HOW shall the Word be preached with power?
Not with elaborate care and toil,
With wastings of the midnight oil,
With graceful gesture studied well,
And full intonèd syllable;
With trope and simile lending force
To subdivisions of discourse,
Or labored feeling framed to please—
The word of power is not in these.
How shall the Word be preached with power?
Not by a separate holiness
Which stands aloof to warn and bless,
Speaking as from a higher plane
Which common men may not attain;
Which treats of sin and want and strife
As things outside the priestly life,
And only draws anigh to chide,
Holding a saintly robe aside.
How shall the Word be preached with power?
Ah, needless to debate and plan!
Heart answereth unto heart in man;
Out of the very life of each
Must come the power to heal or teach.
The life all eloquent may grieve,
The brain may subtly work and weave,
But if the heart take not its share,
The word of power is wanting there.
How shall the Word be preached with power?
Go, preacher, search thy soul, and mark
Each want, each weakness, every dark
And painful dint where life and sin
Have beaten their hard impress in:
Apply the balm, and test the cure,
And heal thyself, and be thou sure
That which helps thee has power again
To help the souls of other men.
How shall the Word be preached with power?
Go ask the suffering and the poor,
Go ask the beggar at thy door,
Go to the sacred page and read
What served the old-time want and need:
The clasping hand, the kindling eye,
Virtue given out unconsciously,
The self made selfless hour by hour,—
In these is preached the Word with power!