THE PLACE WHERE YOU ARE

John Oxenham (1852-1941) was one of the pennames of William Arthur Dunkerley (1852-1941), an English novelist, poet and magazine editor, He was also a deacon and teacher in the congregational church where he was a member in Wales.

This morning I ran across a poem written by Oxenham that I’d copied, probably at least forty ago. It was a blessing to me at the earliest part of my ministry. I am thinking that it may be a blessing to some preacher, somewhere, today.

YOUR PLACE

Is your place a small place?

Tend it with care! —

He set you there.

Is your place a large place?

Guard it with care! —

He set you there.

Whatever your place, it is

Not yours alone,

but His Who set you there.

                     — John Oxenham

Written on the flyleaf of one of my older Bibles is this verse: “As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place” (Prov. 27:8). Probably, there are more than a few pastors who would be benefited by having this verse, and perhaps the above poem, copied on a flyleaf of their Bible.

The words of this poem may speak in an especially encouraging way to some pastor’s heart as they once did to my own. But really, there’s a message here too for people other than pastors who may be questioning the “place” they’re in in terms of their situation or Circumstances.