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

Good Lies

     "Like all good lies, the story contained a lot of truth."

     ~ Anthony Horowitz

True American Patriotism

     "Do not let anyone claim tribute of American patriotism if they even attempt to remove religion from politics."
   ~ General George Washington

Everything I Need

I asked for strength and

God gave me difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for wisdom and

God gave me problems to solve.

I asked for prosperity and

God gave me brawn and brains to work.

I asked for courage and

God gave me dangers to overcome.

I asked for patience and

God placed me in situations where I was forced to wait.

I asked for love and

God gave me troubled people to help.

I asked for favors and

God gave me opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted.

I received everything I needed.

My prayers have all been answered.

~ Author Unknown

Blessed Beyond Measure

When I look at this world

And see lives filled with hurt,

I remember 

All the pain I've never felt.

I wonder God, why not me?

My life has been so easy.

I'm no better, I know,

It's simply grace You chose to show.

I've been blessed 

By the hand of God,

And though I fail, He blesses anyhow.

There are no words to tell

Just how good God has been.

I've been blessed, so blessed,

I'm blessed beyond measure.

When I look at my life

My children and my wife,

I'm so thankful

For all He has given me.

I wonder God, why me?

I don't deserve such blessing.

I'm no better, I know,

It's simply grace You chose to show.

I've been blessed
By the hand of God
And though I fail, He blesses anyhow.
There are no words to tell
Just how good God has been.
I've been blessed, so blessed,
I'm blessed beyond measure.

Lord, as the years of time roll on and on,
To each promise You've been true.
But the greatest blessing in my life
Is to spend each day with You.


I've been blessed
By the hand of God
And though I fail, He blesses anyhow.
There are no words to tell
Just how good God has been.
I've been blessed, so blessed,
I'm blessed beyond measure.

I've been blessed,
Abundantly blessed,
Beyond measure.

Cheer Up, Boys!

"Cheer up, 'tis no use to be glum, boys, -
'Tis written, since fighting begun,
That sometimes we fight and we conquer,
And sometimes we fight and we run."

~ Old Pierre

(From "The Chronicle of the Drum" [part 1] by William Makepeace Thackeray)

America for Me

'Tis fine to see the Old World, and travel up and down

Among the famous palaces and cities of renown,

To admire the crumbly castles and the statues of the kings,-

But now I think I've had enough of antiquated things.

So it's home again, and home again, America for me!

My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be,

In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars,

Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.

Oh, London is a man's town, there's power in the air;

And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair;

And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study Rome;

But when it comes to living there is no place like home.

I like the German fir-woods, in green battalions drilled;

I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing fountains filled;

But, oh, to take your hand, my dear, and ramble for a day

In the friendly western woodland where Nature has her way!

I know that Europe's wonderful, yet something seems to lack:

The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back.

But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free,- 

We love our land for what she is and what she is to be.

Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for me!

I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea,

To the blessed Land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars,

Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.

~ Henry Van Dyke

What Might Have Been

Then she took up the burden of life again,
Saying only, 'it might have been.'
Alas for them both, and alas for us all,
Who vainly the dreams of youth recall,
For of all sad words of lips or pen,
The saddest are these - 'it might have been.'

     ~ Whittier

Trust

     "When you don't know the Why, trust the Who."

     ~ Pastor Guy Beaumont

A Man's Duty

     "There is one thing, Emma, which a man can always do, if he chooses, and that is, his duty; not by manoeuvring and finessing, but by vigour and resolution."

     ~ Mr. (George) Knightley

The Works of Jesus

     "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen."

     ~ John 21:25

Never Walk Alone

Never Walk Alone

Arms stretched out wide

Barely hanging on to life,

Left to suffer on Your own.

You came for all mankind

To bridge the great divide,

And somehow ended up alone.

Because of all the blood and tears You shed

I will never know that kind of loneliness.

Your Spirit never leaves me,

Even when I'm hurting,

I don't have to bear that burden on my own.

You carried all the pain and

Burried all the shame when

You made that rugged tree Your righteous throne.

Because of You I'll never walk alone.

You came here as a man

I know You understand

What it's like to walk these roads.

My problems don't compare

To that crown You had to wear

Still You take them as Your own.

Because of all the blood and tears You shed

I will never know that kind of loneliness.

Your Spirit never leaves me,

Even when I'm hurting,

I don't have to bear that burden on my own.

You carried all the pain and

Burried all the shame when

You made that rugged tree Your righteous throne.

Because of You I'll never walk alone.

You carried all the pain and

Burried all the shame when

You made that rugged tree Your righteous throne.

Because of You I'll never walk alone.

Lord, because of You I'll never walk alone.

I'll never walk alone.

God's Complete Forgiveness

     "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee."

     ~ Isaiah 44:22

The Christian Founding of America

     "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religion but on the gospel of Jesus Christ."

     ~ Patrick Henry