gratitude

“The Sunlight on the Garden” Poem by Louis MacNeice

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The Sunlight on the Garden

The sunlight on the garden
Hardens and grows cold,
We cannot cage the minute
Within its nets of gold;
When all is told
We cannot beg for pardon.

Our freedom as free lances
Advances towards its end;
The earth compels, upon it
Sonnets and birds descend;
And soon, my friend,
We shall have no time for dances.

The sky was good for flying
Defying the church bells
And every evil iron
Siren and what it tells:
The earth compels,
We are dying, Egypt, dying

And not expecting pardon,
Hardened in heart anew,
But glad to have sat under
Thunder and rain with you,
And grateful too
For sunlight on the garden.

 – Louis MacNeice

Author Debbie Macomber on “Three Things I Learned From My Mom”

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“Just Be Glad” Poem by James Whitcomb Riley

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Just Be Glad

O heart of mine, we shouldn’t Worry so!
What we’ve missed of calm we couldn’t Have, you know!
What we’ve met of stormy pain, And of sorrow’s driving rain, We can better meet again,
If it blow!
 We have erred in that dark hour We have known,
When our tears fell with the shower, All alone!—
Were not shine and shower blent As the gracious Master meant?— Let us temper our content
With His own.
For, we know, not every morrow Can be sad;
So, forgetting all the sorrow We have had,
Let us fold away our fears,
And put by our foolish tears, And through all the coming years
Just be glad.
James Whitcomb Riley.

“Pied Beauty” Poem by Gerard Manely Hopkins

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Pied Beauty

GLORY be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim:
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and
plough;
And àll tràdes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.

My Faith in the Future Affirmed

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A Story of a Walk, a Father, Two Children, and a Bird

It’s Sunday. I went for a long walk in a nearby park. A walking, jogging, bike riding paved trail runs through miles of south Texas landscape. The former ranch is now covered with prickly pear cactus, yucca, cedar trees, and live oak trees. A sign at the trail head warns travelers to watch out for mountain lions, feral hogs, rattlesnakes, coyotes, and dangerous insects. The warning does not stop people from using the trail.

At the midpoint of my walk, I spotted a father and his two children, one boy, one girl  stooping near the edge of the trail. Their three bicycles lay nearby just off the path. The children appeared to be between eight to ten years old. The boy was the younger child. 

As I approached them, the boy turned and looked up at me. He said, “This baby bird is hurt. Do you know how to help him?”

The boy’s father and his sister looked at me. In front of the small boy was an open water bottle and straw. He was using the straw to transfer water from his bottle to the bird’s mouth. I told them them they were doing the best they could and making the baby bird feel comfortable. 

I walked on filled with renewed hope for the future. When young children care deeply for the environment and its living creatures, there is hope for the future. I promised myself to learn from them and practice the lessons they taught me. 

“Song of Myself” Poem by Walt Whitman

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 ” I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. “

– Walt Whitman

A Poetic Irish Blessing

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Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Anonymous

“It’s A Great Day to Be Alive” Performed by Travis Tritt

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A Great Philosophy of Life

All Things Bright & Beautiful ~ Poem by Cecil Frances Alexander

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All Things Bright and Beautiful

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,—
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,—
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.

The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made them, high or lowly,
And ordered their estate.

The purple-headed mountain,
The river running by,
The morning, and the sunset
That lighteth up the sky,

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,—
He made them, every one.

The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water
We gather every day,—

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who hath made all things well.

Cecil Frances Alexander.

Today’s Quote by Roald Dahl on Thoughts

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If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.

Roald Dahl

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