Poem January 16, 1965 Issue

"I HAVE CALLED YOU FRIENDS"

John 15:15

Mildred E. Kendall

Thus spoke Jesus to his disciples,
who had left all to follow him—
tenderly spoke, knowing their yearning,
their weary struggles, their honest hearts.
"I have called you friends."

How instant was his hand
outstretched to Peter, essaying to walk on the
boisterous sea! To the multitude who came to
hear him and be healed: the lame, the halt, the blind,
the leper, and the penitent.

And so today
you who have named his name
in holy ministry and keep the vision of the healing Christ,
who take the highroad that our Master trod;
you who disclaim the carnal way,
reject the crude and finite forms of error's throng—
the hate and lust, debilitating envy, greed,
the trough of self-made sins—
who bind up broken hearts
as he did bind the wounded spirit longing to be free;
who labor late and in the dawning hours to bring
surcease from pain and phantoms of belief,
who rise
and rise again to meet the foe.
be still this night, be still on mountaintop of prayer.
For you,
for you the comfort of his outstretched hand,
the benediction of his love.
Hear deep within the wellsprings of your faithful hearts
the tender message:
"I have called you friends."