Despise Not the Beginnings

"The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed which  a man took and sowed in his field; which indeed is the least of  all  seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree." Matt. xiii. 31, 32.

See, how beyond the hills, the morning bright
Doth write its coming with a single ray;
But gleam is joined to gleam, and light to light,
Till feeblest dawn expands to perfect day.
Despise not the beginnings.  When the heart
Receives, however small, the primal beam,
Which God doth to the new-born soul impart,
Revere and cherish its incipient gleam.
Though the first ray from Heaven's eternal throne,
The frail young shoot from Glory's morning star,
Yet fostered well, it dwelleth not alone,
But grows in its own light, and shineth far,
And bindeth ray with ray, till what was one,
Compacted of itself, expands a new-born sun.

— American Cottage Life (1850) XXXIII.