Poems

Character

Character is what you are when no one is watching.
The character development of a person starts in the crib.
Character is the sum total of all our habits, whether good or bad.
Character is property; it is the noblest of possessions.

Deep Waters and a Bubbling Brook

The Beauty Within

Bodily health is beautiful. Mental vigour is beautiful. But heart-purity is the glory of all loveliness. The heart makes the life. The inner fashions the outer. So, above all things, be pure-hearted. That you may be pure-hearted let Christ more and more into your life, that he may fill all your soul, and that his Spirit may permeate all your being. That the beauty of the Lord may be upon you, that the winning charm of God's loveliness may shine in your features, you must first have the beauty of Christ within you. The transfiguration must come from within. Only a holy, beautiful heart can make a holy, beautiful character.

In Green Pastures
J R Miller

True Beauty

Beautiful hands are they that do
The work of the noble, good and true,
Busy for them the long day through;
Beautiful faces—they that wear
The light of a pleasing spirit there,
It matters little if dark or fair;
And truly beautiful in God's sight,
Are the precious souls who love the right.

Poems of Dawn

Crossing the Bar

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crosst the bar.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

"With Christ Apart"

Have you and I today
Stood silent as with Christ apart from joy or fray
Of life, to see His face
To look, if but a moment at its grace
And grow, by brief companionship more true,
More nerved to lead, to dare, to do,
For Him at any cost? Have we today
Found time in thought our hand to lay
In His, and thus compare
His will with ours, and wear
The impress of His wish? Be sure,
Such contact will endure
Throughout the day, will help us walk erect
Thru storms and flood; detect
Within the hidden life, sins dross its stains;
Revive our thoughts of love for Him again;
Steady the steps which waver; help us see
The footpath meant for you and me.

Poems of the Way