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Today’s post comes in the form of a meditation by African-American pastor and poet Samuel Jackson Fisher (1847-1928) found in The Romance of Pittsburgh or Under Three Flags, and Other Poems.
“Within is More!”
In famous Bruges — quaint old Flemish town —
On which the lofty belfry tower looks down,
There stands with fair and stately front a house
Whose legend ever must the thought arouse,
For this strange motto long it proudly bore,
Carved on its doorway beam: “Within is more;”
And he who reads it feels this cryptic word
His eager questioning has deeply stirred.Yet may we not to this strange mystery
Find at our hand the long-sought key?
Fair is the front — without it charms the eye —
But home’s great charm and treasure inside lie.
No outside gaze can measure all the store
Of joys so hidden, for “Within is more.”And so I love to think as to our eyes
The golden walls and domes of Heaven arise;
Tho’ fair is all now seen, and blest the view,
That still for us the ancient words are true.
And when in Love’s good time we pass the door,
Entranced we shall confess, “Within is more.”
