We are raising our standard of living at the expense of our standard of character.
A mind which really lays hold of a subject is not easily detached from it.
Ida Tarbell (1857-1944) was an American writer and investigative journalist. She was one of the leading muckrakers during the progressive era during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
From Psalm 147:5-6: “Great is our Lord and abundant in power; His understanding is beyond measure. The Lord lifts up the downtrodden; He casts the wicked to the ground.”
Flowing Creator’s river
Filling faith’s infinite song
Catching every sweetest verse
Walking with Christ, always strong
Knowing heartache and despair
Finding deepest love-filled joy
Praising grace with every song
Crushing darkness, Christ deploys
Enriching life’s peace journey
Echoing lyrics shall sing
Leading from night to morning
Replacing evil’s harsh sting
Witnessing hope every day
Revealing Savior’s true love
Composing each blessed song
Praying to Father above
Transforming another soul
Singing with angels up high
Renewing faith’s guiding light
Looking to heavens’ blue sky
American preacher and renowned hymn writer, Robert Lowry (1826-1899), wrote over 500 hymns. One inspired this poem, “My Life Flows On in Endless Song.”
The true adventurer goes forth aimless and uncalculating to meet and greet unknown fate.
I’ll give you the whole secret to short story writing. Here it is. Rule 1: Write stories that please yourself. There is no Rule 2.
O. Henry, the pen name of William Henry Porter (1862-1910), was an American writer who mastered the art of crafting short stories.
When our top priority is to please God with our life, we can expect treasure in heaven.
From Luke 12:20-21: “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
Dreaming of conquest
Favorite game show
Awesome contestant
Answer’s fandango
Sleeping wide awake
No longer dreaming
Clock striking midnight
Netflix still streaming
Sailing oceans blue
First mate now sleeping
Craft found, back on course
Prize’s safekeeping
Shifting direction
Away from sailing
Compass pointing west
Dreamtime’s unveiling
Sweeping “Price is Right”
Morning now shifting
New day with new wheels
Sports car downshifting
We are free to change the world and start something new in it.
Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) was a German-born philosopher and author. With the help of others, she managed to escape the Holocaust, and her journey brought her to the United States in 1941.
From Isaiah 9:2: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.”
Walking without light
Actions filled with sin
False gods and idols
Faith absent within
Living in darkness
Gloom filled with torment
God’s conquered people
Called now to repent
Hearing prophet’s call
Shadows hidden theft
Nation’s ember glows
God has never left
Seeing promised grace
Filled with renewed hope
Evil crawls away
Faith grasps mercy’s rope
Easing life’s burdens
True light’s beating drum
Fear replaced with joy
Darkness overcome
From Isaiah 9:4: “For the yoke of their burden and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, You have broken as on the day of Midian.”
I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.
From Hebrews 6:19-20: “We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) served the United Kingdom as Prime Minister from 1940-1945 and later from 1951-1955. He unwavering leadership during World War II lifted the spirits of his nation in the darkest of times. He was also a prolific writer with countless published works.
Early morning hour
Sowing heart’s tranquility—
Calmness of spirit
Believe, trusting more
Opening another door—
Shifting day’s mindset
Away from one’s view
Time flowing with transition—
Subtleness of change
The thing that looks the most ordinary might end up being the thing that leads you to victory.
If you aim to be something you are not, you will always fail. Aim to be you.
Matt Haig (born 1975) is an English writer and journalist. Much of his writing focuses on novels with fictional themes for adults as well as children stories.
Big Sky Buckeye 