Helen Steiner Rice.....Emily Dickenson
(from The Old Road To Paradise)
~Margaret Widemer~
Grief that some year must bring,
What if it hurt your joyous youth,
Crippled your laughter's wing?
You always knew it was coming,
Coming to all, to you,
They always said there was suffering__
Now it is done, come through!
Only your heart can pity
Now, where it laughed and passed,
Now you can bend and comfort men,
One with them all at last,
You shall have back your laughter,
You shall have back you song,
Only the world is your brother now,
Only your soul is strong.
The Rainy Day
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~
The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the moldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.
My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the moldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast
And the days are dark and dreary.
Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall
Some days must be dark and dreary.
There are no words ...what can I say?
At last her sweet soul winged its way
To peace and freedom in the sky
Where never again will she suffer or cry.
It's all part of God's great plan ...
Which remains a mystery to man.
We cannot understand His ways
Nor can we count our earthly days.
But who are we to question and doubt?
God knoweth well what He's about;
He knew she longed to "go to sleep"
Where only angels, a vigil keep.
The pain of living grew too great
No longer could she stay and wait;
She did not want to leave you, dear,
But she had finished her work down here.
So she closed her eyes and when she awoke,
These are the words the Master spoke ...
"Welcome, dear child, you are Home at last,
And now the burden of living is past."
"There's work for you in My Kingdom, dear
And you are needed and wanted here."
So weep not, she has just gone on ahead,
Don't think of her as being dead.
She's out of sight for a little while,
And you'll miss her touch and her little smile,
But you know she is safe in the home above
Where there is nothing but Peace and Love.
And, surely, you would not deny her peace ...
And you're glad that she has found release.
Think of her there as a soul that is free,
And Home at last, where she wanted to be.
Know that I live on, vibrating to a different measure.
Behind a thin veil you cannot see through.
You will not see me so you must have faith.
I can't wait for the time when we can soar together again.
Both aware of each other.
Until then, live your life to the fullest and when you need me,
Just whisper my name in your heart...
I will be there."
~ Emily Dickenson ~
Reluctant to die for we do not know
Just what "dark death" is all about
And so we view it with fear and doubt
Not certain of what is around the bend
We look on death as the final end
To all that made us a mortal being
And yet there lies just beyond our seeing
A beautiful life so full and complete
That should we leave with hurrying feet
To walk with God by sacred streams
Amid beauty and peace beyond our dreams-
For all who believe in the Risen Lord
Have been assured of this reward
And death for them is just "graduation"
To a higher realm of wide elevation-
For life on earth is a transient affair,
Just a few brief years in which to prepare
For a life that is free from pain and tears
Where time is not counted by hours or years-
For death is only the method God chose
To colonize heaven with the souls of those
Who by their apprenticeship on earth
Proved worthy to dwell in the land of new birth-
So death is not sad... it's time for elation,
A joyous transition...,the soul's emigration
Into a place where the soul's SAFE and FREE
To live with God through ETERNITY!
~Helen Steiner Rice ~
