The work of worth
In this late hour of reasoned speech,
When stars seem more like metaphor than sign,
And incense curls in empty naves,
Where silence oft must serve as shrine,
Still, something stirs behind the eyes,
That stare at screens to analyse.
We do not speak of God at lunch,
Except in jest or anecdote.
If worship’s seldom public act,
It mumbles in a private throat.
Yet daily still, we bow and bend,
To market trends, or fashion’s friend.
When all the ancient hymns seem mute,
Still something calls us to confess,
The thing we praise, or prize, or fear,
Reveals the shape of our duress.
Each gesture has its god concealed,
Each wallet, ballot, song revealed.
You cannot live and not adore.
The question’s not if, only what,
What weight we give, what place we grant,
What seat we offer in our thought.
For worship is the work of worth,
A compass on our giddying earth.
And joy, too, lingers in that guise,
The hush before the curtain’s rise,
The lifted cup, the lover’s gaze,
The promise sensed in clearing skies.
How gratitude, in humble grace,
Finds radiance in every place.
So let us speak, though tongue is slow,
Of mysteries we hardly know,
Not certainty, but thankful tone,
For beauty’s flash or kindness shown.
In finding true worth, learn to give,
And giving thus, we yearn to live.
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