Their Finest Hour

     "Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'"
     ~ Winston Churchill, "Their Finest Hour" (speech, June 18th, 1940)

     (Note: yes, this was Churchill speaking to the British house of commons on overcoming Hitler. But a phrase in here that gets me every time I read it is "the lights of perverted science." Let us not give in to perverted science, here in the U.S.; let us turn back to our founding - back to God - and walk in His light, rather than that of perverted science.)

The Poet and His Song

A song is but a little thing,

And yet what joy it is to sing!

In hours of toil it gives me zest,

And when at eve I long for rest;

When cows come home along the bars,

And in the fold I hear the bell,

As Night, the shepherd, herds his stars,

I sing my song, and all is well.

There are no ears to hear my lays,

No lips to lift a word of praise;

But still, with faith unfaltering,

I live and laugh and love and sing.

What matters yon unheeding throng?

They cannot feel my spirit's spell,

Since life is sweet and love is long,

I sing my song, and all is well.

My days are never days of ease;

I till my ground and prune my trees.

When ripened gold is all the plain,

I put my sickle to the grain.

I labor hard, and toil and sweat,

While others dream within the dell;

But even while my brow is wet,

I sing my song, and all is well.

Sometimes the sun, unkindly hot,

My garden makes a desert spot;

Sometimes a blight upon the tree

Takes all my fruit away from me;

And then with throes of bitter pain

Rebellious passions rise and swell;

But -- life is more than fruit or grain,

And so I sing, and all is well.

~ Paul Laurence Dunbar

The Enjoyment of God

     "The enjoyment of God... is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Better than  fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of any, or all earthly friends. These are but shadows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but drops, but God is the ocean."

     ~ Jonathan Edwards

Bowels of Compassion

     "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?"
 
     ~ 1 John 3:17

Faithfulness' Reward

     "And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward."

     ~ Matthew 10:42

True Normal

     "As an orthopedic surgeon, he treated many patients with deformities, and his daily encounters reminded him that normal had very little to do with the way one's bones were shaped. It had a lot more to do with the heart."

     ~ Eric Wilson & Theresa Preston

(October Baby by Eric Wilson and Theresa Preston, page 67)

The Patriot Who Acknowledges God

     "The patriot who feels himself in the service of God, who acknowledges Him in all his ways, has the promise of Almighty Direction."

     ~ Francis Scott Key