The Final Word

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why Right (temporarily defeated) is stronger than Evil (triumphant).

- Martin Luther King Jr.

The Fidelity of Love

My distress is great and unknown to men.
They are cruel to me, for they wish to dissuade me
From all that the forces of Love urge me to.
They do not understand it, and I cannot explain it to them.
I must then live out what I am;
What love counsels my spirit,
In this is my being: for this reason I will do my best.
Whatever vicissitudes men lead me through for Love's sake
I wish to stand firm and take no harm from them.
For I understand from the nobility of my soul
That in suffering for sublime Love, I conquer.
I will therefore gladly surrender myself
In pain, in repose, in dying, in living,
For I know the command of lofty fidelity.
I do not complain of suffering for Love:
It becomes me to always submit to her,
Whether she commands in storm or in stillness.
One can know her only in herself.
This is an unconceivable wonder,
Which thus has filled my heart
And makes me stray in a wild desert.

- Hadewijch of Antwerp

"To Live Out What I Am"

* date not specified *

To Catch A Rainbow

In time of silver rain
The earth puts forth life again ,
Green grasses grow
And flowers lift their heads,
And over all the plain
The wonder spreads

Of life,
Of Life,
Of Life!

In time of silver rain
The butterflies lift silken wings,
To catch a rainbow cry,
And trees put forth new leaves to sing
In joy beneath the sky
As down the roadway
Passing boys and girls
Go singing too,

In time of silver rain when spring
And life
Are new.

- Langston Hughes

"In Time of Silver Rain" 

* date unknown* 

Raining Hope

A seed falls on hardened ground
Will it wither and die or by a crow be found
Or will the rain come, bringing new life
Fate balancing on the edge of a knife
If the rain comes; the need appeased
Is the balance of life set at ease
And if by chance the seed should grow
Would fate then come in the form of snow
Time after time seeds laid low
Yet in the spring you'll see it grow
When life seems hard no hope is found
Just remember the rain will come to soften the ground

-"Second Chances"

Bryan Seyfertt

07 November 2012 A.D. 

In Loving Sacrifice

The sacrifice of love we give,
Takes less and yet gives more;
An everlasting hand of love,
The heart an open door.

The willingness to give of self,
To lay down your own life;
To touch another person's heart,
In loving sacrifice.

A chance that God has given you,
To reach another soul;
Forever changed by kindness,
A life your love made whole.

For life is but a circle,
Each life part of the chain;
Each link is joined by sacrifice,
That causes man to change.

To turn and reach a hand of love,
To touch another's life;
Will cause the circle to be whole,
In loving sacrifice.

- Allison Chambers Coxsey

"Sacrifice"

about 1996

An Odd Thing To Fear

AFRAID? Of who am I afraid?
Not death; for who is he?
The porter of my father's lodge
As much abasheth me.

Of life? 'T were odd I fear a thing
That comprehendeth me
In one or more existences
At Deity's decree.

Of resurrection? Is the east
Afraid to trust the morn?
With her fastidious forehead?
As soon impeach my crown!

- Emily Dickinson

"Afraid? Of Who Am I Afraid?"

published: 1924

A Strong Man's Creed

Courage isn't a brilliant dash,
A daring deed in a moment's flash;
It isn't an instantaneous thing
Born of despair with a sudden spring
It isn't a creature of flickered hope
Or the final tug at a slipping rope;
But it's something deep in the soul of a man
That is always working to serve some plan.

Courage isn't the last resort
In the work of life or the game of sport;
It isn't a thing that a man can call
At some future time when he's apt to fall;
If he hasn't it now, he will have it not
When the strain is great and the pace is hot.
For who would strive for a distant goal
Must always have courage within his soul.

Courage isn't a dazzling light
That flashes and passes away from sight;
It is a slow, unwavering, ingrained trait
With the patience to work and the strength to wait.
It's part of a man when his skies are blue,
It's part of him when he has work to do.
The brave man is never freed of it.
He has it when there is no need of it.

Courage was never destined to show;
It isn't a thing that can come and go;
It's written in victory and defeat
And every trial a man may meet.
It's part of his hours, his days and his years,
Back of his smiles and behind his tears.
Courage is more than a daring deed:
It's the breath of life and a strong man's creed.

- Edgar A. Guest 

"Courage"

*date not specified* 

Unconquered Days

Life, believe, is not a dream
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day.
Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,
But these are transient all;
If the shower will make the roses bloom,
Why lament at all?

Rapidly, merrily,
Life's sunny hours filt by,
Gratefully, cheerily,
Enjoy them as they fly!
What though Death at times step in
And calls our Best away?
What though sorrow seems to win,
O'oer hope, a heavy sway?
Yet hope again elastic springs,
Unconquered, though she fell;
Still buoyant are her golden wings,
Still strong to bear us well.
Manfully, fearlessly,
The day of trial bear,
For gloriously, victoriously,
Can courage quell despair!

- Charlotte Bronte

"Life"

about 1846

The Eternal Price

Oh, the kindness of a Holy Lord, poured on those on earth below,
As His gracious help is implored, by those here who need Him so,
And by others, God goes ignored, for the Lord they do not know,
But even these men cannot afford, to continue in the way they go.

God's goodness extends to everyone, wherever we are in this life,
Through His only begotten Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Available to all men under the sun, to deal with their toil and strife,
His kindness follows as they run, the race that leads to eternal life.

It was God who made a sacrifice, by sending His Son the the cross,
Paying for all men an eternal price, while making a way for the lost,
By that cleansing work of Christ, to purge all sinners of their dross,
Preparing for believers a paradise, when life's final river they cross.

The Lord is the Creator of us all, Maker of all creatures on the earth,
Every creature, great and small, and He knew you before your birth,
Although we are cursed by the fall, God places on man much worth,
And all who here the trumpet call, Christ shall rapture from the earth.

Extended to each and all of us, is God's goodness and much more,
Saving men from a grave of dust, when they came to Christ as Lord,
Extending to Him a simply trust, and God opens up the eternal door,
As belief in Christ is the only must, to live with our God forever more.

- Bob Gotti

"The Goodness of God"

July 2008 

When Fluttering Leaves Depart

Like the joy on the heart of a sorrow,
The sunset hangs on a cloud;
A golden storms of glittering sheaves,
Of fair and frail and fluttering leaves,
The wild wind blows in a cloud.

Hark to the voice that is calling
To my heart in the voice of the wind:
My heart is weary and sad and alone,
For its dreams like that fluttering leaves of gone,
And why should I stay behind?

- Saroniji Naidu 

"Autumn Song" 

submitted: 03 January 2013 A.D. 

Boxes of Love

I have in my hand two boxes
Which God gave me to hold
He said, "Put all your sorrows in the black,
And all your joys in the gold."
I heeded His words and in the two boxes
Both my joys and sorrows I store
But though the gold box became heavier each day
The black was as light as before.

With curiosity I opened the black
I wanted to find out why
And I saw, the base of box, a hole
Which my sorrows had fallen out by

I showed the whole to God, and mused aloud,
"I wonder where my sorrows could be."
He smiled a gentle smile at me.
"My child, they are all here with me."

I asked God, "Why give me the boxes,
Why the gold and the black with the hole?"
"M child, the gold is for you to count your blessings,
The black is for you to let go."

- Anonymous 

"God's Boxes of Love" 

* date not specified *

To Live is Now

Deal only with the present -
Never step into tomorrow,
For God asks us just to trust Him
And to never borrow sorrow,
For the future is not ours to know,
And it may never be,
So let us live and give our best
And give it lavishly . . .
For to meet tomorrow's troubles
Before they are even ours
Is to anticipate the Savior
And to doubt His all - wise powers,
So let us be content to solve
Our problems one by one,
Asking nothing of tomorrow
Except "Thy will be done."

Helen Steiner Rice
"Never Borrow Sorrow"
May 16, 2012 A.D,

                                                                                                                             

To The Unbroken

There is a brokenness
Out of which comes the unbroken,
A shattered-ness out
Of which blooms the un-shatterable
There is a sorrow
Beyond all grief that leads to joy
And a fragility
Out of whose depths emerges strength.

There is a hollow space
Too vast for words
Through which we pass with each loss,
Out of whose darkness
We are sanctioned into being.

There is a cry deeper than all sound
Whose serrated edges cut the heart
As we break open
To the place inside which is unbreakable
And whole,
While learning to sing.

- Rashani

"There Is Brokenness" 

2010 

To Lose One Self

Water flowing down the permanent canals.
Colors running and bleeding each other.
Red pressure spots residing in their familiar place.
Years of brokenness and neglect.

Ducts thought to be dried,
Yet springs forth gallons more.
How the nights are spent in the watery grave.
Cries heard from no one except her pillow.

Too many chances, to forgive again.
Quietness is welcomed, but hated.
For she lost all, including herself,
And sadness became her only friend.

- Matthias 

"Blue Orbs Through a Glazed Len"

date unknown 

My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius.
Commanders of the armies of the North, general of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife, and I will have my vengeance in this life, or the next.

- Maximus Decimus Meridius

(Actor: Russel Crowe) 

Gladiator, 2000

Predestined To Be

About a trillion centuries
Before the world was made, and seas
Of deep and empty space were not
Yet there to make an endless spot
For nothingness, nor Gabriel,
Nor Lucifer, nor flames of hell,
Nor beasts and elders round the throne,
But only God the Lord alone—
No element of any kind,
Nor measurement, but only Mind—
Ages before the Lord employed
His sovereign power to make a void
Beside the vastness of his will,
When there was only God to fill
The mind of God with joy and He
Was Life, and absolutely free...

The Father fixed his gaze on me,
Foreknew my soul that I should be
At first ashamed before his face,
And then a vessel for his grace;
And in the Holy Trinity
Engaged a glad conspiracy
Of love that all the energy
Of God should be employed to see
That I, when all his work is done,
Would bear the image of his Son.

And I indeed have been ashamed
For awesome things that I have named
A sham. Once in Ms. Clanton's class
A group of us with ample brass
Announced our sure and reasoned scheme:
"Predestination is a dream
Of Presbyterians misled
By Calvin who had lost his head
And killed a man for heresy
Back in the sixteenth century."
And I pursued their praise with zest . . .

. . . As though a bird should curse the air
Beneath its wing, and fish compare
The ocean to a grave, the ant
Should lift its mighty voice and rant
Against the earth with pride obsessed,
And infants rail against the breast.

And O, the shame, the shame of those
Presumptuous years to one who knows
Far better now. Had not the gaze
Of God affixed itself with rays
Of mercy on my unborn soul,
And burned my name into the scroll
Of life, there would have been no cause
That all my proud and ugly flaws
Should be pursued with mercy all
My days.

O God of great and small,
O God of free and sovereign grace,
How great and wonderful your ways,
Ordaining all before its days!
To you alone be endless praise!
Come, meet us in this season bright!
We glorify your holy might,
And give the name to candle one:
Foreknown and destined in the Son.

- John Piper 

Foreknown and Destined in the Son 

December 1, 1985

Apple Bright

I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears
Night and morning with my tears,
And I sunned it with smiles
And with soft, deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright,
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine -

And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning, glad, I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

- William Blake

A Poison Tree, 1794

Fallen - Cold and Dead

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
                         But O heart! heart! heart!
                            O the bleeding drops of red,
                               Where on the deck my Captain lies,
                                  Fallen cold and dead.
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
                         Here Captain! dear father!
                            The arm beneath your head!
                               It is some dream that on the deck,
                                 You’ve fallen cold and dead.
My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
                         Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
                            But I with mournful tread,
                               Walk the deck my Captain lies,
                                  Fallen cold and dead.

Walt Whitman 

Oh Captain, My Captain 1900

"Leaves of Grass"

On Life After Death

When tomorrow starts without me,
And I'm not there to see,
If the sun should rise and find your eyes
All filled with tears for me;
I wish so much you wouldn't cry
The way you did today,
While thinking of the many things,
We didn't get to say.
I know how much you love me,
As much as I love you,
And each time you think of me,
I know you'll miss me too;
But when tomorrow starts without me,
Please try to understand,
That an angel came and called my name,
And took me by the hand,
And said my place was ready,
In heaven far above
And that I'd have to leave behind
All those I dearly love.
But as I turned to walk away,
A tear fell from my eye
For all my life, I'd always thought,
I didn't want to die.
I had so much to live for,
So much left yet to do,
It seemed almost impossible,
That I was leaving you.

I thought of all the yesterdays,
The good ones and the bad,
The thought of all the love we shared,
And all the fund we had.
If I could relive yesterday
Just ever for a while,
I'd say good-bye and kiss you
And maybe see you smile.
But then I fully realized
That this could never be,
For emptiness and memories,
Would take the place of me.
And when I thought of worldly things
I might miss come tomorrow,
I thought of you, and when I did
My heart was filled with sorrow.
But when I walked through Heaven's gates
I felt so much at home
When God looked down and smiled at me,
From His great golden throne,
He said, "This is eternity,
And all I've promised you.
Today your life on earth is past
But here it starts anew.
I promise no tomorrow,
But today will always last,
And since each day's the same way,
There's no longing for the past.
You have been so faithful,
So trusting and so true.
Though there were times
You did some things
You knew you shouldn't do.
But you have been forgiven
And now at last you're free.
So won't you come and take my hand
And share my life with me?"
So when tomorrow starts without me,
Don't think we're far apart,
For every time you think of me,
I'm right here, in your heart.

* in memory of Betsy Alexander * 

David M. Romano

When Tomorrow Starts Without Me 

1993

Search Me, Oh God

You have searched me, Lord,
And You know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all of my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
You, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
And You lay Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
Too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from Your spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
If I go up to the Heavens, You are there;
If I make my bed in the depths, You are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
If I settle on the far side of the sea,
Even there Your hand will guide me,
Your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
And the light become night around me,"
Even the darkness will not be dark to You;
The night will shine like the day,
For darkness is as light to You.

For You created my inmost being;
You knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from You
When I was made in the secret place,
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
All the days ordained for me were written in Your book
Before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are Your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
They would number the grains of the sand -
When I awake, I am still with You.

If only You, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
They speak of You with evil intent;
Your adversaries misuse Your name.
Do I not hate those that hate You, Lord,
And abhor those who are in rebellion against You?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, oh God, and know my heart;
Test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
And lead me in the way of everlasting.

David, son of Jesse

Psalms (specifically psalm 139)

between 1010 - 970 B.C.