From our earliest boyhood to our latter days,
There’s a hero that we’ve always wanted to praise;
No poet we know of has ever, to date,
Tossed him the roses we think he should rate–
It’s the John Doe the most of us leave in the lurch:
The fellow who’s always, on Sundays, in Church.
He always is present at Sunday School, too,
And throughout the week he finds God’s work to do.
We personally go (and you maybe do, too)
When the mood is upon us: we’ve nothing to do;
But we wonder sometimes as our way home we wend,
Who keeps the Old Church there for us to ettend??
When we miss Church for months, or a half year, perhaps,
Who sees it’ll be there throughout our relapse?
We take it for granted: we come back once more,
And it still has a carpet, a preacher, a door.
That fellow we spoke of, he’s there in his place
With a big smile of welcome all over his face.
The way that he greets us we’ve never been gone;
We’re a little bit shamefaced–he never lets on.
By no slightest hint doee he show it’s been he
Who’s ventured and striven for him and for me;
You’d never suspect it’s through efforts of his
That the whole organization’s today where it is.
He’s spent hours on Committees we can’t do without,
And slaved behind scenes that we don’t know about;
He’s helped out the young folks by pushing their League,
And worked, without pay, to the point of fatigue.
So let’s hail the fellow who’s faithful to Church–
In our Hall of Fame he can claim his own perch:
Who personally sees that our Church is still there
Carries his end, and ours, of a cross we should share.
And if you encounter a poet you know,
Have him knock out a stanza a-lauding John Doe–
Or better, let’s SHOW John what we think he’s worth:
Attend Church, and help with God’s Kingdom on Earth!
by Ray Romine Saturday, October 3, 1942