Thursday, August 31, 2006

the bliss of solitude (such a mellow post!)


Daffodils
By William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

I wander'd lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.


It had to happen one day, that this poem would make an appearance on my blog. My brother, Luke, will understand why. We were forced to memorize the entire thing at school on board Logos 2 when we were something like 13 and 11 years old. I'm glad though.

We have since made our own variations to this poem, combined with poetry from "The Scarlet Pimpernel". Our variation had little to do with daffodils, but Luke had a way of proclaiming it in a very Wordsworth-like manner (I think so anyway, even though we do not have recordings of Wordsworth reading any of his poems).

The only line I've always remembered from this poem is: "For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood". I like the pensive moods when these memories of our poetry sessions flash upon my inward eye.

The boy (my bro) is getting married soon and the time is long gone when we had the chance to hang out and write rediculous poetry. We are the same people though and it's good to know that we'll have opportunity to watch each other go through life. I'm proud of him as I watch him from a distance. I look forward to meeting up and reminiscing. It's good to know, after a great many goodbyes, that some people are yours to keep.

THAT my heart with pleasure fills...

Sunday, August 13, 2006

wanted: engineers

Received the following message from a Douloid:

We have an urgent Prayer Request for the Doulos and the Ship Ministry in General. We are in urgent need of Engineers. If we don’t get engineers by the end of Sept, the Doulos won’t be able to leave Thailand. So please pray with us that God will provide qualified people. And if you know of people that might be able to help us, ask them to contact the nearest OM office.

Thought I would put this here, just in case some engineers wonders upon my blog. I recommend Doulos! You can always contact me for more information.