BEST FRIENDS
In a world filled with false pretenses
You are honest
In a life where people are shallow
You are deeply committed
Faced with choices that could hurt
You do what is right
I love you for that.
You believe in me when I doubt myself
You help me go on
You encourage me when I'm overwhelmed
You support my career
You stood by me when I was down
You helped me get up
You are my best friend
I love you for that.
MAN IN THE CROSSUpon the cross against the hills of the night
They nailed the man, and while
they speared his breast they made him drink the bile.
He bore the pains alone, alone
But in the hallowed darkness saw
Sweet Mary’s face upturned in grief below.
Tears filmed her eyes, but love
chastened the tragic beauty of her face
which neither death nor sorrow could erase.
He saw and feebly in the silence strove
to speak a few remembered words:
but now the whispers left his lips
like tender birds.
His arms were cold and death
was in his eyes; the streams
of blood were dry upon the whiteness of his limbs.
His breath was like a wounded bird
wanting to stay, to stay, bereft
now Mary rose and treasuring
his sorrow, left.
TIME
I saw a bouquet of dried roses today.
That made me think about time.
I realized the roses didn't bloom very long
That made me think about life.
I thought about how I look at my life
And how I think about time.
I've adopted a mindless lack of respect.
I don't care unless I'm far behind.
I wondered if the fragrance was strong
As the sun helped the buds come of age.
When the petals were fresh, did anyone see?
What if no one smelled them 'til now?
By the time I know what my life is about
Too many roses will die.
Other flowers will bloom once I'm gone.
How much will I miss until then?
It's true that fresh roses are here a short time.
It's true that my life is the same.
I struggle to find the essence of life
But distractions prevent many gains.
All of these years of mismanaged hours
As I studied time management books,
I frantically searched for what isn't there.
I have usually misunderstood.
I've thought about time as something to sell-
A commodity - not a true gift
I can give to me, to my family and friends.
But I've lost more than I ever sold!
After I saw the dried roses today
I thought about time's forward thrust
Its mechanical ticking of minutes and hours
Its swift, ineluctable span.
With its unceasing movement and unyielding force
Inexorably rushing ahead
Time holds my life, but I let the clock stop.
I think about what I have left.
Time is a gift, not something to sell.
It's mine to control as I choose.
I'm going forward now with strengthened resolve
And respect for what once I abused.
SUCCESS
My friend asked me a question
I could not readily answer.
"Why do people who lie and cheat
Always seem to do better in life
Than people who try to do the right thing?"
A philosophical answer would not do;
She needed a practical response.
A theological answer would not do;
She already knew what that was.
We examined a specific case that troubled her.
An employee was told to fake product test results.
If he lied, people might be harmed.
He could not lie so he was fired.
Someone else faked the results;
The product was made.
The company is successful;
The former employee is bitter and destitute.
Her question to me:
"Why was evil rewarded and good punished?"
She wasn't satisfied with the standard answer:
"The case isn't over yet;
We don't know the final outcome."
It wasn't the final outcome she cared about.
"Why did doing the right thing
Produce such bad results?"
And more importantly,
"Why does that always seem to be the case?"
I couldn't give her a quick response
But her questions made me wonder.
Is apparent sucess true success?
Is it incorrect for me to think
That outward and inner success could be different?
Is it really true that the pain of doing right
Ultimately prevails over the ease of doing wrong?
How long will it take for the fired employee to believe
That what he did - in the end - was best for him?
What if he never believes it was best?
I can listen to quick, standard answers:
Doing the right thing is always right.
Without suffering you can't experience true joy.
Striving is the essence of life.
You can only gain after you experience pain.
Everything always works out in the end.
Yes, I know that getting to the end is what matters,
But how I get there matters most.
I have learned
The quick, standard answers are true
But they don't ease the day-to-day struggle.
They don't give me all the help I need to live my life,
For living life is no simple matter.
A succssful life
Always incorporates good and evil,
And in the struggle
Sometimes evil seems to prevail.
But while I'm in the midst of the struggle
I cannot say that evil has won.
Only when I cross the bridge to the other side
Of the conflict can I call the results.
Only after I have experienced the entire event
Can I say which side has won.
That takes time -
Sometimes a lifetime.
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
