My Daily Pause » Poetry http://mydailypause.org Taking a Moment to Serve Him Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:49:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 What is a Father? http://mydailypause.org/2010/05/what-is-a-father/ http://mydailypause.org/2010/05/what-is-a-father/#comments Tue, 11 May 2010 14:37:45 +0000 Butch http://mydailypause.org/?p=804 Post image for What is a Father?

A father is the knight in shining armor
Who protects his children and wife
From those who would seek to harm or lure
Them into a dangerous situation or strife.

He is the shelter from the world’s cruel ways.
He is the strong tree that stands firm in the storms.
He is the ray of hope in his children’s darkest days.
He is the hand of comfort to his wife when she is forlorn.

He guides his loved ones in the way that they should know.
He seeks the best way for his family to help them through life.
He is the lighthouse on the shore that lets his dear ones know where to go.
He is the shield that protects his loved ones from life’s cruel knife.

Who has given us this great gift called a father,
This precious foundation in a world of uncertainty?
It is our God, our Heavenly Father,
Who has loved us unconditionally.

–Ruth Carter

]]> http://mydailypause.org/2010/05/what-is-a-father/feed/ 0 A Prayer in Spring http://mydailypause.org/2010/05/a-prayer-in-spring/ http://mydailypause.org/2010/05/a-prayer-in-spring/#comments Tue, 04 May 2010 16:47:54 +0000 Butch http://mydailypause.org/?p=791 Post image for A Prayer in Spring

OH, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.
Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.
And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.
For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil.

–Robert Frost

]]> http://mydailypause.org/2010/05/a-prayer-in-spring/feed/ 1 The Wife http://mydailypause.org/2010/03/the-wife/ http://mydailypause.org/2010/03/the-wife/#comments Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:00:50 +0000 Butch http://mydailypause.org/?p=649 Post image for The Wife

She rose to his requirement, dropped
The playthings of her life
To take the honorable work
Of woman and of wife.

If aught she missed in her new day
Of amplitude, or awe,
Or first prospective, or the gold
In using wore away,

It lay unmentioned, as the sea
Develops pearl and weed,
But only to himself is known
The fathoms they abide.

–Emily Dickinson

Bonus: Compare to Proverbs 31:10ff

]]> http://mydailypause.org/2010/03/the-wife/feed/ 0 Mirror for the Soul http://mydailypause.org/2010/03/mirror-for-the-soul/ http://mydailypause.org/2010/03/mirror-for-the-soul/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 08:00:59 +0000 Butch http://mydailypause.org/?p=599 Mirror of the Soul

When we gaze into the mirror,
What do we see?
We may ask ourselves,
“Is this really me?” 

Do we see kindness and compassion
Or maliciousness and greed?
Do we see those who help and serve others
Or those who are consumed with selfish deeds?

There is a book that we can read
To find out where we stand.
That sacred script is called the Bible
And contains God’s holy commands.

The Bible can provide for us
A mirror for our souls
Whether we are living as God would have us
Or rather living as spiritual moles.

We can choose our spiritual reflection,
Whether righteous or diabolical,
It is up to us either to obey God’s word
Or follow the path of the prodigal. 

–Ruth Carter

]]> http://mydailypause.org/2010/03/mirror-for-the-soul/feed/ 0 Poetry: The Writing on the Wall http://mydailypause.org/2010/03/poetry-the-writing-on-the-wall/ http://mydailypause.org/2010/03/poetry-the-writing-on-the-wall/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:00:24 +0000 Butch http://mydailypause.org/?p=535 The Writing on the Wall - Rembrandt

Belshazzar had a letter, —
He never had but one;
Belshazzar’s correspondent
Concluded and begun
In that immortal copy
The conscience of us all
Can read without its glasses
On revelation’s wall.

 –Emily Dickinson #25 in the First Series

]]> http://mydailypause.org/2010/03/poetry-the-writing-on-the-wall/feed/ 1 Poetry: On Service http://mydailypause.org/2010/03/poetry-on-service/ http://mydailypause.org/2010/03/poetry-on-service/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:00:17 +0000 Butch http://mydailypause.org/?p=531 Emily Dickinson

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

–Emily Dickinson  #VI from the First Series

]]> http://mydailypause.org/2010/03/poetry-on-service/feed/ 0 How Much Do I Love Thee? http://mydailypause.org/2010/02/how-much-do-i-love-thee/ http://mydailypause.org/2010/02/how-much-do-i-love-thee/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:00:59 +0000 Butch http://mydailypause.org/?p=457 Post image for How Much Do I Love Thee?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of everyday’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, —

I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! —

and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

–Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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