Love’s strength

Measure thy life by loss instead of gain ,
Not by the wine drunk , but the wine pored forth ;
For love’s strength standeth in love’s sacrifice ,
And who so suffers most hath most to give .
For labor , the common lot of man ,
Is part of the kind Creator’s plain ;
And he is a king whose brow is wet
With the pearl-gemmed crown of honest sweat .
Some glorious day , this understood ,
All toilers will be a brotherhood ,
With brain or hand the purpose is one ,
And the Master-workman , God’s own Son .
Jan Bagwell