Poem October 8, 1932 Issue

"Desire is prayer"*

E. JEWEL ROBINSON

Ere dawn her saffron sails unfurled,
Or timid night-wraiths fled away,
The penitent looked up and cried:
My Father, I would learn to pray.

For I have followed winding paths,
My feet besmirched with miry clay,
Sin-tired and penitent I come—
Grant, Lord, that I may learn to pray.

Give me not words but thoughts so pure
That they as buoyant wings may bear
My song of praise aloft to Thee,
And Thy omniscience declare.

Teach me to frame my prayer with deeds,
With tender words, with helping hand,
Before disdain continue kind,
Nor doubt that Thou wilt understand.

Create in me a thirst for good,
A yearning for those gifts divine
Thou hast for me, gifts mine to take.
Reflecting Thee, I prove them mine.

So vigilant is Love divine,
God's voice was heard ere golden day:
Housed in thine heart are pure desires,
Already thou hast learned to pray.

*Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 1.

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