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"Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice but for those who love-- time is eternity."
Joyful, joyful, Lord, we adore thee, God of glory, Lord of love. Hearts unfold like flowers before thee, opening to the sun above. Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away. Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day. All thy works with joy surround thee; earth and heaven reflect thy rays. Stars and angels sing around thee, center of unbroken praise. Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea, chanting bird and flowing fountain, call us to rejoice in thee. Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest. Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest! Thou our Father, Christ our brother, all who live in love are thine. Teach us how to love each other. Lift us to the joy divine. Mortals, join the mighty chorus, which the morning stars began. Love divine is reigning o'er us, binding all within its span. Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife. Joyful music leads us sunward, in the triumph song of life.
Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.
The Ship: A Parable of Immortality
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side says, 'There she goes!'
Gone where?
Gone from my sight ... that is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment when someone at my side says, 'There she goes!' there are other eyes watching her coming and their voices ready to take up the glad shouts 'Here she comes!'
This is how I see and understand death.
Time is too slow for those that wait, too swift for those that fear, too long for those that grieve, too short for those who rejoice. But for those who love- time is eternity.
Be glad of life because it gives you a chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at stars.
Weather means more when you have a garden. There's nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in and around your lettuce and green beans.
Thou wayfaring Jesus - a pilgrim and stranger, Exiled from heaven by love at Thy birth: Exiled again from Thy rest in the manger, A fugitive child 'mid the perils of earth - Cheer with Thy fellowship all who are weary, Wandering far from the land that they love: Guide every heart that is homeless and dreary, Safe to its home in Thy presence above.
Home at last. Who seeks for heaven alone to save his soul may keep the path, but will not reach the goal; while he who walks in love may wonder far, yet God will bring him where the blessed are.
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.
