Poem March 24, 1945 Issue

"Such as I have"

EDNA WISE WEST

Daily they laid him at the temple gate—
Helpless, despairing, desolate—
To beg a pittance of the hurrying throng,
And so sustain his miserable state;
And some passed by, and others tossed an alms,
Each one according to his inclination.
But one day to the temple John and Peter came—
Both mighty men of God who,
Heeding the beggar's all-insistent plea,
Paused to perceive his real necessity;
And he, at Peter's bidding,
Looked on them expectantly.
Peter had nought of silver in his purse to give,
But well he understood the truth by which men live;
He knew the child of heaven had never been
Bound by belief of impotence or sin,
And in this Christly consciousness of good
He saw before him undefiled manhood,
And he that had been beggar rose to find
His royal sonship in the realm of Mind.

And so today, mayhap, of silver and of gold
The world may say that I have none,
And thus my giving seem a feeble thing;
Yet can I yield no sanctuary to despair
With my high heritage revealed
Intact, inviolate;
For mine to share in ever-flowing measure
In the rich fullness of the Spirit's treasure;

Knowing true substance, therefore, let me stand,
The Father's largess in my outstretched hand—
Like Peter at the gate called Beautiful—
"Such as I have" to give!

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