THE VOICE OF TRUTH

LILLA ELLEN BOWLEY.

Lead on and upward, O thou voice divine!
Full well we know that matter's temporal claim
Weighs not one jot against our heavenward course,
And now we fain would prove it. Call Thou us,
As in the evening hush to Adam came
The voice of Truth, and Eve repented then;
Ere yet man wandered in dim labyrinths
Where scarce can reach the sound which calls
For sharp decision 'twixt that way and Thine.

Call Thou to listening ears that long to hear
The full, sweet measures of Thy wondrous love!
Here in the vale may sweep across the thought
Grand echoes of creation's primal lay,
Which make the valley bud and blossom now
With roseate promise. So the far-off scene
Shifts into nearer vision with the dawn,
And songs of loftier purpose streak the cloud
Of gloomy passing night, whose soundless cries
Were jarring discords of an aimless sin.
Call us to keep Thy ways as Enoch did,
Whose life was consecrated to Thy will!
E'en now we kneel, with infant thought intent,
As Samuel knelt, to hear Thy voice within
The precincts of Thy house. The word of God
Sounds rarely in the times when earth-born pride
Would keep it close; but with the new morn's rise
Comes forth from childlike lips the just rebuke
Which hurls self-will and lust from their false seat,
The lax and wicked judgment of the world.

Throughout the ages to each waiting heart
There comes some measure of Thy saving health
To heal the sick and meet the nation's needs.
Thy voice is clearest in the words of him
Who calls the wanderers as a shepherd doth
His sheep! As stern as his rebuke to sin
Or storms that threaten on our pilgrim life,
So Jesus' tender words and ministries
Evince our Father's love. And now anew
The "still, small voice" comes through "a little book,"
Bringing full knowledge of the healing Christ,
And opens wide the portals of the Word.
In glad communion, those who enter in
May hear Christ, Truth, whose ever-present voice
Teaches the humblest how to walk with God.
In this vast temple of uplifted thought
Thou callest all, O Father-Mother Love!