Poems (Jordan)/Thus He Comes
THUS HE COMES
Such little bodies Christ requires
To mingle with the lives of men;—
He hides within all good desires,
And, in their granting, comes again!
To mingle with the lives of men;—
He hides within all good desires,
And, in their granting, comes again!
Somtimes our gaze is upward bent,
As if we there His steps must trace,
When, lo, He cometh from a tent
Erected by the commonplace!
As if we there His steps must trace,
When, lo, He cometh from a tent
Erected by the commonplace!
He bodies in the praiseful word,
And in the little loving deed,
Which comfort doth some heart afford;—
Some help in time of voiceless need.
And in the little loving deed,
Which comfort doth some heart afford;—
Some help in time of voiceless need.
Oh let us but the Savior see
In ev'rybody—ev'rything,
Then Earth and all Humanity
Shall unto us His presence bring!
In ev'rybody—ev'rything,
Then Earth and all Humanity
Shall unto us His presence bring!
And let us body Him to all—
In all we be and do and say,
For only thus it is we shall
Keep Jesus in our midst, alway.
In all we be and do and say,
For only thus it is we shall
Keep Jesus in our midst, alway.
By small heart-hungers sacrificed—
On altars which their victims hide—
Is brought to human faith, the Christ,
In forms which cannot be denied.
On altars which their victims hide—
Is brought to human faith, the Christ,
In forms which cannot be denied.
The World is groping through a Night
Obscuring all the paths to Heav'n,
And cries to God for touch and sight,
Which only can through us be giv'n!
Obscuring all the paths to Heav'n,
And cries to God for touch and sight,
Which only can through us be giv'n!
No body is for Him too small
Again on earth to occupy;—
The Babe of Bethlehem held all
The Presence, here, of the Most High!
Again on earth to occupy;—
The Babe of Bethlehem held all
The Presence, here, of the Most High!