Let no man take your joy from you!

Paul Heber Collins

Let no man take your joy from you.
Who and what is this man
that would claim he has a hold over you?

I believed long
it was a man from without,
a man that could bind, tie,
twist your life to his own.

This man came of his own accord,
to do as he willed,
to call me to my knees,
so that he it was I obeyed.

Such is the farce of self–justification,
that I looked upon this man
with contempt, scorn, condemnation,
fully satisfied I had the right.

But the burn within
continued to smolder
even when this man drifted off
only to be replaced by another.

This man without
is not without at all.
He is the man within
and not a man at all.

How could there be such a man
when God is all,
and All is He,
and all He knows is always free.

This man is but a myth,
twisted, turned, smoldered he,
self–conceived, self-defined—
his existence is self-deceived.

This mythical man attempts to
deface, defile, and dethrone^{See Miscellaneous Writings, p. 8 .}
your Christly man,
the one within,
the one you are.

There is no man to take your joy,
for joy alone
is always free
to discard that which is not He.

Paul Heber Collins

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