TWO WAYS by Viola E. Smith

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 6, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 40.

TWO WAYS.

By Viola E. Smith

In a small cottage, on a wind-swept lea, A woman dwelt, in want and misery; Her hearth was fireless, and her cupboard bare; Her heart was cheerless,—love nor hope were there. A shadow fell athwart the threshold low; A stranger entered that abode of wo. She brought her raiment, and wherewith to feed The hungry little mouths that cried for bread. She lit a fire upon the cheerless grate, But none within the soul so desolate. Her duty done, she passed out through the door— She simply gave an alms, and nothing more.

Another came one wintry eventide, Who brought substantial aid, and much beside. She gave the bread that perisheth, and bread That comes from heaven, with which the soul is fed. She clasped the hand of that poor widow there, And wept with her, and shared her load of care She told her of the God who dwells above, Who chastens not in anger, but in love; And when at last she went away, it seemed A light from heaven o’er the lone dwelling streamed. The Spirit of the Christ she bore within, A subtle fragrance left where she had been.

VIOLA E. SMITH.

Sergeant Bluff, Iowa.