Psalm Of The Teacher

From My Mother’s Poetry Notebook: A Psalm of the Teacher

MARY LOUISE HOOLEY-CARLISLE·TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016

A Psalm of The Teacher

The Lord is my teacher.
I shall not lose the way to wisdom.
He leadeth me in the lovely paths of learning,
He prepareth a lesson for me every day;
He findeth the clear fountains of instruction,
Little by little He showeth me the beauty of truth.
The world is a great book that He hath written,
He turneth the leaves for me slowly;
They are inscribed with images and letters,
His face poureth light on the pictures and the words.
Then am I glad when I perceive His meaning.
He taketh me by the hand to the hilltop of vision;
In the valley also He walketh beside me,
And in the dark places He whispereth to my heart.
Yes, though my lesson be hard it is not hopeless,
For the Lord is very patient with his slow scholar;
He will wait awhile for my weakness,
He will help me to read the truth through my tears.
Surely Thou wilt enlighten me daily by joy and sorrow;
And lead me at last, O God, to the perfect knowledge of Thee.
~ Henry Van Dyke

Prayer For When I Am Weary

From My Mother’s Poetry Notebook: Prayer for when I am weary

MARY LOUISE HOOLEY-CARLISLE·SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 2016

Prayer

Lord, when I am weary with toiling,
And burdensome seem Thy commands,
If my load should lead to complaining,
Lord, show me Thy hands,
Thy nail-pierced hands, Thy cross-torn hands,
My Savior, show me Thy hands.
Christ, if ever my footsteps should falter,
And if I be prepared for retreat,
If desert or thorn cause lamenting,
Lord, show me Thy feet,
Thy bleeding feet, Thy nail-scarred feet,
My Jesus show me Thy feet.
O God, dare I show Thee --
My hands and my feet!
Amen.

Author Unknown

Holy Spirit's Breath

From My Mother’s Poetry Notebook: Holy Spirit’s Breath

MARY LOUISE HOOLEY-CARLISLE·SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 2016

Breathe ore me, Breath of God,
Fill me with life anew,
That I may love what Thou dost love,
And do what Thou wouldst do.

~ Edwin Hatch

Draw Thou my soul, O Christ, closer to Thine;
Breathe into every wish Thy will divine!
Raise my low self above, won by Thy deathless love;
Ever, O Christ, through mine let Thy life shine.
Not for myself alone may my prayer be;
List Thou Thy world, O Crist, closer to Thee!
Cleanse it from guilt and wrong; teach is salvation’s song,
Till earth, as heaven, fulfill God’s holy will.

~ Lucy Larcom

Building Of The Ship

From My Mother’s Poetry Notebook: Longfellow’s Building Of The Ship

MARY LOUISE HOOLEY-CARLISLE·FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2016

From “The Building of the Ship”

“Like unto ships far off at sea,
Outward or homeward bound are we.
Before, behind, and all around,
Floats and swings the horizon’s hound,
Seems at its distant rim to rise
And climb the crystal wall of skies,
And then again to turn and sink,
As if we could slide from its outer brink.
Ah! it is not the sea;
It is not the sea that sinks and shelves,
But ourselves
That rock and rise
With endless and uneasy motion,
Now touching the very skies,
Now sinking into the depths of the ocean.
Ah! if our souls but poise and swing
Like the compass in its brazen ring,
Ever level and ever true
To the toil and task we have to do,
We shall sail securely, and safely reach
The Fortune Isles, on whose shining beach
The sights we see and the sounds we hear,
Will be those of joy and not of fear!”

~Longfellow

I remember Mom loved Longfellow’s poetry. Especially his “The Song of Hiawatha.”

New Year's Day

From My Mother’s Poetry Notebook: Oxenham’s New Year’s Day

MARY LOUISE HOOLEY-CARLISLE·FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2016

Each man is captain of his soul,

And chooses his own crew;

But the Pilot knows the unknown seas,

And he will bring us through.

~ John Oxenham

Mom typed out only the above verse, but I thought I had heard this before so I looked it up. Oxenham wrote a longer poem which can be found here: http://www.readbookonline.net/readO...

But it also reminded me of another poet’s exploration/interpretation of a similar theme. William Ernest Henley wrote “Invictus” which uses similar imagery but really gives a message rather opposite to Oxenham’s. Text and background info can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invic...

I remember one of Mom’s brother’s reciting both these poems. I wonder if she shared with him or him with her, or if Grandma or Grandpa Troyer enjoyed poetry and this was a family favorite? I think it’s most likely Mom shared with Uncle Omar.

Praying Friends

From My Mother’s Poetry Notebook: Praying Friends

MARY LOUISE HOOLEY-CARLISLE·FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2016

I want my friends to pray for me,
While traveling o’er life’s rugged way,
That I may true and faithful be,
And live for Jesus every day.

I want my friends to pray for me,
To bear my tempted soul above,
And intercede with God for me;
I need the prayers of those I love.

Author Unknown

Service

From My Mother’s Poetry Notebook: Service

MARY LOUISE HOOLEY-CARLISLE·FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2016

You cannot serve the Master
With stress on I and me --
Self-centered service never finds
Thy Father close to thee.
But when you lose yourself in love
He’ll love the world through thee.

Untitled, Author Unknown