Inspirational Poem

CHARITY

Perhaps my faith is like my race,
An accident of birth,
Determined only by the place
Where first I came to earth.
So for the faiths of every land,
Though many they may be,
If some I cannot understand,
Lord, give me charity.

The faith my fathers died to keep,
The quest for God and life,
Took them o’er mountains high and steep;
Through struggle, stress, and strife.
They served their God as they know how,
In fashions strange to me;
But if I cannot take their vow,
Lord, give me charity.

And if my neighbors go to church
To learn a different creed;
For God in other ways to search,
And seek the help they need;
Although their forms to me seem odd,
Their ways too far to see,
If through their prayers they come to God,
Lord, give me charity.

Had I been born ‘neath China’s skies,
To ancestors I’d pray;
Had India met my op’ning eyes
I’d bow to Brahma’s sway.
The creed I hold derives its plan
From where I chance to be,
So when I judge my fellow-man,
Lord, give me charity.

By David V. Bush aka D.V. Bush 1921