A man must keep a keen sense of the drift and significance of what he is engaged in if he is to make much headway.  Yet many human beings are so sunk in the routine of their work that they fail to realize what it is all for.  A man who was tapping with a hammer the wheels of a railroad train remarked that he had been at the job for twenty-seven years.  “What do you do when a wheel doesn’t sound right?” a passenger inquired.  The man was taken aback.  “I never found one that sounded that way,” said he.

  God—­let me be aware. 
  Let me not stumble blindly down the ways,
  Just getting somehow safely through the days,
  Not even groping for another hand,
  Not even wondering why it all was planned,
  Eyes to the ground unseeking for the light,
  Soul never aching for a wild-winged flight,
  Please, keep me eager just to do my share. 
  God—­let me be aware.

  God—­let me be aware. 
  Stab my soul fiercely with others’ pain,
  Let me walk seeing horror and stain. 
  Let my hands, groping, find other hands. 
  Give me the heart that divines, understands. 
  Give me the courage, wounded, to fight. 
  Flood me with knowledge, drench me in light. 
  Please—­keep me eager just to do my share. 
  God—­let me be aware.

Miriam Teichner.

ONE OF THESE DAYS

The worst fault in a hound is to run counter—­to follow the trail backward, not forward.  Is the fault less when men are guilty of it?  Behind us is much that we have found to be faithless, cruel, or unpleasant.  Why go back to that?  Why not go forward to the things we really desire?

  Say!  Let’s forget it!  Let’s put it aside! 
  Life is so large and the world is so wide. 
  Days are so short and there’s so much to do,
  What if it was false—­there’s plenty that’s true. 
  Say!  Let’s forget it!  Let’s brush it away
  Now and forever, so what do you say? 
  All of the bitter words said may be praise
  One of these days.

  Say!  Let’s forget it!  Let’s wipe off the slate,
  Find something better to cherish than hate. 
  There’s so much good in the world that we’ve had,
  Let’s strike a balance and cross off the bad. 
  Say!  Let’s forgive it, whatever it be,
  Let’s not be slaves when we ought to be free. 
  We shall be walking in sunshiny ways
  One of these days.

  Say!  Let’s not mind it!  Let’s smile it away,
  Bring not a withered rose from yesterday;
  Flowers are so fresh from the wayside and wood,
  Sorrows are blessings but half understood. 
  Say!  Let’s not mind it, however it seems,
  Hope is so sweet and holds so many dreams;
  All of the sere fields with blossoms shall blaze
  One of these days.