Compiled By JOHN R. RICE
(THESE ARE BUT A FEW POEMS FROM HIS BOOK)
GOD GRANT ME THE WISDOM
TO NOT JUDGE THY NEIGHBOR
UNTIL I HAVE WALKED
A MILE IN THEIR SHOES
Beautiful toiler, thy work all done
Beautiful soul into glory gone,
Beautiful like with its crown now won,
God giveth thee rest,
Rest from all sorrows, and watching, and fears.
Rest from all possible sighing and tears,
Rest through God's endless, wonderful years--
At home with the blest.
Beautiful spirit, free from all stain,
Ours the heartache, the sorrow and pain,
Thine is the glory and infinite gain--
Thy slumber is sweet.
Peace on the brow and the eyelids so calm,
Peace in the heart, 'neath the white folded palm,
Peace dropping down like a wondrous balm
From the head to the feet.
"It was so sudden," our white lips said,
"How we shall miss her, the beautiful dead,
Who take the place of the precious one fled;
But God knoweth best.
We know He watches the sparrows that fall,
Hears the sad cry of the grieved hearts that call,
Friends, husbands, children, He loveth them all--
We can trust for the rest."
~~Mary T. Lathrop~~
If I had known, oh, loyal heart
When, hand to hand, we said farewell,
How for all time our paths would part,
What shadow o'er our friendship fell,
I should have clasped your hands so close
In the warm pressure of my own
That memory still would keep its grasp--
If I had known,
If I had known, when far and wide
We loitered through the summer land,
What Presence wandered by our side,
And o're you stretched its awful hand,
I should have hushed my careless speech,
To listen, dear, to every tone
That from your lips fell low and sweet--
If I had known,
If I had known, when your kind eyes
Met mine in parting, true and sad--
Eyes gravely tender, gently wise,
And earnest, rather, more than glad--
How soon the lids would lie above,
As cold and white as sculptured stone,
I should have treasured every glance--
If I had known,
If I had known to what strange place,
What mystic, distant, silent shore,
You calmly turned your steadfast face,
What time your footsteps left my door,
I should have forged a golden link
To bind the hearts so constant grown,
And kept it constant ever there--
If I had known,
If I had known that until Death
Shall with his finger touch my brow,
And still the quickening of the breath
That stirs with life's full meaning now,
So long my feet must tread the way
Of our asscustomed paths alone,
I should have prized your presdence more--
If I had know,
If I had known how soon for you
Drew near the ending of the fight,
And on your vision, fair and new,
Eternal peace dawned into sight,
I should have begged, as love's last gift,
That you, before God's great white throne,
Would pray for your poor friend on earth--
If I had known
~~~Author Unknown~~~
O the friends that now are waiting,
In the cloudless realms of day,
Who are calling me to follow
Where their steps have led the way;
They have laid aside their armor,
And their earthly course is run;
They have kept the faith with patience
And their crown of life is won.
They have laid aside their armour
For the robe of spotless white;
And with Jesus they are walking
Where the river sparkles bright.
We have labored here together,
We have labored side by side,
Just a little while before me
They have crossed the rolling tide.
On those dear familiar faces
There will be no trace of care;
Every sigh was hushed forever
At the palace gate so fair.
I shall see them, I shall know them,
I shall hear their song of love,
And we'll all sing hallelujah
In our Father's house above.
They are calling, gently calling,
Sweetly calling me to come,
And i'm looking through the shadows
For the blessed lights of Home.
~~Fanny J. Crosby~~
himself friendly: and there is a friend
that sticketh closer than a brother."
Prov. 18:24
Did You?
Did you give him a lift? He's a brother of man,
And bearing about all the burden he can.
Did you give him a smile? He was downcast and blue,
And a smile would have helped him to battle it through.
Did you give him your hand? He was slipping downhill,
And the world, so I fancied, was using him ill.
Did you give him a word? Did you show him the road.
Or did you just let him go on with his load?
Did you ask what it was--why the quivering lip?
Why the half suppressed sob, and the scalding tears drip?
Were you a brother of his when the time came of need?
Did you offer to help him, or didn't you heed?
Do you know what it means to be losing the fight?
When a lift just in time might set everything right?
Do you know what it means--just the clasp of a hand?
When a man's borne about all a man ought to stand?
~~F. B. Gawell~~
Lord, make me worthy, this I pray,
of all the friends along my way:
The old friends, Lord, "The tried and true
Who can forgive the things I do
And love me still.
I pray, dear Lord, I may prove just
And worthy of my new friends' trust--
These strangers who have been most kind,
Whose smiles have eased both heart
and mind,
With honest skill,
Recalling this, I am aware
That ever kindly, I must share
My love with friends, the new, the old;
More precious than a kingdon's gold
Is friendship's thrill
~~Selected~~
We say goodbye in parting
With loved ones here below:
We always hope to meet again,
As on our way we go,
But oft our hearts are grieving
For those we never meet.
We'll say goodbye in sorrow.
Till we meet in Jesus' feet.
Our children leave the home nest
For school or wedding bells;
Or country's call or mission field
May take them far as well.
Now wedding bells are happy,
And God's way always right.
And absent ones, we'll greet them
In the City always bright.
We greet and part with dear ones;
We say hello, goodbye;
And letters bind our fellowship,
We miss them, though we try
To feel them always near us,
And follow them with prayer,
But parting days are ended
When we meet them in the air.
Oh happy, glad home-coming
With Jesus in the sky;
For sometimes He seems far away,
Though always if we try.
We find Him near to help us,
His Spirit dwells within.
But only perfect union
When we Heaven enter in.
We'll never say goodbye in Glory,
In the morning, over yonder;
We'll never say goodbye in Glory;
We'll never say goodbye up there.
~~JOHN R. RICE~~
We're going Home! We're going Home!
No more o'er barren wastes to roam:
And if the way seem long we've trod,
We're going Home to Heaven and God.
What if the way be ofttimes rough--
We're going Home--that is enough!
How sweet the welcome that awaits
Our entry at Heaven's pearly gates,
What hallowed bliss within its wails!
What peaceful rest within its hails!
No sense of sin, no sound of strife,--
Just radiant, joyful, endless life.
What fellowship we then shall share!
How wonderful the frames we'll wear
In that dear realm--Heaven's Homing-place,
And all through Christ's redeeming grace,
~~J. Danson Smith~~
Another cup, dear Lord? And must
I drink this too?
Of late so much I've had
Of bitter brew!
"Trust Me, dear child; would I
Put to your lip
Or bid you drink a cup from which
I did not sip?
"Come, taste, and you will find
My balm can make
Like honey any draught that I
Ask you to take!"
~~Martha Snell Nicholson~~
I am only one, but I am one;
I cannot do everything,
But I can do something.
What I can do I ought to do,
And what I ought to do
By God's grace I will do.
~~Edward Everett Hale~~
Others weary of the noise,
Mothers play with girls and boys;
Others scold because we fell,
Mothers kiss and make it well,
Others love us more or less
Mothers love with steadiness.
Others pardon, hating yet,
Mothers pardon, and forget.
Others keep the ancient score,
Mothers never shut the door.
Others grow incredulous,
Mothers still believe in us.
Others throw their faith away,
Mothers pray, and pray, and pray.
~~Amos R. Wells~~
If I knew that a word of mine,
A word not kind and true,
Might leave its trace
On a loved one's face,
I'd never speak harshly;
would you?
If I knew the light of a smile
Might linger the whole day through,
And lighten some heart
With a heavier part,
I wouldn't withhold it;
would you?
~~Anonymous~~
He came a little sooner
Than the other fellow did,
And stayed a little longer
Than the other fellow would,
He worked a little harder,
And he talked a little less,
He was never really hurried,
And he showed but little stress,
For every little movement
His efficiency expressed.
He saved a little money
In a hundred little ways,
And banked a little extra
When he got a little raise,
Of course, it's little wonder that
He murmurs with a smile,
As his dividends come regular--
"Are the little things worth while?"
~~~Investor~~~
Though I take the wings of the morning
And dwell by the farthest sea,
Even there, Lord, Thou art with me,
And Thy right hand guideth me.
If I mount up with wings, as an eagle,
And stand on the mountain peak,
Thy presence fills and thrills me,
Lord, as Thy face I seek.
If I abide in the lowest depths,
Burdened with grief and pain,
Even there, Lord, Thou art with me,
To lift me up again,
In height or depth, my Father,
In darkness or in light,
Thy matchless love surrounds me,
O God of grace and might,
~~Mable Custis~~
Have you had a kindness shown?
Pass it on.
"Twas not given for thee alone,
Pass it on.
Let it travel down the years,
Let it wipe another's tears,
"Till in Heav'n the deed appears--
Pass it on.
Did you hear the loving word?
Pass it on--
Like the singing of a bird?
Pass it on.
Let its music live and grow,
Let it cheer another's woe;
You have reaped what others sow--
Pass it on.
"Twas the sunshine of a smile--
Pass it on.
April beam a little thing,
Still it wakes the flowers of spring,
Makes the silent birds to sing--
Pass it on.
Have you found the heavenly light?
Pass it on.
Souls are groping in the night,
Daylight gone--
Hold thy lighted lamp on high,
Be a star in someone's sky,
He may live who else would die--
Pass it on.
Be not selfish in thy greed,
Pass it on,
Look upon thy brother's need,
Pass it on,
Live for self, you live in vain;
Live for Christ, you live again;
Live for Him, with Him you reign--
Pass it on.
~~Henry Burton~~
1840-1930
There is no whispering of any friend,
No solace that can touch the quivering heart
In that lone hour when a sudden end
Has captured laughter and there falls apart
A rainbow that has bridged a distant hill;
When roses shatter on the stem, and dark
Crowds out the candle's shimmering flame and still
The night creeps on with neither torch nor spark.
No friend like music when the last word's spoken,
And pleading is a plea in vain;
No friend like music when the heart is broken,
To mend its wings and give it flight again;
No friend like music, breaking chains and bars
To let the soul march with the quiet starts!
~~~~Author Unknown~~~~
Let me come in where you sit weeping--aye,
Let me, who have not any child to die,
Weep with you for the little one whose love
I have known nothing of.
The little arms that slowly, slowly loosed
Their pressure round your neck; the hands
you used
To kiss--such arms--such hands I never knew.
May I not weep with you?
Fain would I be of service--say something,
Between the tears, that would be comforting--
But ah! so sadder than yourselves am I,
Who have no child to die.
~~James Whitcomb Riley~~
Do not ask me not to speak
About this journey I shall take.
'Tis but a step and then my eyes
Shall open to the great surprise
He has prepared. Do you recall,
At Christmastime when we were small,
Our rapture and our eagerness,
And how we always tried to guess
What gifts our mother's hands had made?
Dear memories that will not fade!
Dont' you remember, half our fun
Was in anticipation!
And then at last the opened door.
A breathless pause, a rush, and there
The gifts our mother's hands had made!
So at His threshold now I pause,
And ask you not to grieve because
I go into His other room,
Surely He would have me come
With eager wonder in my eyes
To see at last what rich surprise
The loving, hands of our dear Lord
Made for His own. Ear has not heard,
Eye had not seen, nor can the mind
Obscurely guess what we shall find
Beyond that opened door. And so,
I pray that you will let me go,
Will loose love's last restraining bands.
A hush...a light...and lo, His hands
Have unveiled glory in a breath!
O gifts undreamed of, --brought by death!
~~~Martha Snell Nicholson~~~
When I have time, so many things I'll do
To make life happier and more fair
For those whose lives are crowded now with care;
I'll help to lift them from their low despair,
When I have time.
When I have time, the friend I love so well
Shall know no more these weary, toiling days;
I'll lead her feet in pleasant paths always,
And cheer her heart with words of sweetest praise--
When I have time.
When you have time, the friend you hold so dear
May be beyond the reach of all your sweet intent;
May never know that you so kindly meant
To fill her life with sweet content,
When you had time.
Now is the time; ah, friend, no longer wait
To scatter loving smiles and words of cheer
To those around, whose lives are now so drear,
They may not need you in the coming years--
Now is the time.
~~Miriam Brown~~
He is not dead--the child of our affection--
But gone unto that school
Where he no longer needs our poor protection,
And Christ himself doth rule.
Day after day we think what he is doing
In those bright realms of air;
Year after year, his tender steps pursuing,
Behold him grown more fair.
Thus do we walk with him, and keep unbroken
The bond which nature gives,
Thinking that our rememberance, though unspoken
May reach him where he lives.
~~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~~
(verse 2)
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