Temples

LUCIE HASKELL HILL

WITHIN the fragrant groves of Lebanon,
The skilled Sidonians hewed the cedar trees,
Fashioned the wood in fretwork, flower, and frieze,
Until each heaven-inspired device was done.

Then slowly down the sea the barges came,
With fir and cedar and great blocks of stone;
And there were none who spoke in strident tone,
And none who dared unhallowed thing to name.

And in Jerusalem, there was no sound
Of ax or hammer or of rasping tool;
But silence lay like some vast, brooding pool
Of water by a mystic mandate bound.

And silently, the thoughts of that wise king
Who followed the great architect's design,
Took form and substance, color, curve, and line,
Until the temple stood—a perfect thing!........

Long, quiet days in Joseph's shop he wrought
The simple service of a homely trade;
But as his hands the square and compass laid,
His Father's plan took shape within his thought.

In twilight hours, on hillside and by sea,
He pondered thus upon that perfect plan:
The God-idea made manifest as man
Must be the temple for eternity.

In quietude, he walked Judea's ways,
Laid kindly hands on many a child's fair head,
Restored the sick and sinful, raised the dead—
Yet kept the secret of his crowning days.

At last, there came a time when he could say:
Destroy this temple, and within three days
I will raise it up!—that all may learn to praise
The God who builds of surer stuff than clay.

His hearers scoffed and turned their earthbound eyes
Upon the man-made temple. Silently,
He chiseled those pure thoughts that were to be
The headstone of the temple yet to rise. ........

The Lord is in His temple! Let the earth
Keep silence, and its jarring tumult cease!
Let thoughts of love and purity and peace
Proclaim the hush that holds—not death—but birth!

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