Heart Of A Young Man

Look, young man

Soothe your eyes

Let her gentle sways speak to your soul

Yes, some may pour out the cup

'Tis only the vision of their emptiness

But this one

This storehouse of life

See how she sails across the face of the earth

Free, yet grounded

Feel how the grace of her reaches into your heart

Ask yourself, young man

Are you one who would raid her barn?

Would you gorge yourself?

Devouring the wheat stored therein?

And at the first pang of hunger

Seek the shelter of another?

Or will you be one who works in the field?

Will you endure the sun?

And bend you back?

Toiling honestly for your pay?

Ask

Gaze into the pool of your heart

Ask of the face you see:

Which are you?

Are you servant or thief?

For if you will first toil

At the end of the day

You will stand straight

You will gaze on what your hands have wrought

Then you will eat your bread

Which you have well earned gratefully

And life will stir in your belly

Your heart will swell with joy to see

That the store within the barn has increased

You will have deserved her most precious gift

Stephen Pursell, 10/21/98