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Work like you don't need the money,
Love like you've never been hurt,
Sing like nobody's listening,
Live like it's Heaven on Earth---
Humankind - Be Both.
--Author Unknown |
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The Edge by Michael Card
This
poem was shared with the Survivors' Sisterhood by Debbie
Metzger at the last meeting she attended. We share it,
remembering Debbie's smile and optimism.
Most of us will never know how dark this world can seem.
When life becomes more nightmare than a dream.
So to all of you who have survived a visit to the edge,
I trust that you will understand this pledge.
I promise I will always leave the darkness for the light.
I swear by all that's holy, I will not give up the fight.
I'll drink down death like water before I ever come
again
To that dark place where I might make
The choice for life to end.
I've found that as I've traveled through the inscape
of my life
That mountain tops make valleys in between.
And when that nameless sadness like a cloud comes over
me,
I look back on all the brightness I have seen.
And realize that though my world might seem so torn
apart
Most often it is joy that breaks the heart.
And that I am the richest woman though I must beg for
bread
For the very One who might condemn has called me friend
instead.
I promise I will always leave the darkness for the light.
I swear by all that's holy, I will not give up the fight.
I'll drink down death like water before I ever come
again
To that dark place where I might make
The choice for life to end.
I will always leave the darkness for the light.
I will not give up the fight. |
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SLOW DANCE
Have you ever watched kids On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the the fading night?
Better slow down. Don't dance so fast.
Time is short. The music won't last.
Do you run through each day On the fly?
When you ask How are you? Do you Hear the reply?
When the day is done Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down. Don't dance so fast.
Time is short! The Music won't last.
Ever told you child, We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste, Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch, Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time To call and say, "Hi!"
You'd better slow down. Don't dance so fast.
Time is short. The music won't last. |
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Leaning on God
by Joyce Rupp
Some people lean against fence posts
when their bodies ache from toil.
Some people lean on oak trees,
seeking cool shade on hot, humid days.
Some people lean on crutches
when their limbs won't work for them;
and some people lean on each other
when their hearts can't stand alone.
How long it takes to lean upon you,
God of shelter and of strength;
how long it takes to recognize the truth
of where my inner power has its source.
All my independence, with its arrogance,
stands up and stretches within me,
trying to convince my trembling soul
that I can conquer troubles on my own.
But the day of truth always comes
when I finally yield to you, God,
knowing you are a steady stronghold,
a refuge when times are tough.
Thank you for offering me strength,
for being the oak tree of comfort;
thank you for being the sturdy support
when the limbs of my life are weak.
Praise to you, Eternal Lean-to,
for always being there for me.
Continue to transform me
with the power of your love.
(From the book May I Have This
Dance Ave Maria Press:Notre Dame, IN) |
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254
from Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
"Hope" is the thing with feathers--
That perches in the soul--
And sings the tune without the words--
And never stops -- at all--
And sweetest --in the Gale--is heard--
And sore must be the storm--
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm--
I've heard it in the chillest land--
And on the strangest Sea--
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb--of Me. |
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