The Royal Law
—The Theme
Two thousand years have passed anon
Since Christ proclaimed the order:
That one should love not self alone,
But as himself his neighbor.
Yet all the years have sped in wrath,
Nor peace the world has known;
For men have trod the selfish path,
Each bent upon his own.
—The Facts
We’ve churches built and glasses stained,
And endless preachments made;
In songs our voices oftimes strained,
And prayers unnumbered prayed.
For thus man clings to age-old forms –
Of his own works in awe!
While in his willful heart he scorns
The simple Christian law.
And in all lands flow blood and tears –
Dire wage of hate and greed:
None other cause of hope appears,
Beside the Master’s creed.
—My Prayer
May we at length His rule enthrone –
And for it ever labor:
That one should love not self alone,
But as himself his neighbor.