DISCIPLESHIP

KATHARINE J. SMITH

IF thou should'st look about thee in the sunlight
And see a shaft of white within thy door,—
One with a store
Of peace upon a brow transfigured, white;
Christ's footfall too would thrill thy wakened ear,
And by his omnipresence, and one dear,
Would thy bare room be graced and glorified.

If thou should'st look up from the embers' splendor
And see one drawing near thee thro' the gloom
Of thy drear room,
The Christ-host's voice would welcome, sweet and tender,
His hands would bless the loaf of love you share,
And heart and hearth would swept and garnished be,
All graced and glorified by Christ with thee.

If thou should'st look upon Golgotha's sorrow,
And see a fainting figure pass thy door,
In sin's black war,
Thy bless'd Redeemer needs thee on no morrow,
Lift thou thy fallen brother's grief to-day;
For now some dread ensanguined cross may be
Stainless and glorified by Christ with thee.