One Solitary Life
He was born in an obscure village The child of a peasant woman
He grew up in another obscure village Where he worked in a carpenter shop Until he was thirty
He never wrote a book
He never held an office
He never went to college
He never visited a big city
He never travelled more than two hundred miles From the place where he was born
He did none of the things
Usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself
He was only thirty three
His friends ran away
One of them denied him
He was turned over to his enemies
And went through the mockery of a trial
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing The only property he had on earth
When he was dead
He was laid in a borrowed grave Through the pity of a friend
Nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race And the leader of mankind's progress
All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that one solitary life.
Dr James Allan © 1926.
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