A Residence Called Mind

You cannot use a lantern
If you haven’t any light,
As a guiding flame for others,
Or to light your path at night.
You cannot bring together
All the friends you call your own
If you live in a house of darkness
You must live there all alone.

You cannot see the grandeur
Of the wonderful world outside,
God’s gift to all humanity
In which we all reside.
You cannot see the beauty
Of flowering shrub or seed,
If you live in a house of darkness,
Of selfishness and greed.

You cannot know the treasures
That loving thoughts can bear,
Or all the joy and happiness
That others long to share.
You cannot know the gifts of God,
That are sent from heaven above
Without the knowledge of Godliness,
For Godliness is love.

You cannot enjoy the harvest
Produced by sun and rain,
You can only know the misery
Of sickness and of pain.
For if your mind is a house like this,
Then pity is all for you
To live in a house of darkness
In a house without a view.

For the mind is like a dwelling place,
Where myriad thoughts abide,
The good ones and the bad ones
That congregate inside.
The angry thoughts, the spiteful thoughts,
The gentle and the kind.
Harbouring with spirit
In a residence called mind.


Edwin H. Whatmore

I will be away for three days so this is my last post for a while.

Lionel