Poem February 21, 1948 Issue

"GIVE YE THEM TO EAT"

Marion Alice Bowers

Hungry and tired, they fainted by the road,
And on the grass the little children lay.
They felt a want, their need they did not know;
They fainted, as the peoples faint today.
Then spoke the Master with the Word of power:
"They need not go. Oh, give ye them to eat."
His followers in consternation cried,
"We have no food, nor bread nor fish nor meat;
We cannot buy for such a multitude."
Yet Jesus told them, "Give ye them to eat."
Then quiet Andrew, ever seeking good,
Had found a lad with a few loaves and fish;
Had found a lad whose heart so burned within
To hear the Christly word, his only wish
To follow and to serve. Could he not give
This food and so obey the Master's word?
And kindly Andrew did not spurn the gift
But brought him, with his offering, to the Lord.
How mightily that offering was blest!
To open hands the bread of Life was given.
For had not he to seekers once replied,
"As little children shall ye enter heaven"?
So, as we hear of famine and of fear,
Of multitudes in hunger and distress,
As little children we would bring our gift.
As we obey we know that God will bless.
The childlike heart no meager gift can bring,
All heaven's bounty opened to its view.
We see our Mother, God, dispensing good
And all the weary world is made anew.