A poem by Sophia Lyon Fahs
Some beliefs are like walled gardens. They encourage
exclusiveness, and the feeling of being especially privileged.
Other beliefs are expansive and lead the way into wider
and deeper sympathies.
Some beliefs are like shadows, clouding children's days
with fears of unknown calamities.
Other beliefs are like sunshine, blessing children with
the warmth of happiness.
Some beliefs are divisive, separating the saved from the
unsaved, friends from enemies.
Other beliefs are bonds in a world community, where
sincere differences beautify the pattern.
Some beliefs
are like blinders, shutting off the power to choose one's own direction.
Other beliefs are like gateways opening wide vistas for
exploration.
Some beliefs weaken a person's selfhood. They blight
the growth of resourcefulness.
Other beliefs nurture self-confidence and
ignite the
feeling of personal worth.
Some beliefs are rigid, like the body of death, impotent
in a changing world.
Other beliefs are pliable, like the young sapling, ever
growing with the upward thrust of life.
~Sophia Lyon Fahs |