No Need of Law? by Ruth Lees Olson

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jul 13, 1915

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 42, No. 27.

No Need of Law?

By Ruth Lees Olson

By RUTH LEES OLSON

Men say: "We have no need of law, for all men are free-born, Supreme within themselves; free as the orb of day That sweeps across the sky with an effulgent light, Luminous within itself until it sinks into the night.

"We have no need of law, for heights and depths Will open wide their portals at the touch of him who holds the key To that mysterious life that dwells within, and speaks imperiously, And, listening, we obey; for such as heed the voice of inmost soul, Can reach as high as heaven, or sink as deep as hell, and yet beyond, Where life is self-existent, and death enters not."

No need of law? And yet the planets in their course must bow before Omnipotence in answer to "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not." E'en mighty suns that sweep their satellites in train, Must yield obedience to the voice of Him who rules on high; And as Arcturus guides his sons across the starlit sky, His steps are guided by the law that thunders from Jehovah's throne.

The star-eyed daisy smiling up from dusty wayside road, Or timorous violet peeping from her dark green shade, Must follow laws that bid them bloom in spring, Or slumber soft 'neath winter's snow. All things in heaven above or in the earth beneath Obey the law of seedtime and of harvest fold.

Yea, man himself is governed by the laws of birth and death. The very breath of life that fluttered on his lips When first he opened eyes upon a newborn world, Came as a law that bade him "live and grow." And ringing through the ages, soft as time's footfall, The echo of that law is heard, and, listening, men are born.

And so from earliest time, adown the little span of life, We follow on until at last we sink into the arms of Mother Earth, From which we came, there to abide, safe resting in her fond embrace Until the dawn of that great day when from Jehovah's throne The word goes forth, and man shall live again.

A mighty throng shall rise from dusty bed, Or come from cradled depth of ocean wave. The earth shall tremble 'neath their tread, The heavens echo back triumphant shout of victory; And blazoned high in burning scroll of fire, Jehovah's law shall reign supreme.