L

THE PRAYER AND THE ANSWER

ORD, I am weak with working, weak with weeping.

My voice faints on my lips.

It cannot reach to Thee in Heaven if Heaven be

far away;

Else would a cry startle the singing hosts to silence,

Whilst Thou shouldst listen-listen to me, Lord! But now Thy name is but a whisper in my heart. Lean to me, bend down thine ear to me

I must feel Thee, I must hold to Thee in the blackness of my night.

Lord, hear and comfort me!

My baby, Lord, my baby-mine-and Thine! For I was but the soil Thy spirit quickened with

his life;

As humble-as exalted-as the ancestral clod

That felt Thy breath and quivered in the con- . sciousness of being;

As virgin-pure as she who bore thine only Son— Nay, I mean no profanation-only I am weak with weeping.

Is it Thy will that I should bear alone the adventure of a soul

So filled with Thee for good, yet mixed with all the passions of the earth?

I am ready, willing, eager, Lord-be Thou my Guide!

I know Thou hast given all-All Power could do no less.

I know Thou lovest all-All Love could do no

less.

But I am weak with weeping, my faculties are in eclipse,

And all Thy glory seems but a shimmering blur of dread and mystery

Only my suffering and fears seem real; Lord, help and comfort me!

Yes, Almighty Love hath given all—to whom?
O ye who have! How joy in what ye have?
A Voice from Heaven made ye God's almoners
And doomed you to perdition if ye heeded not!

GOD LOOKS TO YOU!

HEN shall the King say unto them on His

THEN

right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, and fed Thee? or athirst, and gave Thee drink? And when saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee? And when saw we Thee sick or in prison, and came unto Thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even the least, ye did it unto me.

: 1.