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Soul Tonics

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Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Mar 10, 1909

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 10.

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Soul Tonics.

By FRANCES E. BOLTON

“Do good unto all.” “The tender mercies of the Lord are over all.”
It does one good to do somebody good, No matter how slight the act, To have kind thought flow in and flow out, And have love for each soul in fact. To have the smile in the heart the while It radiates o’er the face, And to be and feel the word ideal, Gives life a most beautiful grace.
Just a piece of pie to some bright-eyed boy A cookie from some one’s store, With the smile and word, and the love that stirred Are forgotten, Ah! nevermore. As our Lord divine made the water wine, So the cup of cold water given In the name of love, counts as wine above, And is so set down in heaven.
With one in joy, be it girl or boy, Or artless child at play, Or maid or youth in the dew of truth, To be with him blythe and gay, To look with grace on some dear old face, And join in innocent mood, With bird, beast, man, if you really can, O, how it will do you good!
Or if ’tis woe brings its sorrow so To a face and form you know, And you feel the tears for his weary years Rise up from your soul below, If you take his hand or only stand With a prayer for his better rue, The overflow that’s consoling Will bring back its wave to you.
It does one good to do somebody good,— The catch of a thought together; For a treasure given accounts to seven, When held by two souls in tether. The exchanging glance of some sweet, quaint chance, Soul’s prayer or a hymn’s communion, Becomes a token whose wealth’s unspoken, And binds in a holy union.
The heroic deed is in life, not creed, The emergency day is now. It is love that’s test of the great and blest, And the hand on an aching brow May transmit more merit than kings inherit, Have influence sweet and broad, While the world’s applause for some creed-bound cause Be as dim in the courts of God.
So cast aside self’s cold, hard pride, That seeks for good to own, Let out the strife for the gain of life, And lie like a pipe to the throne Where the river of love glides swift and smooth, And channel you full to the need. To the greatest and least be a king and priest, Ah! how it will do you good!
FRANCES E. BOLTON.