The Evolution Of Love

I found this the other day and I thought it was very well-put:

"In an age where so much of life is based on feelings, it seems that we've begun to lose the true essence of what love means. Once love meant a decision; when you loved someone you loved them forever. Today however, the overwhelming feelings of emotion dictate our decision to "love". But, on the other hand, if the fascinating affection we once felt begins to die we determine that we no longer "love" that person, and then. most sadly, we often give up and walk away. Love has evolved."

-Joel Smallbone

Seize The Day!

-StrongJoy

"Seize The Day"- The Song That Inspires Me EVERY Time...

I know a girl who was schooled in Manhattan,

She reads dusty books and learns phrases in Latin.

She is as author or maybe a poet-

A genius, it's just that this world doesn't know it!

She works on a novel most every day-

If you laugh she will say...

Chorus:

Seize the day!

Seize whatever you can,

For life slips away

Just like hourglass sand

Seize the day,

Pray...

For Grace from God's hand,

And nothing will stand in your way-

Seize the day!

One thing I've noticed wherever I wander:

Everyone's got a dream he can follow or squander.

You can do what you will with the days you are given-

I'm trying to spend mine on the business of living!

So I'm singing my songs off of any old stage,

You can laugh if you want- I'll still say...

Chorus:

Seize the day!

Seize whatever you can,

For life slips away

Just like hourglass sand

Seize the day,

Pray...

For Grace from God's hand,

And nothing will stand in your way-

Seize the day!

-Carolyn Arends (From "Seize The Day")

Seize The Day!

-StrongJoy

What We See...

"To hear an oriole sing
May be a common thing,
Or only a divine.

It is not of the bird,
Who sings the same, unheard,
As unto crowd.

The fashion of the ear
Attireth that it hear
In dun or fair.

So whether it be rune,
Or whether it be none,
Is of within.

The “tune is in the tree”
The skeptic showeth thee
'No sir! In thee!'"

-Emily Dickinson

To make a comment on that lovely observation written by one of my favorite poets, I can only say that "What we see, depends mainly on what we are looking for." -Sir John Lubbock

Seize The Day!

-StrongJoy

The Question Of Value

People through the ages have struggled over the answer to the question, "How do you measure the worth of a man?" I've always believed that the answer to that question had something to do with Love but I wasn't sure how to explain that. I wrote this poem two months ago in frustration over my inability to express how I felt about this subject. When I had finished it, I realized that I had answered my own question: Yes, I believe that the Question of Value IS answered by Love but not by human Love. (See "Idols" - One Of The Best Poems Written In The English Language for a description of human Love.) I believe that the Love of our Creator is what gives us our value. If we are loved by the only One who matters, isn't that enough to give us all the value we could ever care to have?

How do you measure value?
What do you measure it by?
Is value measured by who we are-
We, the Hurt Ones, crushed and scarred,
Far from the light- so far, so far,
All of us reaching for the stars,
Under an empty sky?

How do you measure value?
What do you measure it by?
Is value measured by what we possess-
Years of struggle against weakness,
Groping for diamonds in cold darkness,
To find that somehow we still have less
And somehow we can’t even cry.

Last night as I prayed for the answer
And chased away Hope I had banned,
Someone spoke to me in the night,
A Voice whispered “Can’t you find My Light?
Well, I’ll always love you so it’s alright.”
Look! - Starlight in my hand!

-B.J.J. aka StrongJoy

Seize The Day!

-StrongJoy

"Idols" - One Of The Best Poems Written In The English Language

“Idols”
How weak the gods of this world are-
And weaker their worship made me!
For I have been an idolater of three-
And three times they betrayed me.

Mine oldest worshipping was given
To natural Beauty, ay, residing
In bowery earth and starry heaven,
In ebbing sea and river gliding.

But natural Beauty shuts her bosom
To what the natural feelings tell!
Albeit I sighed, the trees would blossom-
Albeit I smiled the blossoms fell.

Then left I earthly sights to wander
Amid a grove of name divine,
Where bay-reflecting streams meander
And Moloch Fame hath reared a shrine.

Not green but black is that reflection;
On rocky beds those waters lie;
That grove hath chillness and dejection-
How could I sing? I had to sigh.

Last, human Love, thy Lares greeting,
To rest and warmth I vowed my years
To rest? How wild my pulse is beating!
To warmth? Ah, me! My burning tears!

Aye, they may burn-though thou be frozen
By death and changes wintering on
Fame!- Beauty!- idols madly chosen-
Were yet of gold; but thou art STONE!

Crumble like stone! My voice no longer
Shall wail their names who silent be:
There is a voice that soundeth stronger-
“My daughter, give thine heart to Me.

Lord! Take mine heart! O first and fairest
Whom all creation’s ends shall hear;
Who deathless love in death declarest!
Non else is beauteous-famous-dear!
-Elizabeth Barret Browning

Seize The Day!

-StrongJoy

"Transients In Arcadia" (About Ordinary People)

I’ve had a respect for O. Henry ever since I read “The Ransom Of Red Chief” which has got to be the absolute funniest story of all time. When I read “The Last Leaf,” I decided that I had found an author worth checking into. (By the way, those of you who have not read “The Last Leaf” are missing out on one of the most gripping, skillfully written short stories written in the English language.) I bought a little book of his short stories about two years ago read it from cover to cover. Then I put it back on my shelf. Yesterday, for no reason at all, I took it down again and opened it up right to “Transients In Arcadia,” one story I didn’t remember very well. I didn’t plan on reading it but somehow I couldn’t tear myself away from that story. It was quite a simple little tale – there was no complex plot and not much action, to be sure, but somehow I found myself very wrapped up in it.

O. Henry begins the story by describing the dream hotel Lotus in a very idyllic way (with just a very little measure of sarcasm). He then goes on to praise a mysterious “Madame Beaumont,” the Lotus’ most illustrious guest.

“Now, isn’t that a wonderful beginning?”
“Yeah, it’s really great.” -The Princess Bride

This description continues for quite some time – long enough to give the reader a sort of respect for the afore-mentioned Madame Beaumont. Then, this magnificent “perfect woman” meets Mr. Harold Farrington, a seemingly respectable gentleman, and the two form a cordial relationship. Everything seems perfectly settled at this point and most readers would suppose that they were reading a “happily-ever-after” romance. However, the day before Madame Beaumont leaves the hotel, she tells Mr. Farrington a secret that changes the course of the story. I can’t tell you what the secret is because then you might not read the story for yourself, but I can assure you that O. Henry always lives up to his name, “The Master Of Surprise.”

I like this story because it reminds me of the real meaning of the phrase “ordinary people” but furthermore, because it reminds me that there are no ordinary people…and we all have hopes and dreams and ambitions - hurts and sorrows and tragedies.

Seize The Day!
-StrongJoy

"It's The Thing You Leave Undone..."

"You smile upon your friend to-day,
To-day his ills are over;
You hearken to the lover's say,
And happy is the lover.

'Tis late to hearken, late to smile,
But better late than never;
I shall have lived a little while
Before I die for ever."
-A.E. Housman

(Alfred Edward Housman is hardly my favorite poet - he is a little too sarcastic and pessimistic for me - but I do enjoy some of his works and this is one of them.)

Often I don't notice until too late that someone has been wanting something from me - just a smile sometimes, I suppose. I always wish that I could have the moment back in order to give them what they were hoping for but when it's gone, it's gone. The only thing I can do then is to determine that I WON'T miss the next moment. That isn't good enough to make up for lost time, of course, but "better late than never" for there is certainly no sense in losing more time when I can seize the rest of the day!

Seize The Day!

-StrongJoy

Let Us Not Forget...

Painting: "Gather The Rosebuds While Ye May" By William Waterhouse

"GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old time is still a-flying :

And this same flower that smiles to-day

To-morrow will be dying..."

-By Robert Herrick