Salome! Had you been with me in the boat, You would not chide and moan because our boys Have gone with the Beloved from this our home.

Let me, Salome, tell you how it came. The night was still—the tide was running strong, Heavy our nets—the strain reached breaking point, And while ’twas dark we docked, and as we worked I felt as though new strength and steady joy Surged through my being, so I sang a Psalm— As David sang—a song to greet the morn; And then my heart was filled with quiet calm.

The boat was soon in order, and we turned To dry and mend our nets. Then Jesus came— He called the boys, first John, then James, by name, And they arose and went to follow Him.

I turned and gazed on Jesus standing there— He seemed to me all clothed in shining light As He stood in the pathway with the night Behind Him and the dawn breaking around, His form so radiant and glad and free.

And when He climbed the hill our sons went too— James was behind, and John was by His side; And when they talked, John scarcely seemed our John— I felt that he had caught a marvelous light.

And all my being seemed to overflow; I knew that night had passed—the dawn had come, And then I knew that we must let them go.

"The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike" (1 Samuel 30:24).

To some Christ calls: “Leave boat and bay, And white-haired Zebedee”; To some the call is harder: “Stay And mend the nets for Me.”