However Troubled You May Be

Our Thoughts Would Be free.
If our tongue were as sharp as a knife
Our lips would cut and bleed.
We would talk less and listen more.
Our thoughts, they would be free.
( Florence Emily Hookins, 1896-1962 )

I’m Never Far Away.
I know your heart feels empty
The pain seems hard to bear
I know how much you miss me
And wish that I was still there.
But don’t be sad without me
I don’t want you to cry
I never really left you
And we never said goodbye.
Cherish all the memories
But don’t let time stand still
I will always be beside you
And you know I always will.
You know that the day will come
And you will see me again
For now I will live in your heart
And it’s there I will remain.
So don’t be sad without me
For I’m with you every day
And although you cannot see me
I’m never far away.
( Florence Emily Hookins )

Do Not Forget Your Purpose And Destiny.
Keep a clear eye toward life’s end.
Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God’s creature.
What you are in His sight is what you are and nothing more.
Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take nothing you have received, but only what you have given –– a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.
( St. Francis of Assisi )

Life Is Frightening.
Life is frightening, thinking of what has been,
What has still to come.
Will I die a homeless bum,
Living on my wits and luck,
Forever in this senseless ruck.
Or will things turn around,
To get my feet back on the ground?
I know it’s true, but I just don’t care
That sometimes this life is just not fair.
( Rose Winfold )

Lord, Help Me.
Lord, help me to live this day, quietly, easily.
To lean upon Thy great strength, trustfully, restfully.
To wait for the unfolding of Thy will, patiently, serenely.
To meet others, peacefully, joyously.
To face tomorrow, confidently, courageously.
( St. Francis of Assisi )

I Feel Like A Tortoise.
I feel like a tortoise moving slowly each day,
With all my bags on my back the sky’s always grey.
People brush past me not seeming to care,
They all act as if I’m not even there.
( Dion Felsrow )

It Is In Giving That We Receive.
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.
( St. Francis of Assisi )

Look Well.
Look well, remember those who will never see.
Hear truly, for others in a silent world will always be.
Speak kindly, some will never talk.
Step proudly, many cannot walk.
Do not forget, when tempted to complain,
These gifts, once lost, are seldom found again.
( Len Firswood )

Lord, Make Me An Instrument Of Your 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.
( St. Francis of Assisi )

Angels.
When angels sense you need them
And angels always do.
They come unseen from everywhere
To help and comfort you.
( Rose Winfold )

The Reward And The Recompense They Deserve.
Let us also love our neighbours as ourselves.
Let us have charity and humility.
Let us give alms because these cleanse our souls from the stains of sin.
Men lose all the material things they leave behind them in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give.
For these they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve.
( St. Francis of Assisi )

Dear Lord.
Let me take a minute not to ask for anything from you.
But to simply thank you for all I have.
I can’t say it in words.
Can you please just listen to my heart.
( Dion Felsrow )

May the power of your love, Lord Christ, fiery and sweet as honey, so absorb our hearts as to withdraw them from all that is under heaven.
Grant that we may be ready to die for love of your love, as you died for love of our love.
( St. Francis of Assisi )

As I Remember You.
No matter where our paths may wind
Those childhood days we left behind
Are with me in my heart and mind
As I remember you.
( Rose Winfold )

Let Me Arise.
Let me arise and open the gate,
To breathe the wild warm air of the heath,
And to let in Love, and to let out Hate,
And anger at living and scorn of Fate,
To let in Life, and to let out Death.
( Violet Fane )

Never Forget How Special You Are.
May your heart be happy.
May your days be bright.
May your roads be smooth.
May your burdens be light.
May you find the dreams.
May you touch the stars.
May you never forget how special you are.
( Len Firswood )

Do not put off any longer confessing all your sins, for death will soon come.
Give and it will be given you.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Blessed are they who die repentant, for they shall go to the Kingdom of Heaven.
( St. Francis of Assisi )

However Troubled You May Be.
However dark your night,
There always comes a dawn at last,
A morning clear and bright.
And life though sad, becomes somehow,
A precious thing again,
And there’s a joy you would have missed
But for your grief and pain.
( Rose Winfold )

Two Palestinian Seas.
One is a sparkling sapphire jewel
Its waters are clean and clear and cool,
Along its shores the children play
And travellers seek it on their way,
And nature gives so lavishly
Her choicest gems to the Galilee.
But on to the south the Jordan flows
Into a sea where nothing grows,
No splash of fish, no singing bird,
No children’s laughter is ever heard,
The air hangs heavy all around
And nature shuns this barren ground.
Both seas receive the Jordan’s flow,
The water is just the same, we know,
But one of the seas like liquid sun,
Can warm the hearts of everyone.
While farther south another sea
Is dead and dark and miserly,
It takes each drop the Jordan brings
And to each drop it fiercely clings.
It hoards and holds the Jordan’s waves
Until like shackled captured slaves
The fresh, clear Jordan turns to salt
And dies within the Dead Sea’s vault.
But the Jordan flows on rapturously
As it enters and leaves the Galilee,
For every drop that the Jordan gives
Becomes a laughing wave that lives.
For the Galilee gives back each drop,
Its waters flow and never stop,
And in this laughing, living sea
That takes and gives so generously
We find the way to Life and Living
Is not in Keeping, but in Giving!
Yes, there are Two Palestinian Seas
And mankind is fashioned after these!
( Helen Steiner Rice )

The Lord bless you and keep you.
May He show His face to you and have mercy.
May He turn His countenance to you and give you peace.
The Lord bless you.
( St. Francis of Assisi )