Opportunity

Opportunity

This I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream: --
There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;
And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged
A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords
Shocked upon swords and shields.  A prince's banner
Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes,
A craven hung along the battle's edge,
And thought, "Had I a sword of keener steel --
That blue blade that the king's son bears, -- but this
Blunty thing --!" he snapt and flung it from his hand,
And lowering crept away and left the field.
Then came the king's son, wounded, sore bestead,
And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,
Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,
And ran and snatched it, and with battle-shout
Lifted afresh he hewed his enemy down,
And saved a great cause that heroic day.

~ Edward Rowland Sill

From My Mother's Poetry Notebook

Faith

Faith

Faith is not merely praying
     Upon your knees at night;
Faith is not merely straying
     Through darkness to the light.

Faith is not merely waiting
     For glory that may be,
Faith is not merely hating
     The sinful ecstasy.

Faith is the brave endeavor
     The splendid enterprise,
The strength to serve, whatever
     Conditions may arise.

~ S. E. Kiser

The Joy Of Living

The Joy of Living

The south wind is driving
His splendid cloud-horses
Through vast fields of blue.
The bare woods are singing,
The brooks in their courses
Are bubbling and springing
And dancing and leaping,
The violets peeping.
I'm glad to be living;
Aren't you?

~ Gamaliel Bradford

From My Mother's Poetry Notebook

Stir Us

"Stir us, oh stir us, Lord we care not how,
But stir our hearts in passion for the world;
Stir us to give, to go, but most to pray;
Stir till the blood-red banner be unfurled
O'er lands that still in heathen darkness lie,
O'er deserts where no Cross is lifted high."
Amen

Untitled
Unknown Author

Inner Peace

It is the will of God for us that in the world's most crowded street, in the din of life, when the rush and hurry are at their most intense; ...in joy or sorrow, in love or in bereavement, in all that makes up our outer and inner life, we should have a place of retirement, a permanent retreat, ever at hand for renewal and peace.  It is God's will for us that we should possess an Interior Castle, against which the storms of life may beat without being able to disturb the serene quiet within; as a spiritual life so firm and so serene that nothing can overthrow it.
~ F. Underhill

From My Mother's Poetry Notebook

Submission

Submission
By Kenneth Robinson

I wanted to do great deeds of fame,
Something of worth for God;
I scorned the service that often coes
By walking where servants trod.

I craved the place where the highest sit,
I wanted to do and dare;
But the job that needed the grace and grit
Was ignored with the utmost care.

One day I sought the face of the Lord
For the plan He had for me;
And I earnestly searched His precious Word
To know what His will could be.

I opened my heart to hear His voice,
And He searched me through and through
And He showed me that my selfish choice
Was neither wise nor true.

So I yielded all, and I really died
To my selfish heart's desire;
And the carnal man was crucified
In a Pentecostal fire.

Ah, now I cry, "Lord, let me be
But a cog in Life's great wheel;
Only let me work that the world may see
The light of the Spirit's seal."

I do not ask for the highest way,
I'll walk where the servants trod;
I only ask that my path each day
Shall lead me close to God.

From My Mother's Poetry Notebook

The Secret

From My Mother’s Poetry Notebook: The Secret

MARY LOUISE HOOLEY-CARLISLE·FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2016

The Secret

I met God in the morning,
When my Day was at its best,
And His presence came like sunrise,
Like a glory in my breast.
All day long the Presence lingered,
All day long He stayed with me,
And we sailed in perfect calmness
O’er a very troubled sea.
Other ships were blown and battered.
Other ships were sore distressed;
But the winds that seemed to drive them
Brought to us a peace and rest.
Then I thought other mornings
With a keen remorse of mind,
When I, too, had loosed the moorings
With the Presence left behind.
So I think I know the secret,
Learned from many a troubled way;
You must seek Him in the morning
If you want Him through the day.

~ Dr. Ralph S. Cushman