Part 4

Give of thy gold, though small thy portion be. Gold rusts and shrivels in the hand that keeps it. It grows in one that opens wide and free. Who sows his harvest is the one who reaps it.

Give of thy love, nor wait to know the worth Of what thou lovest; and ask no returning. And wheresoe’er thy pathway leads on earth, There thou shalt find the lamp of love-light burning.

Perfection.

THE leaf that ripens only in the sun Is dull and shriveled ere its race is run. The leaf that makes a carnival of death Must tremble first before the north wind’s breath.

The life that neither grief nor burden knows Is dwarfed in sympathy before its close. The life that grows majestic with the years Must taste the bitter tonic found in tears.

Fear.

FEAR is the twin of Faith’s sworn foe, Distrust. If one breaks in your heart the other must.

Fear is the open enemy of Good. It means the God in man misunderstood.

Who walks with Fear adown life’s road will meet His boon companions, Failure and Defeat.

But look the bully boldly in the eyes, With mien undaunted, and he turns and flies.

The Way.

BETWEEN the finite and the infinite The missing link of Love has left a void. Supply the link, and earth with Heaven will join In one continued chain of endless life.

Hell is wherever Love is not, and Heaven Is Love’s location. No dogmatic creed, No austere faith based on ignoble fear Can lead thee into realms of joy and peace. Unless the humblest creatures on the earth Are bettered by thy loving sympathy Think not to find a Paradise beyond.

There is no sudden entrance into Heaven. Slow is the ascent by the path of Love.

Understood.

I VALUE more than I despise My tendency to sin, Because it helps me sympathize With all my tempted kin.

He who has nothing in his soul That links him to the sod, Knows not that joy of self-control Which lifts him up to God.

And I am glad my heart can say, When others trip and fall (Although I safely passed that way), “I understand it all.”

His Mansion.

THERE was a thought he hid from all men’s eyes, And by his prudent life and deeds of worth He left a goodly record upon earth As one both pure and wise.

But when he reached a dark unsightly door Beyond the grave, there stood his secret thought. It was the mansion he had built and brought To dwell in, on that shore.

Effect.

AN unkind tale was whispered in his ear. He paused to hear. His thoughts were food that helped a falsehood thrive, And keep alive.

Years dawned and died. One day by venom’s tongue His name was stung. He cried aloud, nor dreamed the lie was spawn Of thoughts long gone.

Each mental wave we send out from the mind, Or base, or kind, Completes its circuit, then with added force Seeks its own source.

Three Things.

KNOW this, ye restless denizens of earth, Know this, ye seekers after joy and mirth, Three things there are, eternal in their worth.

Love, that outreaches to the humblest things; Work that is glad, in what it does and brings; And faith that soars upon unwearied wings.