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The Life Book

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Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jun 28, 1877

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 3, No. 26.

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The Life Book.

Write, mother, write! A new unspotted book of life before thee, Thine is the hand to trace upon its pages The first few characters to live in glory, Or live in shame, through long, unending ages; Write, mother, write!
Thy hand, though woman's, must not faint nor falter, The lot is on thee, nerve thee, then, with care; A mother's tracery time may never alter; Be its first impress, then, the breath of prayer. Write, mother, write!
Write, father, write! Take thee a pen plucked from an eagle's pinion, And write immortal actions for thy son; Teach him that man forgets man's high dominion, Creeping on earth, leaving great deeds undone; Write, father, write!
Leave on his life book a fond father's blessing, To shield him 'mid temptation, toil and sin, And he shall go to glory's field, possessing Strength to contend, and confidence to win. Write, father, write!
Write, sister, write! Nay, shrink not, for a sister's love is holy, Write words the angels whisper in thine ears; No bud of sweet affection, howe'er lowly, But planted here will bloom in after years. Write, sister, write!
Something to cheer him, his rough way pursuing, For manhood's lot is sterner far than yours; He may not pause, he must be up and doing, While thine more gentle toil among the flowers. Write, sister, write!
Write, brother, write! Strike a bold blow upon those kindred pages; Write: Shoulder to shoulder, brother, we will go, Heart linked to heart, though wild the conflict rages We will defy the battle and the foe. Write, brother, write!
We, who have trodden boyhood's path together, Beneath the summer's sun and winter's sky, What matter if life brings us some foul weather, We may be stronger for adversity. Write, brother, write!
Fellow mortal, write! One God reigns in the heavens—there is no other, And all mankind are brethren—thus 'tis spoken, And whoso aids a sorrowing, struggling brother, By kindly word, or deed, or friendly token, Shall win the favor of our Heavenly Father, Who judges evil and rewards the good, And who hath linked the race of man together, In one vast universal brotherhood. Fellow mortal, write!
—Home Journal.