Two Quotations on Listening to Your Heart

"You'll never find peace of mind

until you listen to your heart."

-- George Michael (1963-2016)

British musician

"Put your ear down by your heart

and listen hard."

-- Author Unknown

John Denver sings "Silent Night, Holy Night"

"December Twenty-fourth" by Eleanor Slater : Christ in Poetry

DECEMBER TWENTY-FOURTH
by Eleanor Slater

Tomorrow you are born again
   Who died so many times.
Do you like the candle-light,
   Do you like the chimes?

Do you stop to wonder
   Why men never see
How very closely Bethlehem
   Approaches Calvary?


Source: Christ in Poetry (1952), an anthology compiled and edited by Thomas Curtis Clark and Hazel Davis Clark

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost - Audio Poem of the Day

Listen to a recording of a man reading this poem by Robert Frost, a poem that is good for children: The Road Not Taken - Poem of the Day

Robert Frost (1874-1963)

American poet

The Canadian Tenors sing "Huron Carol"

The Wondrous Gift

How silently, how silently,

The wondrous gift is given!

So God imparts to human hearts

The blessings of his heaven.

No ear may hear his coming,

But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive him, still

The dear Christ enters in.

     PHILLIPS BROOKS

     From the hymn "O Little Town of Bethlehem" (ca. 1868)

     This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols, but the humble heart that receives anew the wondrous gift, the Christ.

     FRANK McKIBBEN

     Quoted in An American Christmas 

     (Ideals Publications Incorporated, 1996)

About A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

     "Marley was dead: to begin with." So begins Charles Dickens's Christmas story A Christmas Carol. On this day in 1843, according to the Associated Press, "A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, was first published in England." To read more about that classic Christmas story, click here.

A Christmas Carol

by Charles Dickens

First edition cover (1843)

'Happiness" by Jane Kenyon : Poetry Magazine

Read the poem Happiness by Jane Kenyon, and listen to a recording of a woman reading it.

Jane Kenyon (1947-1995)

American poet

A poem by Emily Dickinson about the moon

An untitled poem
by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

The Moon was but a Chin of Gold
A Night or two ago --
And now she turns Her perfect Face
Upon the World below --

Her Forehead is of Amplest Blonde --
Her Cheek -- a Beryl hewn --
Her Eye unto the Summer Dew
The likest I have known --

Her Lips of Amber never part --
But what must be the smile
Upon Her Friend she could confer
Were such Her Silver Will --

And what a privilege to be
But the remotest Star --
For Certainty She take Her Way
Beside Your Palace Door --

Her Bonnet is the Firmament --
The Universe -- Her Shoe --
The Stars -- the Trinkets at Her Belt --
Her Dimities -- of Blue --


This poem is in the public domain. It was first published in 1896.

Emily Dickinson

American poet

Poem by Emily Dickinson on elusive Peace

An untitled poem
by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

I many times thought Peace had come
When Peace was far away --
As Wrecked Men -- deem they sight the Land --
At Centre of the Sea --

And struggle slacker -- but to prove
As hopelessly as I --
How many the fictitious Shores --
Before the Harbor be --


This poem is in the public domain. It was first published in 1891.

Emily Dickinson

American poet

(born on this day in 1830

in Amherst, Massachusetts)

"Good Tidings of Great Joy" : The King James Bible

On this day in 1965, according to the Associated Press, "'A Charlie Brown Christmas,' the first animated TV special featuring characters from the 'Peanuts' comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, was first broadcast on CBS." Here is the poem that is, as Linus, after reciting it, said, "what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."


GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY
from the Bible: Luke 2:8-14 (King James Version)

And there were in the same country
Shepherds abiding in the field,
Keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them,
And the glory of the Lord shone round about them;
And they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, "Fear not:
For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
Which shall be to all people.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David
A Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

"And this shall be a sign unto you;
Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
Lying in a manger."

And suddenly there was with the angel
A multitude of the heavenly host
Praising God, and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace,
Good will toward men."

"Hush, All Ye Sounds of War" by William H. Draper : Christ in Poetry

In the King James Version of the Bible Isaiah 9:6 reads: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Here is a poem about the nativity of Jesus Christ, who is the Prince of Peace.


HUSH, ALL YE SOUNDS OF WAR
by William H. Draper

Hush, all ye sounds of war,
Ye nations all be still,
A voice of heav'nly joy steals over vale and hill,
O hear the angels sing the captive world's release,
This day is born in Bethlehem the Prince of Peace.

No more divided be,
Ye families of men,
Old enmity forget, old friendship knit again,
In the new year of God let brothers' love increase,
This day is born in Bethlehem the Prince of Peace.


Source: Christ in Poetry (1952), an anthology compiled and edited by Thomas Curtis Clark and Hazel Davis Clark

Morning Prayer in Time of War

According to the Associated Press, "On Dec. 7, 1941, Imperial Japan's navy launched a preemptive attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, one of a series of raids in the Pacific. The United States declared war against Japan the next day."

The following "Morning Prayer in Time of War" is from A Pocket Prayer Book and Devotional Guide, compiled by Ralph Spalding Cushman and published in 1941 by The Upper Room:

     "O Lord God Almighty, who from Thy throne dost behold all the dwellers upon earth, look down with pity upon those on whom have fallen the miseries of war. Have compassion on the wounded and dying; comfort the brokenhearted; assuage the madness of the nations; make war to cease; give peace in our time, O Lord, we ask it in the name of Him who is the Prince of Peace, even Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

"Poem on Reputation: A Good Name" : The King James Bible

POEM ON REPUTATION: A GOOD NAME
from the Bible: Proverbs 22:1 (King James Version)

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches,
And loving favor rather than silver and gold.

John Denver sings "Some Days Are Diamonds (Some Days Are Stone)" (Remastered)

"The Sixty-seventh Psalm" by John Davies

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Here, for Thanksgiving Day, is a Biblical poem, Psalm 67 as rendered by poet John Davies (1569-1626). This Biblical poem is "A Psalm or Song" exhorting the nations to praise God.


THE SIXTY-SEVENTH PSALM
by John Davies

Show us thy mercy, Lord, and grace divine;
Turn thy bright face, that it on us may shine,
That all the men on earth enlightened so,
Their own salvation, and thy ways may know.
O let thy people praise thy blessed name,
And let all tongues and nations do the same,
And let all mortal men rejoice in this,
That God their judge and just his judgment is.
O let thy people praise thy blessed name,
And let all tongues and nations do the same,
Then shall the earth bring forth a rich increase,
And God shall bless us with a fruitful peace;
Even God shall bless us and his holy fear
Possess the hearts of all men everywhere.


Source: The Poets' Book of Psalms (1995), Compiled, Edited, and Introduced by Laurance Wieder

Morning Prayer: Fellowship (Anonymous)

MORNING PRAYER: FELLOWSHIP
Anonymous

A found poem by Monty Gilmer
from A Pocket Prayer Book and Devotional Guide (1941),
compiled by Ralph Spalding Cushman

As the hart panteth after the water brooks,
So panteth my soul after thee, O God.
In thy presence is fullness of joy;
At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

I thank thee, Lord, for a thousand things,
The earth, the sky, the rolling sea,
The summer and the winter,
The springtime and the harvest field;
But none of these can feed
The hunger of my soul gor thee.
Beyond all things, above all loves,
I seek thee, Lord.
O grant me fellowship with thee this day.
In Jesus' name. Amen.

From "The Lord Delivers from Trouble" (Psalm 107:1, 8-9, 22)

FROM "THE LORD DELIVERS FROM TROUBLE"
from the Bible: Psalm 107:1, 8-9, 22 (King James Version)

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good:
For his mercy endureth for ever.

Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness,
And for his wonderful works to the children of men!
For he satisfieth the longing soul,
And filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And declare his works with rejoicing.

A verse from the Book of Amos : The Bible, New King James Version

From the Bible: Amos 5:8 (New King James Version)

He made the Pleiades and Orion;
He turns the shadow of death into morning
And makes the day dark as night;
He calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth;
The Lord is His name.

"The Law of Love" by Paul : The Bible

THE LAW OF LOVE
A found poem from The New Oxford Annotated Bible:
Romans 12:9-18 (Revised Standard Version)
by Paul

Let love be genuine;
hate what is evil,
hold fast to what is good;
love one another with brotherly affection;
outdo one another in showing honor.
Never flag in zeal,
be aglow with the Spirit,
serve the Lord.
Rejoice in your hope,
be patient in tribulation,
be constant in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the saints,
practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you;
bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice,
weep with those who weep.
Live in harmony with one another;
do not be haughty,
but associate with the lowly;
never be conceited.
Repay no one evil for evil,
but take thought for what is noble
in the sight of all.
If possible,
so far as it depends upon you,
live peaceably with all.

"The Gettysburg Address" by Abraham Lincoln

On this day in 1863, according to the Associated Press, "President Abraham Lincoln dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania."


THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS
Delivered at the site of the Civil War battlefield
of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania
on November 19, 1863,
by Abraham Lincoln

Fourscore and seven years ago
our fathers brought forth upon this continent
a new nation,
conceived in liberty,
and dedicated to the proposition
that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war,
testing whether that nation,
or any nation so conceived and so dedicated,
can long endure.
We are met on a great battlefield
of that war.
We have come to dedicate
a portion of that field
as a final resting place
for those who here gave their lives
that that nation might live.
It is altogether fitting and proper
that we should do this.
But in a larger sense
we cannot dedicate,
we cannot consecrate,
we cannot hallow this ground.
The brave men, living and dead,
who struggled here,
have consecrated it
far above our poor power to add or detract.
The world will little note,
nor long remember,
what we say here;
but it can never forget
what they did here.
It is for us, the living,
rather to be dedicated here
to the unfinished work
which they who fought here
have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated
to the great task remaining before us,
that from these honored dead
we take increased devotion
to that cause for which they gave
the last full measure of devotion;
that we here highly resolve
that these dead shall not have died in vain;
that this nation, under God,
shall have a new birth of freedom,
and that government
of the people, by the people, and for the people,
shall not perish from the earth.


Source: Poems Old and New (1957), selected for boys and girls by Helen Farris

President Lincoln in 1861

"Believing the Best" by Anonymous

BELIEVING THE BEST
Anonymous

I have believed the best of every man,
And find that to believe it is enough
To make a bad man show him at his best,
Or even a good man swing his lantern higher.


Source: Words of Life (1966), edited by Charles L. Wallis

A quotation from Owen Wister on believing

     It was neither preaching nor praying that made a better man of me, but one or two people who believed in me better than I deserved, and I hated to disappoint them.
     OWEN WISTER (1860-1938)
     Quoted in Words of Life (1966),
     edited by Charles L. Wallis

Owen Wister

American writer

Indian Summer: A Quotation from Emily Dickinson

These Indian-Summer Days

with their peculiar Peace

remind me of those stillest things

that no one can disturb.

-- Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Source: New Poems of Emily Dickinson (1993),

edited by William H. Shurr

with Anna Dunlap & Emily Grey Shurr

Emily Dickinson

American poet

"A Special Prayer for Our Nation" by an Author Unknown

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice:

But when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn."

(The Bible: Proverbs 29:2, King James Version)

     "We humbly thank Thee, Almighty God, for the many blessings which Thou hast given to our country, and add this, O Lord, to Thy other mercies, that we may be enabled to use them better to Thy service. O take from among us all contempt of Thy Word and commandments. Break down all the barriers of selfishness and ignorance which keep men from Thee. Convince the impenitent of the misery of sin, and comfort the brokenhearted with the assurance of Thy love. Teach us all to be evangelistic, not in word only, but in everything which we do. This we ask in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen." -- Author Unknown

Source of the prayer above: A Pocket Prayer Book and Devotional Guide (1941), compiled by Ralph Spalding Cushman and published by The Upper Room, upperroom.org 

Emily Dickinson on dreaming about her father

I dream about father every night,

always a different dream,

and forget what I am doing daytimes,

wondering where he is.

Without any body, I keep thinking.

What kind can that be?

-- Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Source: New Poems of Emily Dickinson (1993),

edited by William H. Shurr

with Anna Dunlap & Emily Grey Shurr

Emily Dickinson

American poet

A quotation from Emily Dickinson about November

November always seemed to me

the Norway of the year.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

American poet

A Poem on Humility, from the King James Bible

A POEM ON HUMILITY
from the Bible: Proverbs 15:33, 18:12 (King James Version)

The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom;
And before honor is humility.

Before destruction the heart of man is haughty;
And before honor is humility.

Indian Summer: An Untitled Poem by Emily Dickinson

Indian summer:
"These are the days when Birds come back -- "
by Emily Dickinson

These are the days when Birds come back --
A very few -- a Bird or two --
To take a backward look.

These are the days when skies resume
The old -- old sophistries of June --
A blue and gold mistake.

Oh fraud that cannot cheat the Bee --
Almost thy plausibility
Induces my belief.

Till ranks of seeds their witness bear --
And softly thro' the altered air
Hurries a timid leaf.

Oh Sacrament of summer days,
Oh Last Communion in the Haze --
Permit a child to join.

Thy sacred emblems to partake --
Thy consecrated bread to take
And thine immortal wine!

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

American poet

"New Farm Tractor" by Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)

This Remembrance Day (as they call it in Canada) is the tenth anniversary of the death of my father, who was a veteran American farmer. I dedicate this poem by American author Carl Sandburg to the memory of my father Hugh M. Gilmer (1914-2006), who grew up on a farm and who for most of his adult life was a full-time farmer. He never had a mule, Mr. Sandburg. But before he bought his first farm tractor, he did have two draft horses, a Belgian and a Percheron, that he used on his farm. He retired from farming at the age of 89.


NEW FARM TRACTOR
from Smoke and Steel (1920)
by Carl Sandburg

Snub nose, the guts of twenty mules are in your cylinders and transmission.
The rear axles hold the kick of twenty Missouri jackasses.
It is in the records of the patent office and the ads there is twenty horse power pull here.
The farm boy says hello to you instead of twenty mules -- he sings to you instead of ten span of
        mules.
A bucket of oil and a can of grease is your hay and oats.
Rain proof and fool proof they stable you anywhere in the fields with the stars for a roof.
I carve a team of long ear mules on the steering wheel -- it's good-by now to leather reins and the
        songs of the old mule skinners.

"God's Only Begotten Son": A poem of Jesus Christ

GOD'S ONLY BEGOTTEN SON
A poem of Jesus Christ
from the Bible: John 3:16-18 (King James Version)

For God so loved the world,
That he gave his only begotten Son,
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
But have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world;
But that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned:
But he that believeth not is condemned already,
Because he hath not believed in the name
Of the only begotten Son of God.

Four Ways a Man May Give a Gift

FOUR WAYS A MAN MAY GIVE A GIFT

Adapted by Monty Gilmer

from notes written by Evelyn M. Gilmer (1923-2016)

     The first way a man may give a gift is as a duty. He might pay an account, or he might send a remittance to a tax collector. He might do so with reluctance or with such a bad grace that it would be almost better not to do so at all.

     The second way a man may give a gift is to find self-satisfaction. He thinks more of his own pleasant feeling than he does of the feelings of the person receiving the gift. To give for satisfaction more than from any real desire to help is in essence selfish giving. One is giving a gift to oneself rather than to another person.

     The third way a man may give a gift is from motives of prestige. The real source of giving in this case is not love but pride. A gift is given not to help but to glorify the giver. Maybe the gift is even given to pile up credit with God, as if any man could put God in his debt.

     The fourth way a man may give a gift is under love's compulsion. Although the other three ways are not wholly bad because the gift was given, this fourth one is the only real way to give. Where love is the motive, one cannot help giving, because the sight of a soul in need awakens a desire that cannot be silenced or stilled. This is, in fact, to give in God's way. It was because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son (see John 3:16 in the Bible).

     As a Latin proverb says, "He gives twice who gives quickly." In other words, a prompt response to a request for something, such as money or help, is of greater value than a more generous offering given late. And yet, the finest gifts are given not when they are demanded but before they are asked for.

"God, the Chicken and the Egg" by Monty Gilmer

GOD, THE CHICKEN AND THE EGG

by Monty Gilmer

     Someone once said, "The chicken probably came before the egg because it is hard to imagine God wanting to sit on an egg."

     According to the Bible, the chicken (a "winged fowl" that is flightless) did come before the egg. Genesis 1:20-23 (King James Version) reads: "And God said, 'Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.' And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.' And the evening and the morning were the fifth day."

Ambrose Bierce on a vote and an elector

     In his satirical lexicon The Devil's Dictionary (1911) Ambrose Bierce defined a vote as "The instrument and symbol of a freeman's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country." You remember Bierce. He was the fellow who identified an elector as "One who enjoys the sacred privilege of voting for the man of another man's choice."  -- Monty Gilmer

Ambrose Bierce (1842-ca. 1914)

American author

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:169-176)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:169-176 (King James Version)

Let my cry come near before thee, O Lord:
Give me understanding according to thy word.
Let my supplication come before thee:
Deliver me according to thy word.
My lips shall utter praise,
When thou hast taught me thy statutes.
My tongue shall speak of thy word:
For all thy commandments are righteousness.
Let thine hand help me;
For I have chosen thy precepts.
I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord;
And thy law is my delight.
Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee;
And let thy judgments help me.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep:
Seek thy servant;
For I do not forget thy commandments.

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:161-168)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:161-168 (King James Version
and New Revised Standard Version)

Princes have persecuted me without a cause:
But my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
I rejoice at thy word,
As one that findeth great spoil.
I hate and abhor lying:
But thy law do I love.
Seven times a day do I praise thee,
Because of thy righteous judgments.
Great peace have they which love thy law:
And nothing shall [make] them [stumble].
Lord, I have hoped for thy salvation,
And done thy commandments.
My soul hath kept thy testimonies;
And I love them exceedingly.
I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies:
For all my ways are before thee.

A Haiku by Kobayashi Issa

Don't get alarmed,

you corner spiders.

I won't touch your webs.

-- Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827),
who kept house casually

(Translated, from the Japanese, by Max Bickerton)

Source: The Classic Tradition of Haiku: An Anthology (1996),

edited by Faubion Bowers

Sonnet 59 by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 59: "If there be nothing new, but that which is"
by William Shakespeare

If there be nothing new, but that which is
Hath been before, how are our brains beguiled,
Which, laboring for invention, bear amiss
The second burden of a former child!
Oh that record could with a backward look,
Even of five hundred courses of the sun,
Show me your image in some antique book,
Since mind at first in character was done:
That I might see what the old world could say
To this composed wonder of your frame;
Whether we are mended, or whe'er better they,
Or whether revolution be the same.
   Oh, sure I am the wits of former days
   To subjects worse have given admiring praise.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

English dramatist and poet

Poetry: Two Quotations about November

From NO!
by Thomas Hood

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
   No comfortable feel in any member --
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
   No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds, --
      November!


From CALENDAR OF HAIKU*
by Jane Merchant

NOVEMBER

Gray day of no blooms
Save briefly, just before dark,
Chrysanthemum sun.

*Source: Together magazine, January 1972

"November Night" by Adelaide Crapsey

NOVEMBER NIGHT
A cinquain by Adelaide Crapsey (1878-1914)

Listen . . .
With faint dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp'd, break from the trees
And fall.


Source: Verse (1915) by Adelaide Crapsey

Adelaide Crapsey

American poet

"Theme in Yellow" by Carl Sandburg

THEME IN YELLOW
by Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)

I spot the hills
With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
And I am called pumpkins.
On the last of October
When dusk is fallen
Children join hands
And circle round me
Singing ghost songs
And love to the harvest moon;
I am a jack-o'-lantern
With terrible teeth
And the children know
I am fooling.

(This poem, which is good for children, is in the public domain. It was first published in 1916.)

From "The Lord Delivers from Trouble" (Psalm 107:23-32)

"As a child I used to play at Halloween as if I were a sailor and go trick or treating down to the sea in ships." So begins Richard Brautigan's story "Trick or Treating Down to the Sea in Ships," one of the stories in his book Revenge of the Lawn: Stories 1962-1970 (1971). Brautigan borrowed the phrase "down to the sea in ships" from Psalm 107:23 in the King James Version of the Bible.


FROM "THE LORD DELIVERS FROM TROUBLE"
from the Bible: Psalm 107:23-32 (King James Version)

They that go down to the sea in ships,
That do business in great waters;
These see the works of the Lord,
And his wonders in the deep.
For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind,
Which lifteth up the waves thereof.
They mount up to the heaven,
They go down again to the depths:
Their soul is melted because of trouble.
They reel to and fro,
And stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wit's end.
Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble,
And he bringeth them out of their distresses.
He maketh the storm a calm,
So that the waves thereof are still.
Then are they glad because they be quiet;
So he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness,
And for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people,
And praise him in the assembly of the elders.

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:153-160)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:153-160 (King James Version)

Consider mine affliction, and deliver me:
For I do not forget thy law.
Plead my cause, and deliver me:
Quicken me according to thy word.
Salvation is far from the wicked:
For they seek not thy statutes.
Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord:
Quicken me according to thy judgments.
Many are my persecutors and mine enemies;
Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.
I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved;
Because they kept not thy word.
Consider how I love thy precepts:
Quicken me, O Lord, according to thy loving-kindness.
Thy word is true from the beginning:
And every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:145-152)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:145-152 (King James Version
and New King James Version)

I cried with my whole heart;
Hear me, O Lord:
I will keep thy statutes.
I cried unto thee;
Save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies.
I [rose before] the dawning of the morning, and cried:
I hoped in thy word.
Mine eyes [are awake through] the night watches,
That I might meditate in thy word.
Hear my voice according unto thy loving-kindness:
O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgment.
They draw nigh that follow after mischief:
They are far from thy law.
Thou art near, O Lord;
And all thy commandments are truth.
Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old
That thou hast founded them for ever.

"The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus

On this day in 1886, as the Associated Press says, "the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland."

American poet, essayist and philanthropist Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) was an avid advocate of Jewish causes. Her famous sonnet "The New Colossus" is inscribed on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.


THE NEW COLOSSUS
by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Statue of Liberty

Liberty Enlightening the World

"Jeremiah Denounces His Persecutors" (Jeremiah 20:7-13) : The Bible

Read the poem that is the prophet Jeremiah's fifth personal lament, "Jeremiah Denounces His Persecutors" (Jeremiah 20:7-13), a poem from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible.

"Fog" by Carl Sandburg

Source: The Old Farmer's Almanac

FOG
by Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then, moves on.


Source: Favorite Poems Old and New (1957), selected for boys and girls by Helen Ferris

Poem on Idolatry and Idols (Habakkuk 2:18-19) : The King James Bible

POEM ON IDOLATRY AND IDOLS
from the Bible: Habakkuk 2:18-19 (King James Version)

What profiteth the graven image
That the maker thereof hath graven it;
The molten image, and a teacher of lies,
That the maker of his work trusteth therein,
To make dumb idols?
Woe unto him that saith to the wood, "Awake";
To the dumb stone, "Arise,
It shall teach!"
Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver,
And there is no breath at all in the midst of it.

Detective story: "The History of Bel" from the Apocrypha

THE HISTORY OF BEL

A detective story

from the Apocrypha (King James Version)

     The Babylonians had an idol, called Bel, and there were spent upon him every day twelve great measures of fine flour, and forty sheep, and six vessels of wine. And the king worshiped it, and went daily to adore it: but Daniel worshiped his own God.

     And the king said unto him, "Why dost not thou worship Bel?" Who answered and said, "Because I may not worship idols made with hands, but the living God, who hath created the heaven and the earth, and hath sovereignty over all flesh."

     Then said the king unto him, "Thinkest thou not that Bel is a living God? Seest thou not how much he eateth and drinketh every day?" Then Daniel smiled, and said, "O king, be not deceived, for this is but clay within, and brass without, and did never eat or drink any thing."

     So the king was wroth, and called for his priests, and said unto them, "If ye tell me not who this is that devoureth these expences, ye shall die. But if ye can certify me that Bel devoureth them, then Daniel shall die: for he hath spoken blasphemously against Bel." And Daniel said unto the king, "Let it be according to thy word." (Now the priests of Bel were threescore and ten, beside their wives and children.) And the king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel.

     So Bel's priests said, "Lo, we go out: but thou, O king, set on the meat, and make ready the wine, and shut the door fast, and seal it with thine own signet; and to-morrow when thou comest in, if thou findest not that Bel hath eaten up all, we will suffer death; or else Daniel, that speaketh falsely against us."

     And they little regarded it: for under the table they had made a privy entrance, whereby they entered in continually, and consumed those things.

     So when they were gone forth, the king set meats before Bel. Now Daniel had commanded his servants to bring ashes, and those they strewed throughout all the temple in the presence of the king alone: then went they out, and shut the door, and sealed it with the king's signet, and so departed.

     Now in the night came the priests with their wives and children, (as they were wont to do,) and did eat and drink up all.

     In the morning betimes the king arose, and Daniel with him. And the king said, "Daniel, are the seals whole?" And he said, "Yea, O king, they be whole." And as soon as he had opened the door, the king looked upon the table, and cried with a loud voice, "Great art thou, O Bel, and with thee is no deceit at all."

     Then laughed Daniel, and held the king that he should not go in, and said, "Behold now the pavement, and mark well whose footsteps are these." And the king said, "I see the footsteps of men, women, and children."

     And then the king was angry, and took the priests with their wives and children, who showed him the privy doors, where they came in, and consumed such things as were upon the table.

     Therefore the king slew them, and delivered Bel into Daniel's power, who destroyed him and his temple.

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:137-144)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:137-144 (King James Version)

Righteous art thou, O Lord,
And upright are thy judgments.
Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded
Are righteous and very faithful.
My zeal hath consumed me,
Because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.
Thy word is very pure:
Therefore thy servant loveth it.
I am small and despised:
Yet do not I forget thy precepts.
Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And thy law is the truth.
Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me:
Yet thy commandments are my delights.
The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting:
Give me understanding, and I shall live.

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:129-136)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:129-136 (King James Version)

Thy testimonies are wonderful:
Therefore doth my soul keep them.
The entrance of thy words giveth light;
It giveth understanding unto the simple.
I opened my mouth, and panted:
For I longed for thy commandments.
Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me,
As thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.
Order my steps in thy word:
And let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
Deliver me from the oppression of man:
So will I keep thy precepts.
Make thy face to shine upon thy servant;
And teach me thy statutes.
Rivers of waters run down mine eyes,
Because they keep not thy law.

"The Ivy Vine of Friendship" by Anonymous

According to The Old Farmer's Almanac at Almanac.com, "Ivy will flourish with an occasional drink of cold tea instead of water." So too, perhaps, will the ivy vine of friendship.


THE IVY VINE OF FRIENDSHIP
Anonymous

The ivy vine of friendship is
   A lovely thing to share.
When planted with affection, it
   Will flourish anywhere.

Each year it grows in quiet strength,
   And nothing can destroy
The twining warmth deep in the hearts
   Of those who know its joy.

"Love" (1 Corinthians 13) by Paul : The Bible

LOVE
from the Bible: 1 Corinthians 13 (Revised Standard Version)
by Paul, an apostle of Christ

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,
But have not love, I am a noisy gong
Or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers,
And understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
And if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains,
But have not love, I am nothing.
If I give away all I have,
And if I deliver my body to be burned,
But have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind;
Love is not jealous or boastful;
It is not arrogant or rude.
Love does not insist on its own way;
It is not irritable or resentful;
It does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
Love bears all things, believes all things,
Hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends;
As for prophecies, they will pass away;
As for tongues, they will cease;
As for knowledge, it will pass away.
For our knowledge is imperfect
And our prophecy is imperfect;
But when the perfect comes,
The imperfect will pass away.

When I was a child, I spoke like a child,
I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child;
When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
For now we see in a mirror dimly,
But then face to face. Now I know in part;
Then I shall understand fully,
Even as I have been fully understood.
So faith, hope, love abide,
These three; but the greatest of these is love.

"The Fox and the Grapes" by William Ellery Leonard

According to British Labour Party politician Neil Kinnock, "The unforgivable political sin is vanity; the killer diet is sour grapes."


THE FOX AND THE GRAPES
A fable adapted by William Ellery Leonard
from "The Fox and the Grapes" by Aesop

A famished Fox did chance to spy
Some ripe grape clusters hanging high.
She leapt, she pawed the tree, she screeched,
But not a single grape she reached.
She turned away and said, "I guess
They're after all a sour mess."

When things go wrong, O Fox or Man,
Philosophize the best you can.


Source: Aesop and Hyssop (1912) by William Ellery Leonard

Two Quotations about Dinner

DINNER

     We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink, for dining alone is leading the life of a lion or wolf.

     EPICURUS

     Oh, the pleasure of eating my dinner alone!

     CHARLES LAMB

Luncheon of the Boating Party

by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1881

"The Final Say: Early to Bed" by Monty Gilmer

THE FINAL SAY: EARLY TO BED
by Monty Gilmer

Early to bed and early to rise,
makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
     BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706-1790)

Early to bed and early to rise:
If that would make me wealthy and wise
I'd rise at daybreak, cold or hot,
And go back to bed at once. Why not?
     MARY MAPES DODGE (1831-1905)

Mary Mapes Dodge

American author

"The Clown's Song" by William Shakespeare

THE CLOWN'S SONG
from Twelfth Night; or, What You Will (Act V)
by William Shakespeare

When that I was and a little tiny boy,
   With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
   For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came to man's estate,
   With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
'Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate,
   For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came, alas! to wive,
   With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
By swaggering could I never thrive,
   For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came unto my beds,
   With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
With toss-pots still had drunken heads,
   For the rain it raineth every day.

A great while ago the world begun,
   With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
But that's all one, our play is done,
   And we'll strive to please you every day.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

English dramatist and poet

To read about the play Twelfth Night, click here.

To read about the holiday Twelfth Night, click here.

Fiction Podcast: "The Adventure of the Seven Black Cats" by Ellery Queen : Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

"The Adventure of the Seven Black Cats" by Ellery Queen was reprinted in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine's January 2016 issue and was originally published in the 1934 short-story collection The Adventures of Ellery Queen. This ingenious whodunit by one of the best-selling mystery writers of all time is read here by Mark Lagasse.

Source: Episode 79 on the podcast page at Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine's website

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:121-128)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:121-128 (King James Version)

I have done judgment and justice:
Leave me not to mine oppressors.
Be surety for thy servant for good:
Let not the proud oppress me.
Mine eyes fail for thy salvation,
And for the word of thy righteousness.
Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy,
And teach me thy statutes.
I am thy servant; give me understanding,
That I may know thy testimonies.
It is time for thee, Lord, to work:
For they have made void thy law.
Therefore I love thy commandments above gold;
Yea, above fine gold.
Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right;
And I hate every false way.

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:113-120)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:113-120 (King James Version)

I hate vain thoughts:
But thy law do I love.
Thou art my hiding place and my shield:
I hope in thy word.
Depart from me, ye evildoers:
For I will keep the commandments of my God.
Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live:
And let me not be ashamed of my hope.
Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe:
And I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.
Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes:
For their deceit is falsehood.
Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross:
Therefore I love thy testimonies.
My flesh trembleth for fear of thee;
And I am afraid of thy judgments.

Two Church Jokes: "God's Name" and "A Limerick"

GOD'S NAME

A "pillar of the church" passed away and was on his way to heaven. When he got to the pearly gates of heaven, he met an angel. The angel asked him what God's name was.
     "Oh, that's easy," the man replied. His name is Andy."
     "What makes you think his name is Andy?" the angel asked.
     "Well, you see at church we used to sing this song, 'Andy walks with me, Andy talks with me.'"


A LIMERICK

     There was a young girl in the choir
     Whose voice went up higher and higher,
     Till one Sunday night
     It vanished from sight,
     And turned up next day in the spire.


Source: The World's Greatest Collection of Church Jokes, compiled and edited by Paul M. Miller and published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Copyright 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Used by permission.

Biography: Bob Dylan : The Poetry Foundation

On the Poetry Foundation's website, read a biography of American musician, singer, and songwriter Bob Dylan, who today was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

"The Fall of the Leaf" by Henry David Thoreau

This serene and genuinely inspired poem of reflection is notable among Henry David Thoreau's poems for its unity of mood and form.


THE FALL OF THE LEAF
by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Thank God who seasons thus the year,
And sometimes kindly slants his rays;
For in his winter he's most near
And plainest seen upon the shortest days.

Who gently tempers now his heats,
And then his harsher cold, lest we
Should surfeit on the summer's sweets,
Or pine upon the winter's crudity.

A sober mind will walk alone,
Apart from nature, if need be,
And only its own seasons own;
For nature leaving its humanity.

Sometimes a late autumnal thought
Has crossed my mind in green July,
And to its early freshness brought
Late ripened fruits, and an autumnal sky.

The evening of the year draws on,
The fields a later aspect wear;
Since Summer's garishness is gone,
Some grains of night tincture the noontide air.

Behold! the shadows of the trees
Now circle wider 'bout their stem,
Like sentries that by slow degrees
Perform their rounds, gently protecting them.

And as the year doth decline,
The sun allows a scantier light;
Behind each needle of the pine
There lurks a small auxiliar to the night.

I hear the cricket's slumbrous lay
Around, beneath me, and on high;
It rocks the night, it soothes the day,
And everywhere is Nature's lullaby.

But most he chirps beneath the sod,
When he has made his winter bed;
His creak grown fainter but more broad,
A film of autumn o'er the summer spread.

Small birds, in fleets migrating by,
Now beat across some meadow's bay,
And as they tack and veer on high,
With faint and hurried click beguile the way.

Far in the woods, these golden days,
Some leaf obeys its Maker's call;
And through their hollow aisles it plays
With delicate touch the prelude of the Fall.

Gently withdrawing from its stem,
It lightly lays itself along
Where the same hand hath pillowed them,
Resigned to sleep upon the old year's throng.

The loneliest birch is brown and sere,
The furthest pool is strewn with leaves,
Which float upon their watery bier,
Which is no eye that sees, no heart that grieves.

The jay screams through the chestnut wood;
The crisped and yellow leaves around
Are hue and texture of my mood --
And these rough burrs my heirlooms on the ground.

The threadbare trees, so poor and thin --
They are no wealthier than I;
But with as brave a core within
They rear their boughs to the October sky.

Poor knights they are which bravely wait
The charge of Winter's cavalry,
Keeping a simple Roman state,
Discumbered of their Persian luxury.

Henry David Thoreau

American writer

"Flamingo Watching" by Kay Ryan : The Poetry Foundation

Read the poem Flamingo Watching by American poet Kay Ryan and listen to a recording of her introducing and reading that poem of hers.

Kay Ryan

Fiction Podcast: "The Adventure of 'The Two-Headed Dog'" by Ellery Queen : Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

Listen to a recording of Mark Lagasse reading a detective story by Ellery Queen, founder of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and one of the best-selling mystery writers of all time. That detective story, "The Adventure of 'The Two-Headed Dog'," was collected in the 1934 volume The Adventures of Ellery Queen.

Source: Episode 68 on the podcast page at Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine's website

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:105-112)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:105-112 (King James Version)

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
And a light unto my path.
I have sworn, and I will perform it,
That I will keep thy righteous judgments.
I am afflicted very much:
Quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word.
Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord,
And teach me thy judgments.
My soul is continually in my hand:
Yet do I not forget thy law.
The wicked have laid a snare for me:
Yet I erred not from thy precepts.
Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage for ever:
For they are the rejoicing of my heart.
I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes
Always, even unto the end.

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:97-104)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:97-104 (King James Version)

O how love I thy law!
It is my meditation all the day.
Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies:
For they are ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers:
For thy testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the ancients,
Because I keep thy precepts.
I have refrained my feet from every evil way,
That I might keep thy word.
I have not departed from thy judgments:
For thou hast taught me.
How sweet are thy words unto my taste!
Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth.
Through thy precepts I get understanding:
Therefore I hate every false way.

"The Powwow at the End of the World" by Sherman Alexie : The Poetry Foundation

Native American writer Sherman Alexie was born on this day in 1966. Read this poem of his, a poem that is good for children: The Powwow at the End of the World

"Safe" by Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

I dedicate this poem by English poet Christina Rossetti to the memory of my father Hugh M. Gilmer (1914-2006) and to the memory of my mother Evelyn M. Gilmer (1923-2016).


SAFE
by Christina Rossetti

Safe where I cannot lie yet,
   Safe where I hope to lie too,
Safe from the fume and fret;
   You, and you,
Whom I never forget.

Safe from the frost and snow,
   Safe from the storm and the sun,
Safe where the seeds wait to grow
   One by one
And to come back in blow.


Source: A Treasury of Christian Poetry (1995), 700 inspiring and beloved poems compiled by Mary Batchelor

The Beatles -- "Rain" [official music video]

Quotation: Arab Proverb

Sunshine all the time

makes a desert.

-- Arab proverb

"The Parable of the Growing Seed" by Jesus Christ : The King James Bible

THE PARABLE OF THE GROWING SEED
A poem of Jesus Christ
from the Bible: Mark 4:26-29 (King James Version)

So is the kingdom of God,
As if a man should cast seed
Into the ground;
And should sleep, and rise night and day,
And the seed should spring and grow up,
He knoweth not how.
For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself;
First the blade, then the ear,
After that the full corn in the ear.
But when the fruit is brought forth,
Immediately he putteth in the sickle,
Because the harvest is come.

"A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky" by Lewis Carroll : The Poetry Foundation

"Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream;
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream!"
-- Anonymous

Read this lovely poem by Lewis Carroll (1832-1898): A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky

Lewis Carroll

(born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson)

English mathematician and writer

Fiction Podcast: "The Fruit Cellar" by Joyce Carol Oates : Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

"The Fruit Cellar" is a haunting suspense story by National Humanities Medal winner Joyce Carol Oates. In addition to being one of the nation's most celebrated literary writers, Joyce Carol Oates is a distinguished member of the community of crime-fiction writers. "The Fruit Cellar" first appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine's March/April 2004 issue. It is read here by Dorothy Cummings.

Source: Episode 36 on the podcast page at Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine's website

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:89-96)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:89-96 (King James Version)

For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.
Thy faithfulness is unto all generations:
Thou hast established the earth,
And it abideth.
They continue this day according to thine ordinances:
For all are thy servants.
Unless thy law had been my delights,
I should then have perished in mine affliction.
I will never forget thy precepts:
For with them thou hast quickened me.
I am thine, save me;
For I have sought thy precepts.
The wicked have waited for me to destroy me:
But I will consider thy testimonies.
I have seen an end of all perfection:
But thy commandment is exceeding broad.

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:81-88)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:81-88 (King James Version)

My soul fainteth for thy salvation:
But I hope in thy word.
Mine eyes fail for thy word,
Saying, "When wilt thou comfort me?"
For I am become like a bottle in the smoke;
Yet do I not forget thy statutes.
How many are the days of thy servant?
When wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?
The proud have digged pits for me,
Which are not after thy law.
All thy commandments are faithful:
They persecute me wrongfully; help thou me.
They had almost consumed me upon earth;
But I forsook not thy precepts.
Quicken me after thy loving-kindness;
So shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.