OPEN THE WINDOWS by Viola E. Smith

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 23, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 25.

OPEN THE WINDOWS.

By Viola E. Smith

OPEN the windows that look toward the morning; Let the bright sunshine enliven your hours; Let the fresh breezes sweep in through the casement, Bearing upon them the fragrance of flowers; Let the sweet songs sung by birds in the tree-tops, Set all the silence a-tremble with joy; Why should you shut yourself up in the darkness, And cherish the things that will only destroy?

Open the soul-windows looking toward heaven; Too long have you breathed the miasma of earth; Too long has your spirit been poisoned by vapors, Which in foul lowlands and marshes have birth. Let zephyrs celestial, with life-giving influence, Drive all the death-dealing vapors away; Let odors from lands of the blessed surround you, And anthems angelic make holy life's day. O, turn a deaf ear to the sounds from beneath you, Of strife and contention with which earth is riven, And let the sweet, heart-thrilling words of your Father Come in through the soul windows looking toward heaven!

VIOLA E. SMITH.