The Seven Golden Lamps***h***** Poem by Mary Wismer

1. What HONOR belongs to the Churches! They are made of heavenly gold, the gold of the sanctuary. All splendor is theirs; untarnished beauty and glory.

2. What RESPONSIBILITY rests upon them! It is special responsibility to the Son of man, who walks in the midst of them; the responsibility of being what

He would have us to be, and what He represents us in this emblem as really being—'golden Churches; ' the responsibility of being holy and consistent—of reflecting the image of our Lord; of being lights in the world.

To the Churches, the Son of man is saying, 'Let your light shine! Hide it not. Raise it aloft, that it may send its radiance wide and far. Let nothing dim it; let

nothing intercept it. The world is dark. The night is gloomy. The light shines in the darkness. There is no other light but this for a dark world.'

The day is coming, the time when these lamps shall be needed no more. Until then, shine on, shine on, O church of the living God! And in proportion to the darkness of the last days, let your light blaze out in heavenly splendor!

15. January 2008