One calm,bright,sweet,sunshineday,an angel stole out a heaven andcame down to this old world,and roamed fieldand forest,city and hamlet.Just as the sun went down
he spread his wings andsaid:"Now my visit is out,and I must go
back to the world of light.Butbefore I go,I must gather some mementos
of my visit here."He lookedinto a beautiful flower garden and said,"How lovely
and fragrant these flowers
are".He plucked the rarest roses and made
a bouquet and
said,"I see nothing more
beautiful and fragrant than these;
I will take them with me."But he looked a
little further and saw a bright-eyed,
rosy-cheeked baby,
smiling into its mother's
face.And he said,"Oh,that baby's smile
is prettier than this bouquet;I will take
that too."Then he looked just beyond the cradle
and there was a mother's
love pouring out like the gush of a river
toward the cradle and the baby.And he
said,"Oh,that mother's love is the prettiest
thing I have seen on earth;I will
carry that,too."With the three treasures
he winged his way to the
pearly gates,and lit just on the outside
and said,"Before I go in,I will examine
my mementos."And he looked at the flowers
and they had withered.He looked at the
baby's smile and it had faded.He looked
at the mother's love and there it was,in
all it's pristine beauty.He threw aside
the withered flowers and faded
smile,and wing his way through the gates and led
all the hosts of heaven
together and said,"Here is the only thing
I found on earth that would keep
its beauty all the way to heaven-
It is a mother's love