The Eternal Now

BY BERT POOLE

I sat me down to write a line
My thoughts went back one year,
When Nature's sun had ceased to shine
And life had lost its cheer.

While thinking thus of former days,
My mortal mind was stirred
With chilling, reminiscent lays,
And evil voices heard.

Not satisfied, I called the muse
To guide my mind and pen;
She led a timely theme to choose
The Now instead of Then.

So leaving chill and grewsome thought
For present blessings rare,
The life grew warm, and joy was brought
On heaven's balmy air.

To find a sweet existence here,
In harmony abide;
To see pure Truth and Love appear
From morn till eventide,

'Twere best to study well the Now
And bury all the Then
To cease vain strivings, learn the How
And never mind the When.

For Now is ours, Eternal Grace
And bounty doth impart;
While the forever's only place
Is now within the heart.

But ill it seems to all mankind
To labor and to wait
For some great future joy to find,
Within the "pearly gate."

'Tis better far to seize the good
That crowds our daily life,
Than overlook its joyous mood
While listed in the strife.

'Tis not that efforts are to cease,
We should not leave the fiels,
Ah, no! 'Tis ours to know the peace
Which Christ the Truth doth yield.

A force tremendous now is thine
Your efforts to forestall;
An active Principle divine,
Pervades the All-in-all.

So lift thine eyes, stretch forth thy hand,
Nor heed the sweat of brow;
"The warfare with thyself is grand,"
To-day—Eternal—Now.

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