Paul

A. JACQUELINE SHAW

And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.—Acts ix:9.

We may not ask to plumb the agony
Of those three days of absence from the light;
Nor what thoughts thronged, thick, on your misery,
Remorse, and fear. If Stephen's gentle eyes,
Brimmed o'er with love, stabbed you unceasingly,
We know not; but with joy we know that when,
The time accomplished, peace and strength and power
Were yours, light, glorious, free, came back again.
You glimpsed the vision of the perfect man,
Stainless and sinless, clothed, complete, and sane.

Ours is the path that you so firmly trod.
Ours too, O Paul, the problem that you solved.
We, too, would sow the seed of Love abroad,
Losing belief in punishment and wrath,
Mount upward, with our sins forgot, to God.
Pharisee, harlot, publican, yea, all,—
Steadfast, with faith like yours, we learn to rise
Above the thoughts of terror that appall,
Knowing we have no power but that Love gives.
Loving as loved, we answer to Christ's call.