Without Love

Think of a day when the sky is so blue;

Reminds you that Heaven's right over you.

Think of the sea and the wild waves He trod.

Shhh! Can you hear Francis communing with God?

 

Hear him speak — hear his voice — hear his musical words:

"Charity ... Mary ... Star-shine ... and Birds.

Without love you are empty ... your life is a pall.

Without love you're a cipher, a nothing-at-all."

 

Without love a deaf man can’t hear; a blind man can’t see.

Though you live you are dead — just as dead as can be;

You might as well be asleep six feet under the sod;

For without love you know nothing — just nothing of God.

Down through the centuries the echoes we hear,

The words of St. Francis, "Love, Involvement and Cheer."

In a voice that is gentle, though often quite stern,

Concisely he tells us the things we should learn.

 

Without love the leaves wither, flowers shrivel and die;

A cat doesn't purr and a bird doesn't fly.

And when you stand with your back to the wall;

Without love to uphold you, you'd totter and fall.

 

The blue of the sky, without love it is black.

The stars shut their eyes and the moon turns his back.

The sun turns to ink — the earth ceases to spin.

Man's a black, burnt-out cask, an empty wine skin.

 

But with love! Ah, there is the positive turn!

Motors cough into life and the wheels start to churn.

Life takes on new meaning — there's a goal in plain sight.

Every man is your brother; his slight is your slight.

 

Men laugh at the rain, with their backs to the wall.

They shout with St. Francis, "My God and My All!"