SEEK FOR THE GOOD IN LIFE.
In our lives there’s much of gladness,
Also much that is sad,
Much in life without a blemish,
Many things that may be bad.
But, we should ignore all evil;
There is ever much of good.
We shall find what e’er we look for,
Then o’er evil do not brood.
Grasp the good when e’er you find it.
Good is not for but the few;
If too much to you is given,
Some one else can share with you.
There is sunshine, there is shadow,
Clouds must come before the rain;
After storm clouds, comes the rainbow,
Oft from grief, we peace attain.
Some one else must share our troubles;
They should share our pleasures too;
For life’s flowers are ever brightest
When Love’s tears the flowers bedew.
Be ye never then disheartened,
There is beauty everywhere.
There are fragrant flowers growing
In the garden of Despair.
Let us then be not discouraged,
Soon life’s storms will clear away.
Though our griefs seem overwhelming,
Brighter soon will be life’s day.
Though life’s sun his face has hidden,
And black clouds obscure our view,
All the flowers take on new beauty,
After rain, and after dew.
LOVE’S CROWN.
The tasks that have been set for me,
Are almost done; are almost done.
I’ve labored hard, and faithfully,
But now life’s race is nearly run.
I’m weary, and I’m sore distressed,
My burdens all too heavy are.
In vain I try to lay them down;
I’ve brought them all too far, too far.
I’ll try to lay them down at eve,
And from my labors try to rest.
Though I begin another day,
Tonight I’ll rest, tonight I’ll rest.
Tomorrow at the break of day,
Again I take them up with grief,
And through another day I work;
For me, there never comes relief.
Complaints will never do my work,
Nor fit me for life’s weary day.
With courage then I’ll do my tasks,
And all life’s laws try to obey.
I’ll bear my cross whatever it is,
No one shall bear a cross for me;
And though I bend beneath life’s load,
From selfishness I will be free.
There is a time not distant far,
When I can lay life’s burdens down.
So many crosses I have borne,
At last I hope to win Love’s crown.
MY SOUL’S DESIRE AND DESTINY
I’ve travelled down through centuries.
Have never known one moment’s rest.
Have passed through every phase of life.
Is this, O Father, Thy behest?
I’ve battled with conditions that
Oftimes seemed much too hard to bear,
Would then give up, and seem to sink
Into the maelstrom of Despair.
Again would take Life’s burdens up
Without a knowledge of my past.
Experience was of little use
In seething whirlpool it seemed cast.
The same temptations come to us;
As fiends, they ever us pursue.
The consequences are the same.
We’ve brought down retribution too.
I still desire to live, to do—
I am not ready yet to change
My form, my thoughts, my puny life;
E’en though I gain a wider range.
Absorbed though I may be in Love,
And e’en a part of Deity,
I still am human in desire,
And human still, I wish to be.
Soul’s Destiny I now take up.—
Where shall I go? What shall I be?
Shall I aye travel on, and on?
Or be a part of Deity.
Will memories of the past be mine?
And will a panoramic view
Before mine eyes be ever cast?
If so, that past I can but rue.
Absorbed in God, I lose myself.
I am no part of my own life.
Though one with God, and part of Him,
My soul will still keep up its strife
To be itself, apart, though with
The Maker, Ruler of my soul.
The Soul’s Desire is not yet dead,
E’en though bright heaven is its goal.
Though I may carry “Karma” on,
Improve upon it ever, aye;
Could I not do the same, and yet
Not on this weary earth e’er stay?