Forgiveness by Edmonston

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Apr 15, 1913

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 40, No. 15.

Forgiveness

By Edmonston

When on the fragrant sandal-tree The woodman's ax descends, And she, who bloomed so beauteously, Beneath the weapon bends, E'en on the edge that wrought her death, Dying, she breathes her sweetest breath, As if to token, in her fall, Peace to her foes, and love to all.

How hardly man this lesson learns,— To smile and bless the hand that spurns; To see the blow, to feel the pain, And render only love again! One had it—but He came from heaven. Reviled, rejected, and betrayed, No curse He breathed, no plaint He made, But when in death's dark pang He sighed, Prayed for His murderers, and died. — Edmonston.