"Lord, make me an instrument of They peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.

     O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving, that we receive; it is in pardoning, that we are pardoned; and it is in dying, that we are born to eternal life. Amen."

~St. Francis of Assisi

The Bridge Builder

An old man, going a lone highway,

Came at the evening cold and gray,

To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,

Through which was flowing a sullen tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim-

That sullen stream had no fears for him;

But he turned, when he reached the other side,

And built a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near,

"You are wasting strength in building here.

Your journey will end with the ending day;

You never again must pass this way.

You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide,

Why build you the bridge at the eventide?"

The builder lifted his old gray head.

"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,

"There followeth after me today

A youth whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm that has been naught to me

To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;

Good friend, I am building the bridge for him." 

~Will Allen Dromgoole~

Wait

Desperately, helplessly, longingly I cried.

Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.

I pleaded and I wept for a clue to my fate,

And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait."

"Wait? You say wait!" my indignant reply.

"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!"

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?

By faith, I have asked, and am claiming Your Word.

My future and all to which I can relate

Hangs in the balance and YOU tell me WAIT?

I'm needing a "Yes", and a go-ahead sign,

Or even a "No" to which I can resign.

And Lord, You promised that if we believed

We need but to ask, and we shall receive.

And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:

"I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!"

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate

As the Master replied once again, "You must wait."

So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut

And grumbled to God, "So I'm waiting... for what?"

He seemed, then, to kneel and His eyes wept with mine,

And He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.

I could raise the dead, and cause the mountains to run.

All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.

You would have all you want - but you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;

You'd not know the power I give to the faint;

You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;

You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me;

When darkness and silence were all you could see;

You'd never experience the fullness of love

As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;

You'd know that I have, and save for a start,

But you'd not know the depth and beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,

The faith that I give when you walk without sight,

The depth that's beyond getting just what you've asked

Of an infinite God, Who makes what you have last.

You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that, "My Grace is sufficient for thee."

Yes, your dreams for your loved ones overnight would come true

But oh, the loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!

So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see

That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.

And though oft' may My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all is still "Wait."

(Author Unknown)

The Fellowship of the Unashamed

"I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made– I’m a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, rewarded. I now live by faith, lean in His presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer, and I labor with power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions are few, my Guide reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me… my banner will be clear!"

~Author in dispute~

And the clouds come rolling by..

A beautiful day in the neighborhood. :)