Let There Be Joy, Always Joy in Giving

July 27, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is service, in honor of Eid al-Adha, the Islamic Festival of Sacrifice, which this year is celebrated on July 31.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com .

A poem about the joy of being an instrument of God’s love:

Let there be joy, always joy in giving,

In serving those who cannot serve themselves.

There is no better gift one gets from living

Than that sweet will that from the heart upwells.

Let there be pleasure in giving others pleasure,

Enjoyment in giving others joy,

Sheer happiness, beyond all one might measure,

In toiling in a loving God's employ.

So may we be the instruments of love,

The flesh of God's will working in the world,

Each a thread within the banner of

Redemption, to the winds of time unfurled.

Sacrifice is then no sacrifice,

Obligation then no obligation,

For what is gained has neither peer nor price,

There being none remotely in relation.

How might one find sanctity in service,

Each menial task a grateful act of prayer?

Perhaps if one believed that life was senseless,

Old folk were simply woe one wouldn't share.

Only love gives dignity to all,

Restoring faith in those who heed its call.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/letth5.html. For more poems about religion, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html.

This week’s theme: Service

July 27: Let There Be Joy, Always Joy in Giving