CHEERFUL THOUGHTS LIGHTEN DARKEST FEARS

Cheerful thoughts like sunbeams
Lighten up the "darkest fears,"
For when the heart is happy,
There's just no time for tears.

And when the face is smiling,
It's impossible to frown,
And when you are "high-spirited,"
You cannot feel "low-down."

For the nature of our attitude
Toward circumstantial things,
Determines our acceptance
Of the problems that life brings.

And since fear and dread and worry
Cannot help in any way,
It's much healthier and happier
To be cheerful every day.

And if you'll only try it
You will find, without a doubt,
A cheerful attitude's something
No one should be without.

For when the heart is cheerful,
It cannot be filled with fear,
And without fear, the way ahead,
Seems more distinct and clear.

Helen Steiner Rice (1900-1981)
www.HelenSteinerRice.com

Triumph over Trouble

If wishes worked like magic,
And plans worked that way too,
And everything you wished for,
Whether good or bad for you,
Immediately was granted
With no effort on your part,
You’d experience no fulfillment
Of your spirit or your heart.


For things achieved too easily
Lose their charm and meaning too,
For it is life’s difficulties
And the trials we go through
That makes us strong in spirit
And endow us with the will
To surmount the insurmountable
And to climb the highest hill.


So wish not for the easy way
To win your heart’s desire,
For the joy’s in overcoming
And withstanding flood and fire,
For to triumph over trouble
And grow stronger with defeat
Is to win the kind of victory
That will make your life complete.


Helen Steiner Rice (1900-1981)
www.HelenSteinerRice.com

Source: The Inspiration Line

At Day's End

A Poem for our most loved Minister, Mr Rob Barnett, who passed away last October 27, 2009.

The unforgettable persons in our life. A word of thanks would never suffice.
Is anybody happier
Because YOU passed their way?
Does anyone remember
That you spoke to them today?

The day is almost over,
And its toiling time is through,
Is there anyone to utter
Now a kindly word of YOU?

Can you say tonight in parting
With the day that's slipping fast ...
That you helped a single person
Of the many that you passed?

Is a single heart rejoicing
Over what you did or said?
Does the one whose hopes were fading
Now with courage look ahead?

Did you waste the day or use it?
Was it well or sorely spent?
Did you leave a trail of kindness,
Or a scar of discontent?

As you close your eyes in slumber,
Will Our Creator quietly say ...
"You have earned one more tomorrow
By what you have done today"?

~By John Hall

FRIENDS FOREVER NEAR

As we walk our path of life;
We meet people every day,
Most are simply met by chance,
But some are sent our way.

These become the special friends
Whose bond we can’t explain
The ones who understands us
And share our joy and pain.

Their love contains no boundaries,
So even when apart,
Their presence still embraces us
With a warmth felt in the heart.

This love becomes a passageway
Where even the miles disappear,
And the special friends life sends our way
Remain forever near.

~Author Unknown

Source: The Inspiration Line

Photography: The Newlywed with Auntie Trish
Canberra, ACT
October 30, 2009

The Size of Your Heart

It isn't the size of
your house as such
That matters so much at all;
It's the gentle hand
and its loving touch,
That make it great or small.

The friends who come
and the hour they go,
Who out of your house depart,
Will judge it not
by the style you show,
But rather by the size of your heart.

It isn't your status
in life so much,
It isn't the wealth you found,
That will make you happy —
it's how you touch
The lives that are all around.

For making money is not hard —
To live life well is an art:
How people love you,
how they regard,
Is all in the size of your heart

~Author Unknown (Perhaps, Edward Guest) from FunTown.com

The Light Upon the Sea

There was a time it seemed as though
My life was tossing to and fro
And I, left with nowhere to go,
Was subject to the sea.

But there, ahead, a beam of light
Peered through the darkness of the night
And granted to me clearer sight
That I might be set free.

I steered a course toward the land
To find a refuge on the sand
And maybe touch the gentle hand
That guided me along.

And when I reached the coast that night,
Upon a hill, the shining light
Was tended by a welcome sight . . .
My friends had led me home.

~ © 1999 Robert S. Bise

It's the Light in You that Makes me Thankful

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I've seen the light
and it's in you ...
in everything you are
and in everything you do.

It's a perfect light that
shines for all to see;
in fact it shines so brightly,
it's pierced the heart of me.

The light is from a friend,
it's a light that keeps me warm;
it lets me know how loved I am
and keeps me safe from harm.

FOR YOU I AM THANKFUL ...
in so very many ways,
and you lift up my spirits
each and every day.

To know that you are there for me
makes me feel alive;
it is your friendship's light upon
which my own love thrives.

Though 'thank you' isn't good enough,
they're the only words I know
to say your light of friendship
gives my world its glow.

Thanks for sharing your
light with me!

~ Author Unknown

Source: Inspiration Line
November 17, 2009