Blue Skies and Daisies

Contents:

Gethsemane Making Friends Broken Dreams Working It Isn't, Until... Life

Sing... All Thou Couldst Give Something To Someone if Solitude On the Outside Looking In

Prayers Requiem The Night Has A Thousand Eyes Abou Ben Adhem High Resolve

Gethsemane

All those who journey, soon or late,
Must pass within the garden's gate;
Must kneel alone in darkness there,
And battle with some fierce despair.
God pity those who cannot say:
"Not mine but thine;" who only pray:
"Let this cup pass," and cannot see
The purpose in Gethsemane.


- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Making Friends

If nobody smiled and nobody cheered

and nobody helped us along;
If every man looked after himself
and good things all went to the strong;
If nobody cared just a little for you,
and nobody thought about me
And we all stood alone in the battle of life,
what a dreary old world this would be!

Life is sweet because of the friends we've made.
All things in common we share.
We want to live on, not because of ourselves,
but because of the people who care.
It's giving and doing for somebody else -
on that all life's splendor depends;
And the joy of the world when you sum it all up,
is formed in the making of friends.

- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Broken Dreams

As children bring their broken toys
With tears for us to mend,
I brought my broken dreams to God
Because He was my friend.

But then instead of leaving Him
In peace to work alone,
I hung around and tried to help
With ways that were my own.

At last I snatched them back and cried,
"How could you be so slow"
"My child," He said, "What could I do?
You never did let go."


- Author Unknown

Working

I asked the Lord, "What shall I do?"
And my love flowed warm and free.
Then He pointed me out a tiny spot
And said, "Tend that for me."

I quickly relied, "Oh no, not that.
"Why no one would ever see.
"No matter how well my work was done;
"Not that little place for me."

The word He spoke, It was not stern,
He answered me tenderly;
"Ah, little one, search that heart of thine.
"Are you working for them or me?
"Nazareth was a little place, and so was Galilee."

It Isn't, Until ...

A bell isn't a bell 'till it's rung,
A song isn't a song 'till it's sung,
Love isn't put in your heart to stay,
Love isn't love 'till it's given away.


- Unknown

Life

Life itself can't give you joy
Unless you really will it;
Life just gives you time and space
It's up to you to fill it.

Sing ...

Praise the Lord in joyful song,
Praise Him, Praise Him all day long.
But what of me, I cannot sing;
I have no melody to bring?
Then read again, oh joy of joys,
The Lord said, "Make a joyful noise."

All Thou Couldst Give

How is it I was worth all you could give
That I, through thee, with our Father might live.
Through agony suffered in Gethsemane
You've given our Father's kingdom to me.

You bled and died on Calvary's hill
To seal yourself to the Father's will.
While heavenly legions awaited your call
You silently suffered, atoning for all.

Freedom from sin you won for us then
And life eternal you brought forth again.
You shattered forever death's shackled band
By rising in ressurrection grand.

Following God, you showed us the way
To walk in your path that each of us may
Return to the presence of our heavenly Lord
And glory forever in his holy word.


- RD Clyde

Something To Someone

I don't wish to be

Everything to Everyone
But I would like to be
Something to Someone

For while some people have
A shoulder to cry on
It is the destiny of others
That they must cry alone

We should always remember
- To themselves
No one is just another person

Touch gently the Life
Of your fellow man
For the human heart
Shapes as easily
As clay upon
The potter's wheel

Our path is a little clearer
Our steps are a little lighter
And we appear a little taller
When we walk beside
Someone we Love

The pain we feel
When someone leaves our life
Is in direct proportion
To the joy they bring
While a part of our life
For a few moments
In my Life
You made me feel
As if I truly meant
Something to Someone
- Javan

if

If you were busy being kind,
Before you knew it you would find
You'd soon forget to think `twas true
That someone was unkind to you.

If you were busy being glad
And cheering people who seem sad,
Although your heart might ache a bit,
You'd soon forget to notice it.

If you were busy being good,
And doing just the best you could,
You'd not have time to blame some man
Who's doing just the best he can.

If you were busy being true
To what you know you ought to do,
You'd be so busy you'd forget
The blunders of the folks you've met.

If you were busy being right,
You'd find yourself too busy quite
To criticize your brother long,
Because he's busy being wrong.

On The Outside, Looking In

I always find myself here
On the outside, looking in;
Looking in on others lives
And love I'll never win.
In all the things I've done
And places where I've been
I'm always on the outside,
Looking in.

My life's been filled with loneliness
And emptiness and pain,
And every time I think I'll win
It comes around again
To take away the sunshine
And leave me in the rain;
This cold and lonely life here
Filled with pain.

So do I quit looking and trying to show
How much I'm willing to give,
And do I quit trying to be in their lives
And keep to myself as I live.

Doubts that started small
Grow ever stronger now, it seems,
Shadowing my daylight hours
And creeping in my dreams.
When I was uninvited,
Or chosen last for teams,
The reasons grow more obvious,
It seems.

Looking toward the future now,
I know not where it leads;
To loneliness and misery,
Or marvelous, great deeds.
I see there only things to fear
And empty, unfilled needs
And no one there to take me
Where it leads.

So do I quit looking and trying to show
How much I'm willing to give,
And do I quit trying to be in their lives
And keep to myself as I live.


- RD Clyde

Solitude

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;

Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow it's mirth,
But has trouble enough of it's own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go.
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all.
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life's gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.
- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Prayers

He asked for strength that he might achieve,

He was made weak that he might obey.
He asked for health that he might do greater things,
He was given infirmity that he might do better things.
He asked for riches that he might be happy,
He was given poverty that he might be wise.
He asked for power that he might have the praise of men,
He was given weakness that he might feel the need for God.
He asked for all things that he might enjoy life,
He was given life that he might enjoy all things.
He has received nothing that he asked for,
All that he hoped for, His prayer is answered; he is most blessed.
- Anon.

The Night Has A Thousand Eyes

The night has a thousand eyes,

And the day but one;
Yet the light of a bright world dies
When day is done.

The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.
- Francis William Bourdillon

Requiem

Under the wide and starry sky

Dig the grave and let me lie:
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse that you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.
- Robert Louis Stevenson

Abou Ben Adhem

Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,

Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An Angel writing in a book of gold:
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in the room he said,
"What writest thou?" The Vision raised it's head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord
Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."
"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerly still; and said, "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one who loves his fellow-men."

The Angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest!
- James Henry Leigh Hunt

High Resolve

I'll hold my candle high, and then
Perhaps I'll see the hearts of men
Above the sordidness of life,
Beyond misunderstandings, strife.

Though many deeds that others do
Seem foolish, rash and sinful too,
Just who am I to criticize
What I perceive with my dull eyes?
I'll hold my candle high, and then
Perhaps I'll see the hearts of men.

- Unknown

The Flood

The waters uprose in the dark;
All perished, save those in the Ark.

"I struck out with man,"
Said the Lord, "Now My plan
Is a nice zoological park."

Babel

Their tower's impressive statistics
Pleased architects, boosters and mystics,

But their excess of pride
Caused the Lord to decide
It was time that they studied linguistics.

Knowledge

There once was an old man from Esser
Who's knowledge grew lesser and lesser,

It at last grew so small
He knew nothing at all,
And now he's a college professor.