Some Memories Stay With You Forever...

I heard this song when I was only a little child and I have never forgotten it. I've used to dream about it and the thought of it brought to my mind a picture of a dark wood. I saw myself walking through it with one Light ahead of me to follow and footsteps on the path before me. I had only to walk in those footsteps and keep my eye on the Light and I would get safely through that fearful wood and see the glorious Light at the other end of forest. Recently I found the song on some old tape stacked away and I couldn't help but cry when I heard it again- it was just so beautiful!

"Sometimes the night was beautiful,
Something the sky was so far away

Sometimes it seemed to be so close,

You could touch it but your heart would break.

Sometimes the morning came too soon

Sometimes the day could be so hot-

There was so much work left to do

But so much you'd already done.

Chorus:

Oh God, You are my God

And I will ever praise You

Oh God,You are my God,

And I will ever praise You

I will seek you in the morning

And I will learn to walk in Your ways

And step by step You lead me

And I will follow You all of my days

And step by step You lead me

And I will follow You all of my days.

And I will follow You all of my days

And I will follow You all of my days

And step by step You lead me

And I will follow You all of my days.

Sometimes I think of Abraham-

How one star he saw was lit for me.

He was a stranger in the land

And I am that no less than he.

And on this road to holiness,

Sometimes the climb can be so steep

I may falter in my step

But I'm never beyond Your reach.

Chorus:
Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
Oh God,You are my God,
And I will ever praise You
I will seek you in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step You lead me
And I will follow You all of my days
And step by step You lead me
And I will follow You all of my days.
And I will follow You all of my days
And I will follow You all of my days
And step by step You lead me
And I will follow You all of my days...."

-Rich Mullins

Seize The Joy!
-StrongJoy

High-And-Mighty Authors Have Us Fooled With Their Eloquence...

"Scintillate scintillate, globule vivific,

Fain would I fathom thy nature specific.

Loftily placed in the ether capacious,

Strongly resembling a gem carbonaceous."

-A.P. Gipps

What?! You don't know what that means? What's the matter with you?! Haven't you ever heard the song? - "Twinkle, twinkle, little star"?...

Seize The Day!
-StrongJoy

"Loved Once"

I read this last night and it reminded me of my previous post. As Anya said, in her response to that post, "God commands us to love... that command wouldn't even make sense if love was simply an emotion. Sometimes it is good to put concious effort into loving people who are hard to love." Very good point, Anya.

I

"I classed, appraising once,

Earth's lamentable sounds, - the welladay,

The jarring yea and nay,

The fall of kisses on unanswering clay,

The sobbed farewell, the welcome mournfuller,-

But all did leaven the air

With a less bitter leaven of sure despair

Than these words- "I loved ONCE."

II
And who saith "I loved ONCE"?

Not angels- whose clear eyes, love, love forsee,

Love, through eternity,

And by To Love do apprehend To Be.

Not God, called LOVE, His noble crown-name, casting

A light too broad for blasting!

The great God changing not from everlasting,

Saith never, "I loved ONCE."

III
Oh never is "Loved Once" Thy word,

Thou Victim-Christ, misprized friend!

Thy cross and curse may rend,

But having loved Thou lovest to the end.

This is man's saying - man's. Too weak to move

One sphered star above,

Man desecrates the eternal God-word Love

By his No More, and Once.

IV
How say ye "We loved once,"
Blasphemers? Is your earth not cold enow,
Mourners, without that snow?
Ah, friends! and would ye wrong each other so?
And could ye say of some whose love is known,
Whose prayers have met your own,
Whose tears have fallen for you, whose smiles have shone
So long, - "We loved them ONCE"?

V
Could ye "We loved her once"
Say calm of me, sweet friends, when out of sight?
When hearts of better right
Stand in between me and your happy light?
Or when, as flowers kept too long in the shade,
Ye find my colours fade,
And all that is not love in me, decayed?
Such words- Ye loved me ONCE!

VI
Could ye "We loved her once"
Say cold of me when further put away
In earth's sepulchral clay, -
When mute the lips which deprecate to-day?
Not so! not then -least then.
When life is shriven,
Of those who sit and love you up in Heaven,
Say not, "We loved them once."

VII
Say never, ye loved ONCE.
God is too near above, the grave, beneath,
And all our moments breathe
Too quick in mysteries of life and death,
For such a word. The eternities avenge
Affections of light range.
There comes no change to justify that change,
Whatever comes - Loved ONCE.

VIII
And yet that same word ONCE
Is humanly acceptive. Kings have said,
Shaking a discrowned head,
"We ruled once," - dotards, "We taught once and led."
Cripples once danced i' the vines- and bards approved
Were once by scornings moved:
But love strikes one hour - LOVE! those never loved
Who dream that they loved ONCE."
-Elizabeth Barret Browning

Seize The Day!
-StrongJoy

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

Ronald Reagan Quotes

"Here's my strategy on the Cold War: We win, they lose."
- Ronald Reagan

"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
- Ronald Reagan

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant: It's just that they know so much that isn't so."
- Ronald Reagan

"Of the four wars in my lifetime none came about because the U. S. was too strong."
- Ronald Reagan

"I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandment's would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U. S. Congress."
- Ronald Reagan

"The taxpayer: That's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination."
- Ronald Reagan

"If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be one nation gone under."
- Ronald Reagan

"The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program."
- Ronald Reagan

"I've laid down the law, though, to everyone from now on about anything that happens: no matter what time it is, wake me, even if it's in the middle of a Cabinet meeting."
- Ronald Reagan

"It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first."
- Ronald Reagan

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
- Ronald Reagan

"Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book."
- Ronald Reagan

"No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women."
- Ronald Reagan