The Inner Fire
Courage! for life is hasting
To endless life away;
The inner fire, unwasting,
Transfigures our dull clay
See the stars melting, sinking,
In life wine, golden bright
We, of the splendour drinking,
Shall grow to stars of light.
A Friend
Yesterday I received flowers – a late birthday surprise from some kind friends. So sweet, thoughtful, and completely wonderful. The sweetness in another heart thinking of you brings in that sweet sting of the real somehow; it adds that little touch of magic that raises it higher, and makes it feel like the Heart of…
Written For You
Precious Dear Heart, you walk all alone And on and on, and on you go, With your restless soul all but unknown And your heart full of tears and woe Yet still you go on in spite of the dark Hoping inside that someday you’ll find, Amid all the spaces that cover this earth A…
The Mortal Answers
“…Come away—With the fairies, hand in hand, For the world is more full of weeping Than you can understand.” —WB Yeats Chesterton, with the answer of Elf-land: From the Wood of the Old Wives’ Fables They glittered out of the grey, And with all the Armies of Elf-land I strove like a beast at…
The Star
Joy the Last
From a letter to his father, on June 3, 1855: How does dear mother bear it? It must be a dreadful trial to her. Life grows so sad sometimes — “but there is the one who makes the joy the last in every song” and no trial is too sad which makes us look more…
The Year of the Trouble in Lancashire
This beautiful poem and prayer came to mind this morning, and how fitting it is today, even though the winter be symbolic. The skies are pale for us now, and the winds seem rather cold, and the children need help as much as ever they did before. Father – help us! You are our present…
The Sun is Gone Down
The sun is gone down And the moon’s in the sky But the sun will come up And the moon be laid by. The flower is asleep. But it is not dead, When the morning shines It will lift its head. When winter comes It will die! No, no, It will only hide From the…
A New Glow
I was praying this morning, asking for strength; this passage came to mind: “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me, and to complete his work. John 4:34 This passage brings to mind another verse that has been on my mind lately, and the light of the first gives the…
A Quiet Thought
I have been so busy lately, and you could say laden with many burdens. It’s not that it’s been terrible, just a lot of things, on several fronts at the same time. And it’s not that I mind the work, or figuring out the answers to the challenges life has sent my way. That’s what…
