Oh! why has Christ been so misunderstood?
Why will not men receive the light and live?
The path is straight and plain unto the view,
And by the light within each can pursue
And reap its fruits of everlasting good,
Which loving hands along the way will give.
The growth is slow but sure, in strict accord
With laws of our condition and our deeds;
No miracles will help us in our task;
If we would gain advancement, we must ask
Through honest work, and upright thought and word,
And not through cross or crown, beliefs or creeds.
Dethrone all gods and send them down to hell,
Banish all worship to the realms of night,
Give freedom unto human thought and speech,
Let every soul be its own church and teach
The truths that from its inmost depths may well
To aid in lifting up all souls to light.
In that bright realm where all is fair and free
The law is written in each beating heart;
There each one does as seems good in his sight,
And every one aspires to do the right;
But no one there in worship bends the knee,
Or acts through fear a superstitious part.
Supreme desire for concord fills each breast,
And every word and act with love is blest;
No thought of wrong or self can enter there,
But each with each and all desires to share;
And he that shares his blessing with the rest
Is richer made in joy and sweet content.
There are no rulers there—no king to frown;
No sacrifices are required or made;
A sense of right and justice rules the realm,
With love to prompt and reason at the helm;
Harmonious thoughts and acts all discord drown
With none to dictate, none to make afraid.
No royal God there sits in pomp and state;
No jeweled throne of gold can there be seen;
No priest nor trembling devotee can raise
An everlasting song of flatt'ring praise;
No cross no crown; no courtier vain, elate;
No slave with bending knee and cringing mien.
No streets all paved with gold doth there appear;
No harps of gold cloth twang an endless air;
No trumpet-blast, by saint or angel blown,
Doth split the ear with its commanding tone;
No worshiping of God, or saint, or seer,
No church, no priest, no pope, no king, no prayer.
But all is love and harmony divine,
With peace and happiness, and joy supreme;
With endless progress and increasing light,
And ever-widening freedom, while the right
And truth, and good, and justice burn and shine
In every brain and heart—a sacred gleam.
Oh! blest abode, where each himself must rule
And none e'er think of ruling others, while
The light from higher sources ever beams,
In gentle, life-invigorating streams,
Upon the soul which, never out of school,
Must ever bask in Wisdom's winning smile.