Poems (Kennedy)/Confucius to Christ
CONFUCIUS TO CHRIST
(China asks the prayers of the Christian world for success in her new political life.)
OUT of the Orient echoes a call, Out of the distance there reaches a hand,And the keen cry bridges the chasm deep 'Twixt the creeds of our own and that far-off land.
"We're fighting a fight for a new, clean life, For truth and right we are waging our war,Oh, give us your prayers, ye Christian men Who read your faith by the Bethlehem Star!"
They have prayed their gods—the gods they have known Since world's were star-dust hurled into space—For the strength they need, but dumb and afar In dim Nirvana these hold their place.
They have threaded the years with varying faiths, Bowing to Buddha, and worshipping Joss;Now, in the stress of their newer need They're reaching out for the Calvary Cross.
Out of the Orient comes the appeal, The land of the old ancestral dream—Confucius is crying at last to Christ, And Buddha is hailing the Lord supreme.