Poem June 30, 1945 Issue

True Independence

HAZEL HARPER BRANDNER

The little maid who tended Naaman's wife
And Daniel, who survived the lions' den,
Were God's ambassadors. They knew the strife
Of forced enslavement by ungodly men,
Yet both could think as independently
As when they freely moved with their own kind.
Thus holding captive their captivity,
They both retained the freedom of the mind.

The tender maid, as truly as the sage,
Remembered God and turned to Him in prayer
When trials came upon an alien stage
And there was need of His protecting care.
Both kept their sacred rights and trust in good
While serving in the midst of pagan things,
And by their independent humanhood
They turned their masters to the King of kings.

When one remains a witness for his God,
True independence lives in spite of bonds:
All flowers are as free in garden sod
As ever they could be by forest ponds.
Not only is true freedom kept, but each
May turn his captor to the God of grace;
A bloom that grows unseen can never teach,
But may win many in a guarded place.