Truth Through The Ages
By Brother J. Willis Smith, read in G.L. of Maryland Communication in May, 1968 on the occasion of his receipt of his Seventy-year Service Award.
If you have truth, 'tis yours to lift
The veil from shadowed eyes,
That they also may find the truth
Which in your vision lies.
Strong hearts and minds must lead the way
Into the dim unknown,
So weaker ones who follow them
May reap where they have sown.
A hundred million centuries
Produced the present age,
And now a generation new
Will add another page.
So it has been since time began,
The present or the past,
So will it be through future years
As long as time will last.
Each generation comes and goes;
Ours must soon say good-bye.
To you we throw the torch we've held;
'Tis yours to lift it high.
And let the light of truth shine forth
In all you do or say;
To build new values in the world
E're you, too, pass this way.
And when the time shall come for you
To stand where we now stand;
When you have served your time and left
Your imprint on the land.
When fifty years from now, you come
To claim your golden grain,
May it be said of you, each one,
You have not lived in vain.
By Brother J. Willis Smith, read in G.L. of Maryland Communication in May, 1968 on the occasion of his receipt of his Seventy-year Service Award.
If you have truth, 'tis yours to lift
The veil from shadowed eyes,
That they also may find the truth
Which in your vision lies.
Strong hearts and minds must lead the way
Into the dim unknown,
So weaker ones who follow them
May reap where they have sown.
A hundred million centuries
Produced the present age,
And now a generation new
Will add another page.
So it has been since time began,
The present or the past,
So will it be through future years
As long as time will last.
Each generation comes and goes;
Ours must soon say good-bye.
To you we throw the torch we've held;
'Tis yours to lift it high.
And let the light of truth shine forth
In all you do or say;
To build new values in the world
E're you, too, pass this way.
And when the time shall come for you
To stand where we now stand;
When you have served your time and left
Your imprint on the land.
When fifty years from now, you come
To claim your golden grain,
May it be said of you, each one,
You have not lived in vain.