Poetry from Seasonal Teachings

P-06
I am sure many of you have seen or visited the Statue of Liberty. Inscribed on a plate at her base is the famous poem by Miss Emma Lazarus. It is the call of America to people who are downtrodden and oppressed. But more than that, I think it is the call of the Church.
The Ecumenical Church.
The Universal Church.
This Amazing Fellowship which conquers the differences that seem to be swallowing up our world.

It is the call of hope to people who are lost in spiritual darkness.
It is the call of freedom to those who are bound by sin.
It is the voice of help and health
and is the call of the church to those in need:

"Give me your tired, your poor
Your huddled masses, yearning to
breathe free.
The wretched refuse of your teeming
shore.
Send here, the homeless, tempest-tossed
to me,
I lift my golden lamp beside the
Golden door."
From "This Amazing Fellowship Part 1"
Compassion, Freedom, Unity

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P-10
It was Edwin Markham who pointed out the folly, and yes, the pity of giving our lives to things that don't really matter. He wrote:
"We are blind until we see
That in the human plan
Nothing is worth the making if
It does not make the man.

"Why build these cities glorious
If man unbuilded goes?
In vain we build the world unless
The builder also grows."
From "Making A Living Or Making A Life"
Life, Purpose, Growth, Men, Women

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P-11
There is a famous poem about a monk who, in an old convent cell, painted pictures of martyrs and holy saints and the face of Christ with the crown of thorns. Some of his fellow monks called his pictures poor daubs.

One night, feeling the poverty of his work and longing to honor Christ with pictures as beautiful as those of other painters, he decided to cast his apparently inadequate paintings into the fire. "He raised his eyes within his cell. Oh wonder!
There stood a visitor, thorn-crowned was He.
A sweet voice the silence rent athunder,
'I scorn no work that's done for love of me.'"

It was Philip Brooks who said,
"It seems as if the heroes have done for the world about all they can do, and not much more can happen until the common men awake and take up their common tasks."

Our church, like all other churches, sorely needs men who will do small things in a large way for the sake of a great purpose. Men, who will agree in spirit with missionary James Chalmers of New Guinea when he said,
"Don't send us men who talk of self-sacrifice."
From "Making A Living Or Making A Life"
Sacrifice, Service

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P-16
We acknowledge that Christians of another group or denomination are not our competitors, but our allies.
Another regiment, if you will, the Great Army of God.
For back behind the barriers and divisions, there is one point on which we all agree:
"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature."

As the poet has put it:
"Not alone we conquer, not alone we fall,
For in each loss or triumph, lose or triumph all.
Bound by God's far purpose in a living whole,
Move we on together to the shining goal."
From "This Amazing Fellowship Part 2"
Sacrifice, Service

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P-16
As the poet has put it:
"Not alone we conquer, not alone we fall,
For in each loss or triumph, lose or triumph all.
Bound by God's far purpose in a living whole,
Move we on together to the shining goal."
From "This Amazing Fellowship - Part II"
Unity, Brotherhood, Church

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P-15
Many of us have loved ones over yonder.
Many times we have asked questions about the future.
Often we have been in harmony with the poet who cried:
"Oh tell me, secret heart
Oh tell me, hope and faith,
Is there no resting-place
From sorrow, sin and death?
Is there no happy spot
Where mortals may be blest,
Where grief may find a bond,
And weariness a rest?

"Faith, hope and love--
best boons to mortals given
wave their bright wings, and whisper
Yes, in heaven!"
From "The Holy Spirit And You"
Heaven, Hope

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P-19
Have you ever studied the complete dependence and helplessness of sheep? Of all God's creatures, it seems they are most in need of tender, watchful care.

Unable to protect themselves, they need a shepherd.
Unable to fight and kill for their food, they must have a pasture.
How strange that the Psalmist should liken us to sheep, and yet, how true the likeness.
Often we have cried out from the depth of our despair:
"Savior like a shepherd lead us,
Much we need thy tender care.
Precious Lord and only Savior,
All our needs thy fold prepares."
From "Let's Put Thanks Into Thanksgiving"
Sheep, Shepherd, Thanksgiving, Gratitude

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P-20
There have been many times I have wished for the voice of an angel.
There have been many times I have longed to sing the glory I feel within my soul.
There have been many times I have wanted to lift my voice in an oratorio of praise to Christ, only to find my lips were dumb.

Well, some of us may have to wait until that glad and happy morning when we stand before our King until, with a voice celestial, we are able to sing a song the angels cannot sing.
"Holy, holy is what the angels sing
And I expect to help them
Make the courts of heaven ring.

"But when I sing redemption's story
They will fold their wings.
For angels never felt the joy
That my salvation brings."
From "A Baby Makes A Difference"
Angels, Salvation

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P-21
"We only see a little of the ocean,
A few miles distant from the rocky shore:
But oh, out there beyond, beyond the eyes horizon
There is more. There is more.

"We only see a little of God's loving,
A few rich treasures from His mighty store;
But oh, out there beyond, beyond this life's horizon
There is more. There is more.
From "Come See Go Tell"
Heaven, Eternal Life, Hope, Faith, Easter

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P-22
"Our Lord, our life, our rest, our shield,
Our rock, our food, our light.
Each though of Thee doth constant yield
Unchanging fresh delight."
From "A Look In The Cup Part 1"
Communion, Jesus, Christ

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P-25
Perhaps that's why a father took his pen in hand and wrote this moving poem:
"To feel his little hand in mine, so clinging and so warm,
To know he thinks me strong enough to keep him safe from harm:
To see his simple faith in all I say or do,
It sort o'shames a fella, but it makes him better, too:
And I am trying hard to be the man he fancies me to be,
Because I have this chap at home who thinks the world o' me.

I would not disappoint his trust for anything on earth,
Nor let him know how little I just naturally am worth.
And after all, it's easier, that brighter road to climb,
With the little hands behind me to push me all the time.
And I reckon I'm a better man that what I used to be,
Because I have this chap at home who thinks the world o' me."
From "God Save The King"
Father, Children

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P-32
How beautiful then is the meaning of Christmas.
A little child,
A shining star.
A stable rude,
With door ajar.

Yet in that place
So crude, forlorn
The hope of all
The world is born.

Yes, it took the incarnation to show us what God is like.
From "Stars, Straw And An Angels Song"
Christmas, Simplicity, Angel

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P-33
In one of her stories, Sheila Kaye-Smith depicts a character upon whom, as he knelt one day within a church, this great, subduing truth broke through with all the force of a personal revelation:
"There was not one pang of his lonely, wandering life, no throb or ache or groan of his, which had not been shared by God."
For if, through the incarnation people had known the stars, so too, through the incarnation God had known the straw!

Beloved, do not forget the incarnation is a two-way street. We think of it as man's way to God. And so it is. But it is also God's way to man. It is the one and only all sufficient "Jacob's ladder" between heaven and earth.
"It is our way of entering into the heights of heaven's glory. It is God's way of entering into the depths of human despair."

"A wondrous star; a lowly manger;
Meek oxen waiting at the stall;
A mother holding close from danger
In her frail arms, the Lord of all!

Those tiny fingers, helpless, clinging,
Framed the stars and sped them through the skies;
The ears that heard the angel's singing
Now listen to a Mother's sigh.

Omniscience shrined in baby sweetness;
Omnipotence enfolded there;
God, the creator in completeness,
Dependent on a woman's care."

Yes, through the babe of Bethlehem, we have known the stars and, through this self same infant, God has known the straws.
From "Stars, Straw And An Angels Song"
Christmas, Incarnation, Simplicty

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P-41
"When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

"See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e're such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

"Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small:
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all."
From "Skyscrapers, Bridges And The Hill of Calvary"
Cross, Calvary, Sacrifice

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P-42
"Oh God, is there no other way
Except through sorrow, pain and loss
To stamp Christ's likeness on my soul -
No other way except the cross?

"And then a voice will still my soul,
As stilled the waves on Galilee:
'Canst thou not bear the furnace heat
If mid the flames I walk with thee?'

"'I bore the cross.
I know its weight.
I drank the cup I hold for thee.
Canst thou not follow where I lead?
I'll give thee strength - lean thou on me.'"
From "Skyscrapers, Bridges And The Hill of Calvary"
Cross, Calvary, Sacrifice

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P-43
"Marvelous grace of our loving Lord
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt
Yonder on Calvary's Mount out poured
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

"Dark is the stain that we cannot hide
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide
Whiter than snow you may be today.

"Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace
Freely bestowed on all who believe
You who are longing to see His face
Will you this moment His grace receive?

"Grace, grace, God's grace
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within
Grace, grace, God's grace
Grace that is greater than all our sin."
From "What Made Good Friday Good?"
Cross, Calvary, Sacrifice, Grace

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P-43
There is so much truth in this little poem by Jessie Wiseman Gibbs.
"If we believed in God, there would be light
Upon our pathway on the darkest night.
If we believed in God, there would be power
To foil the tempter in the sorest hour.
If we believed in God, there would be peace
In this world's affair, ever to increase.
If we believed in God, there would be joy
Even in tears, that nothing could destroy.
If we believed in God, there would be love
To heal all wounds and lift the world above.
Lord Christ, be near us, that, beholding Thee,
We may believe in God and be set free!
From "What Made Good Friday Good?"

Belief, Faith, God

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P-53
I came across a sweet little poem this week which expresses this thought in a very simple, but effective, way.
"While walking down a crowded
city street the other day,
I heard a ragged little urchin
to his comrade turn and say;
'Jimmy, let me tell youse
I'd be as happy as a clam
If I wuz only the feller
That me mother thinks I am.
"'She thinks I am a wonder
And she knows her little lad
Would never mix with nuthin'
That wuz ugly, mean or bad.
"'Oh, lots of times I sit and think
How nice 'twould be, Gee whiz,
If only a feller wuz the feller
That his Mother thinks he is.'"

My friend, be yours the life of toil
Or undiluted joy;
You still can learn a lesson
From this small unlettered boy.
Don't try to be some earthly saint
With an eye fixed on a star;
Just try to be the fellow
That your mother thinks you are."
From "From Frustration To Fruition"
Mother, Children

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P-54
P. L. Cuyler pointed up the immeasurable worth of a mother's influence when he said
"God made mothers before He made ministers!"
And no one can erase the lines which have been drawn in our character by the indelible influence of a mother's hand.

We may make light of the fact that we are tied to mother's apron strings, but we never forget the fact that, like hoops of steel, they have held us to life's highest ideals. And blessed are the apron strings of a mother if they bind her offspring to the Christ of God.
"A builder builded a temple,
He wrought it with grace and skill,
Pillars and groins and arches,
All fashioned to do his will.

"And men said, as they saw its beauty,
'It shall never know decay.
Great is thy skill, O builder!
Thy fame shall endure for aye!'

"A mother builded a temple
With infinite, loving care,
Planning each arch with patience,
Laying each stone with prayer.

"None praised her unceasing effort,
None knew of her wondrous plan,
For the temple the mother builded,
Was unseen by the eye of man.

"Gone is the builder's temple,
Crumpled into the dust.
Low lies each stately pillar,
Food for consuming rust.

"But the temple the mother builded
Will last while the ages roll,
For that beautiful, unseen temple
Was a child's immortal soul."

Mothers have always been the makers of men. It is true that
"The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world."
For the high priestess of the house is the custodian of our educational, moral and religious life. And when the last page of our world's history has been written, the most imposing chapter will be the one entitled "THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN MOTHERS"
From "From Frustration To Fruition"
Mother, Children, Influence

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P-56
"Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He, who can call today his own.
He, who's secure within, can say:
'Tomorrow, do thy worst,
For I have lived today.'"
From "How To Worry And Like It - Part 2"
Worry, Today

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P-57
Sir William Osler, the founder of the world famous John Hopkins School of Medicine, a man who was knighted by the King of England and the recipient of the highest honors ever bestowed on a medical man in the British empire, was well aware of making the most of today. As a constant reminder that the only real life we know is the moment in which we are living, William Osler kept this poem on his desk where he could always see it.

"Look to this day! For it is life,
The very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of
Your existence:
"The bliss of growth. The glory of action.
The splendor of achievement.
For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision,
But today, well lived, makes every
Yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day!
Such is the salutation of the dawn."
From "How To Worry And Like It - Part 2"
Worry, Today

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P-58
Sidney Lanier tells us, in this bit of poetry, how to soar above the fear that often lays siege to our hearts.

"As the marsh hen secretly builds on the watery sod,
Behold I will build me a nest on the greatness of God:
I will fly in the greatness of God as the marsh-hen flies
In the freedom that fills all the space 'twixt the marsh and the skies:
By so many roots as the marsh grass sends in the sod
I will heartily lay me a hold of the greatness of God."
That's the answer! Life can take wings when it is built upon the greatness of God.
Wings which will lift you above the humdrum, the tedious and the trying.
How do I know? Because the Bible tells me so!

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles: they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:3l).
From "Fear - A Beast Or A Boost"
Fear, Faith, God, Hope