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RADIANT STAR 
 
Mrs. Van Anderson Gordon has also 
 written: The Journal of a Live "Woman, 
 The Mystic Scroll, The Right Knock 
 and Carroll's Conversion (It Is Possible); 
 The Story of Teddy ( for children ) , 
 Temple Teachings & The Illumined Life. 
 Information regarding any of the fore- 
 going works can be had now of THE 
 LITTLE BROTHER PUBLISHING 
 COMPANY at J 301 California Street, 
 SAN FRANCISCO 
 
Radiant Star 
 
 A POEM BY 
 Helen Van-Anderson Gordon 
 
 9AN FRANCISCO 
 
 The LittU Brother Publishing Company 
 
 MCMXI 
 
I'd 3r]3 
 
 \(M\ 
 
 Copyright, J9H, by L. Van Anderson. 
 
 £ -S7^ 
 
 4;C:.A3i4053 
 
DEDICATED 
 
 TO NOBLE SOULS 
 
 EVERY\C^HERE _^ 
 
 WHOSE LIGHT IS SHINING 
 
 WHEN THEY 
 
 KNOW IT NOT 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 As Radiant Star, 
 
 That shineth far 
 Upon Earth's midnight darkness deep. 
 
 Doth thro' the night 
 
 A beacon light 
 Become for wandering feet. 
 
 So souls may shine. 
 
 With love divine 
 To light Life's lonely midnights dark 
 For those who struggle on apart. 
 Bewildered, lone and sick at heart. 
 
 O Soul divine. 
 
 Arise and shine. 
 Send forth thy radiant love-fiiled beams 
 
 Till all who pine 
 
 In sorrow's line 
 May spring, awakened from their dreams 
 
 Of loss and pain 
 
 To walk again 
 With hope and courage toward the Day. 
 
 O Star of Life, in every ray 
 
 Send love and light upon Earth's way. 
 
1 
 
The Mask of Grief that binds the soul 
 And makes a desert of the world. 
 
THE PRAYER 
 
 LONE and sighing as one disheartened by 
 Repeated failure to achieve the goal 
 For which she labored, a Woman sat beside 
 A table and leaned her tired head upon 
 Her hand. The night was still and sultry with 
 
 A stifling heat. The light grew dim. A moth 
 That fluttered to the fatal glow at last 
 
 Had fallen victim to its blind ambition. 
 Unheeding sat the lonely one, nor heard 
 
 The katydid which chirped so cheerily in 
 The grass outside, nor smelled the faint sweet odors 
 
 That floated through the open window of 
 The humble home. The blackness of her grief 
 
 Was like a thick-wove mantle wound and bound 
 Around her, imprisoning every sweet 
 
 And tender impulse in her anguished heart. 
 But suddenly despair unlocked the gate 
 
 Of tears. The Woman cried aloud and wrung 
 Her hands, v/hile scbs and tears bespoke her torture 
 
 And then the tumult passed. Selfless, she prayed: 
 
RADIANT STAR 
 
 "So lonely, lonely, Lord, am 1, since he, 
 My precious boy was taken from my arms! 
 And now 1 pray for place amongst Thine own 
 Whose lives are given to Thee, for Thy world's 
 
 betterment. 
 No gift have ] to bring, dear Lord, except 
 The gift of love, for love's dear sake, to those 
 Who need. Thou knowest how circumscribed my life 
 Has been, how bound about by petty cares, 
 How lacking in the time to do the work 
 In Thy great world where work is needed most. 
 ] have no special skill of mind or hand. 
 Dear Lord," she prayed, ''I cannot sing to charm 
 Away the pangs of loneliness or grief — 
 ] cannot teach, nor preach, nor paint great pictures, 
 Nor tell of dawns or sunsets, or scenes on land 
 Or sea, that make my heart enlarge 
 But leave my tougue helpless and mute. 
 My Father, 1 can but serve in homely ways; 
 But here! My arms are waiting to be filled — 
 CTwas he, my boy, who taught them how to love.) 
 
THE PRAYER 
 
 My heart is beating true; my feet but wait 
 Thy call to bear Thy message where Thou wilt. 
 And now, O God, ] only wait Thy placing — 
 But let it be a place of breadth and scope, 
 Where ] can love and serve Thy needy ones 
 Most mightily. My heart is starving since 
 My boy is gone. Yet not for self do ] 
 Ask Love, but only for the loveless ones 
 Who do not know its blessedness. 
 
 Amen." 
 
11 
 
Sweet Sympathy, whose tender heart 
 Doth make of her Life's ministering angel. 
 
THE DAY'S WORK 
 
 "^^^^^HE narrow circle of each day's duty seemed 
 ■ ^ J The same, nordid the tasks thatfilled the hours 
 ^^^^/ Become less irksome, nor the trials less. 
 
 But in the Woman's eyes' clear wells, there 
 beamed 
 A wondrous light, as though the soul looked out 
 
 And bade a welcome to each passer-by, 
 The while it proffered service and a prayer. 
 
 To her, (the humble seamstress who made their dresses 
 For gala day attire,) came ladies gay 
 
 Who often, while with her laid off the cloak 
 Of vanity, to tell with sobs, sometimes. 
 
 Of burdens, sore perplexities and griefs 
 Too hard to bear. Her words to them refreshed 
 
 Like water cold that came from mountain spring, 
 Renewing strength and courage. 
 
 Again, young girls were drawn to seek her help. 
 For they, too, found a panacea in 
 
 Her presence, and felt impelled to ask of her 
 The questions only such as she can answer. 
 
 And oft in journeying to and fro between 
 
RADIANT STAR 
 
 Her home and stately mansions where she sewed. 
 
 The children, playing on the street, would run 
 To her, and take her hand and ask protection 
 
 From barking dog, the car, or teasing playmate. 
 XC'^hile once, a birdling, breathless and forsaken. 
 
 Flew chirping to her hollowed hand for refuge. 
 "With heart and hand thus opened wide for service 
 
 She poured her crystal stream of tenderness 
 On sad and thirst-parched hearts, until, renewed 
 
 Like desert wastes fresh-washed by mother Nile, 
 They grew as watered gardens, rich with fruit and 
 flowers. 
 
 The woman, not knowing all this wonder-work 
 Continued in her loving helpfulness, 
 
 The while the work by which she earned her daily 
 bread 
 Ran its appointed round. 
 
 Her private grief was changed to greater yearning 
 To be the comforter of those who suffer. 
 
 For this she would become a nurse, she thought. 
 And study all the healing arts of nursing. 
 
 8 
 
THE DAY'S WORK 
 
 That skilled and true, her hands might be more 
 potent, 
 
 Her mind more wise to give its ministry. 
 And thus with aim and purpose firmly fixed, 
 
 She worked to earn, and save her earnings that she 
 Might train for this, which seemed the larger field. 
 
 But long it looked, this path that she had chosen; 
 And long, so long, the time of preparation. 
 
 Some days her heart grew sick with weariness 
 At thought of all the good she might be doing, 
 
 Were she but free to carry out her plan. 
 
 9 
 
]]] 
 
Because thy heart hath loved, thy hands have served, 
 To thee hath come the time for knowing Truth. 
 
THE DREAM 
 
 ^I^^^HE long day, warm, depleting, marked by 
 
 ■ ^ J pin-pricks 
 
 ^^^^ Of irritating circumstance, at last 
 
 Was over. Wearily the woman sighed. 
 
 As languidly she doffed her work-day garments, 
 And robed herself for longed-for, blissful rest. 
 
 Before her prayer and silent meditation 
 Should prelude the peaceful night's caress. 
 
 Her fond eyes sought the portrait of her boy. 
 "Good night, my darling one, good night to you," 
 
 She said. And yearning, kissed the pictured face. 
 Then suddenly the tides of memory broke 
 
 Their bounds, and like a tidal wave submerged 
 Her mother-heart. Bravely she sought to hold 
 
 The posts of courage, to stay the hard-earned 
 bulwarks 
 Of patience and sweet faith. But no, the storm 
 
 Must have its way: The long, fatiguing days, 
 The lonely nights, the anxious longing for 
 
 The greater work, had subtly undermined 
 
 13 
 
RADIANT STAR 
 
 Her faltering human strength. / 
 
 She wept and sobbed and wrung her frantic hands, 
 
 Until at last, praying, she fell asleep 
 
 Beside her shrine — the couch of her dear child. 
 
 She dreamed, and in her dream an Angel came 
 
 Ensphered in radiance passing human speech. 
 Its rays, in beaming slendor shone upon 
 
 Her eyes grown big with awe and speechless wonder. 
 Advancing with majestic tread, and arms 
 
 Outspread in benison, his kindly gaze 
 Met hers. What strange, what heavenly miracle 
 
 "Was this that now transformed her consciousness? 
 A rare surpassing energy swift rolled 
 
 In thrilling waves through all her awe-struck being. 
 It gave her strengh to bear, if need be, all 
 
 The burdens of the world. It keyed her ears 
 To hearing music from another sphere. 
 
 And such as language of poor Earth 
 Could ne'er decribe. It, like electric fire, touched 
 
 Her eyes and made her see what eyes alone 
 
 14 
 
THE DREAM 
 
 Can never see. In that first instant when the Angel's 
 
 gaze 
 Swept through her, did the miracle take place. 
 
 But hark! His voice of matchless melody 
 Awakened echoes in her soul, as with 
 
 An outflung gesture he exclaimed: "Behold!" 
 And with the music of the word, a ray 
 
 Of Light shot forth, outreaching far beyond 
 The boundaries of keenest human sight. 
 
 In manner wondrous and intangible, 
 Her sense of seeing seemed to merge and hold 
 
 "Within the compass of the awesome Light, 
 And where it fell, her vision clear did follow. 
 
 Its shaft of radiance revealed such scenes 
 As mark the round Earth's varied, teeming surface. 
 
 In groups, or single and alone, she saw 
 God's family of souls in all conditions 
 
 And degrees of human life. The young and old, 
 The evil workers and the good, ( mixed as 
 
 They are), in vast kaleidoscopic throngs 
 That constitute humanity. 
 
 ]5 
 
RADIANT STAR 
 
 "With burdens grievous many toiled and suffered; 
 Bewildered, some had lost their tortuous way 
 
 And wandered blindly in the fearsome dark 
 Of evil. She heard the cries of children as, 
 
 Bereft of shelter, guidance or the crown 
 Of childhood — mothers' tenderness — they roamed 
 
 Through streets, or worked in factories or mines, 
 "Where Nature, outraged, bent their tiny backs, 
 
 Repressed and stifled all their youthful joy 
 And set upon each face the damning seal 
 
 Of man's brutality and greed. 
 Again the Light flashed forth. The "Woman saw 
 
 The bruised and the beaten of the earth, grief-bowed 
 And needing ministry from heaven. Meltingly 
 
 She cried: "Oh, tell me why this awful suffering?" 
 "Most faithful one," the Angel said, "Attend, 
 
 And thou shalt know Life's mystery and meaning, 
 
 These myriad throngs thou seest who live upon 
 The earth are souls who wear the mask of flesh 
 And circumstance. Through all the years of time, 
 
 ]6 
 
THE DREAM 
 
 Both night and day, in pleasure or in pain, 
 
 In toil cr grief or noble works or ill, 
 
 They travel on the the pilgrim road. "For souls 
 
 Or great, or rich or poor, befouled with sin. 
 
 Or crowned with selfless love are all, Divine, 
 
 Yet often know it not. Through ignorance 
 
 Comes evil, ill and sorrow, until the anguish 
 
 Doth like a fire, purify the heart 
 
 Prepanng it to love its fellows as 
 
 Itself But Life gives lessons through experience; 
 
 Through this is wisdom gained, then knowledge true, 
 
 And power of discernment; then choice of act. 
 
 And so through all the round of human life.'* 
 
 "The innocent, the good, must they, too, suffer?" cried 
 The 'Woman, in agony of tears remembering 
 
 The grief-bowed, and the little ones bereft. 
 "Look far, and gain the deeper meaning, O 
 
 My child," the Angel whispered as the Light 
 Grew dim. 
 
 '*The law of suffering is two-fold; 
 
 17 
 
RADIANT STAR 
 
 Jt bringeth life to those who serve the sufferer. 
 
 It bringeth death at last to self, for self 
 
 Is hut the husk of Spirit and must die 
 
 In order that the seed Divine may burst 
 
 Its prison walls and live on earth, a flower 
 
 Of heaven, dispensing heavenly essence — "LOyE'* 
 
 And then the Light burst forth transcendently. 
 
 "Behold!" and, as the Angel spake again, 
 The Light with mystic power revealed the heart 
 
 And mind, the character and daily aim 
 Of those who, man or woman, live on the heights 
 
 Of Life. And as the wondrous glory shone 
 About them it wove a shining aureole 
 
 Around their heads, until the beaming rays 
 Extended far throughout the night-hued clouds 
 
 Of Earth. So crowned, these noble souls became 
 As stars, radiant, splendid, glorious — 
 
 Out-raying star-like beams that reached 
 The weary workers at their work; the poor 
 
 Discouraged ones who needed friendly words. 
 
 18 
 
THE DREAM 
 
 And hearts that pined in darkness — all were helped 
 And blessed. 
 
 The vision passed yet still the Angel stood 
 
 Beside her. He spake again: 
 "Awake, O faithful soul, and go thy way; 
 Because th\) heart hath loved, thy hands have served, 
 To thee hath come the time for knowing Truth. 
 
 Rejoicing in thy privilege, be steadfast, 
 In fullest faith believing when thy work 
 
 Is finished in one field thou wilt be called 
 To labor in the next. 
 
 Arise and shine Beloved. Thy great LOV^ 
 Doth make of thee a T{JIT>JJIJ^T STA7{." 
 
 19 
 
IT IS A GOOD WORK. If it has been 
 WELL DONE, we are then satisfied. 
 
 Know, then, that this little book has 
 been designed and illustrated by Mr. L. 
 VAN ANDERSON and printed for The 
 Little Brother Publishing Company at 
 the shop of RICARDO J. OROZCO at 
 3J5 Sutter Street in San Francisco, on 
 the first day of November, Anno Domini: 
 M C M X 1 
 
APR 25 1912