'?Another: 'I was teacher of the faith;?I scorned my life and lived in love with death.'
And one stood silent. 'Speak!' the Angel said;
'What earthly deed has sent you here to-day?'?'Alas! I did but follow where they led,'
He answered sadly: 'I had lost my way -?So new the country, and so strange my flight;?I only sought for guidance and for light.'
'You have no passport?' 'None,' the answer came.
'I loved the earth, tho' lowly was my lot.?I strove to keep my record free from blame,
And make a heaven about my humble spot.?A narrow life; I see it now, too late;?So, Angel, drive me from the heavenly gate.'
The Angel swung the portal wide and free,
And took the sorrowing stranger by the hand.?'Nay, you alone,' he said, 'shall come with me,
Of all this waiting and insistent band.?Of what God gave, you built your paradise;?Behold your mansion waiting in the skies.'
THE NAMELESS
Unnumbered gods may unremembered die;?A thousand creeds may perish and pass by;?Yet do I lift mine eyes to ONE on high.
Unnamed be HE from whom creation came;?There is no word whereby to speak His name?But petty men have mouthed it into shame.
I lift mine eyes, and with a river's force?My love's full tide goes sweeping on its course?To that supreme and all-embracing Source.
Then back through all those thirsting channels roll?The mighty billows of the Over Soul.?And I am He, the portion and the Whole.
As little streams before the flood-tide flee,?As rivers vanish to become the sea,?The I exists no more, for I AM HE,
THE WORD
Oh, a word is a gem, or a stone, or a song,
Or a flame, or a two-edged sword;?Or a rose in bloom, or a sweet perfume,
Or a drop of gall, is a word.
You may choose your word like a connoisseur,
And polish it up with art,?But the word that sways, and stirs, and stays,
Is the word that comes from the heart.
You may work on your word a thousand weeks,
But it will not glow like one?That all unsought, leaps forth white hot,
When the fountains of feeling run.
You may hammer away on the anvil of thought,
And fashion your word with care,?But unless you are stirred to the depths, that word
Shall die on the empty air.
For the word that comes from the brain alone,
Alone to the brain will speed;?But the word that sways, and stirs, and stays,
Oh! that is the word men heed.
ASSISTANCE
Lean on no mortal, Love, and serve;?(For service is love's complement)?But it was never God's intent,?Your spirit from its path should swerve,?To gain another's point of view.?As well might Jupiter, or Mars?Go seeking help from other stars,?Instead of sweeping ON, as you.?Look to the Great Eternal Cause?And not to any man, for light.?Look in; and learn the wrong, and right,?From your own soul's unwritten laws.?And when you question, or demur,?Let Love be your Interpreter.
'CREDULITY'
If fallacies come knocking at my door,?I'd rather feed, and shelter full a score,?Than hide behind the black portcullis, doubt,?And run the risk of barring one Truth out.
And if pretension for a time deceive,?And prove me one too ready to believe,?Far less my shame, than if by stubborn act,?I brand as lie, some great colossal Fact.
On my soul's door, the latch-string hangs outside;?Within, the lighted candle. Let me guide?Some errant follies, on their wandering way,?Rather, than Wisdom give no welcoming ray.
CONSCIOUSNESS
God, what a glory, is this consciousness,?Of life on life, that comes to those who seek!?Nor would I, if I might, to others speak,?The fulness of that knowledge. It can bless,?Only the eager souls, that willing, press?Along the mountain passes, to the peak.?Not to the dull, the doubting, or the weak,?Will Truth explain, or Mystery confess.
Not to the curious or impatient soul?That in the start, demands the end be shown,?And at each step, stops waiting for a sign;?But to the tireless toiler toward the goal,?Shall the great miracles of God be known?And life revealed, immortal and divine.
THE STRUCTURE
Upon the wreckage of thy yesterday?Design the structure of to-morrow. Lay?Strong corner stones of purpose, and prepare?Great blocks of wisdom, cut from past despair.?Shape mighty pillars of resolve, to set?Deep in the tear-wet mortar of regret.?Work on with patience. Though thy toil be slow,?Yet day by day the edifice