Cross Roads

A RUINED CHURCH

     They could not take the living God away,
     Although they left His altar blank and bare;
     Their ruthless hands could never rend and tear
     More than the walls, they could not hope to sway
     The utter faith that is the nation's heart;
     They could not bring a real destruction where
     Hymn music had been softly wont to play!
     They smothered beauty, and tore hope apart;
     But in the house of One who is supreme,
     The marks they left will now be sanctified;
     The broken walls, when war is but a dream,
     Will be a monument to those who died;
     And every shell-torn scar will stand for One
     Whose hands were scarred, the Christ men crucified!

     I think, perhaps, the very morning sun,
     Will slant more gently through the broken tower—
     And, in good season, that some tender flower
     Will bloom beside the ruined threshold, where
     Folk paused before they entered in to prayer....