Hypocrites

I knelt to pray when day was done,
And prayed, "Lord, bless everyone;
Lift from each heart the pain,
And let the sick be well again."

And then I woke again one day,
And carelessly went on my way;
The whole day long I did not try
To wipe a tear from any eye.

I did not try to share the load.
Of any brother on the road;
I did not even go to see
The sick man just next door to me.

Yet once again when every day was done,
I prayed, "Lord, bless everyone."
But as I prayed to my ear
Came a voice that whispered dear,

"Pause, hypocrite, before you pray;
Whom have you tried to bless today?
God's sweetest blessings always go,
By hands that serve Him here below."

And then I hid my face and cried,
"Forgive me Lord, for I have lied;
Let me but live another day,
And I will live the way I pray."

-The Bulletin