Poem September 10, 1904 Issue

Requirement

J. G. Whittier

We live by Faith; but Faith is not the slave
Of text and legend. Reason's voice and God's,
Nature's and duty's, never are at odds.
What asks our Father of His children, save
Justice and mercy and humility,
A reasoning service of good deeds,
Pure living, tenderness to human needs,
Reverence and trust, and prayer for light to see
The Master's footprints in our daily ways?
No knotted scourge nor sacrificial knife,
But the calm beauty of an ordered life
Whose very breathing is unworded praise!
A life that stands as all true lives have stood,
Firm rooted in the faith that God is good.

J. G. Whittier.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

From our Exchanges