Friday, March 28, 2008

A Quest for the Crown

Many men are sent on a quest
For the crown
Searching all corners of the great land
The minstrel tries to sing as before
But the jester he laughs no more
Many men are sent on a mission of hope
Asking fortune-tellers and the wise men
Where the royal crown is to be found
Promising rewards in silver gold and pounds

When the king returns from the crusades
There is no big welcome on the shore
As he hear the news of the missing crown
He shouts at the sky
Have I ever let you down
The elderly call it a sign as famine
Strikes the land
Caught in the grip Of the reapers cold hand

The mission must succeed
Or the kingdom will fall
With it falls the future if us all

No crystal-ball manage to find
Guidance in their holy quest
God is the last hope for our nation
Of earth stone and damnation

Many years had past since the king died
When one day a young boy looked down
Into the moat
Something was gleaming deep down
What could it be If not for the kings crown

-Falconer "A Quest for the Crown"

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Bite-Sized Food for Thought

"You will find something more in woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters."

- Saint Bernard

"The Christian writer does not decide what would be good for the world and proceed to deliver it. Like a very doubtful Jacob, he confronts what stands in his path and wonders if he will come out of the struggle at all."

– Flannery O’Connor

"And like all true believers, I am truly skeptical of all that I have said."

- Over the Rhine, "The World Can Wait"

"If you write for God, you will reach many men and bring them joy. If you write for men, you may make some money, and you may give someone a little joy, and you may make a noise in the world — for a little while. If you write only for yourself, you can read what you yourself have written, and after ten minutes, you will be so disgusted you will wish that you were dead."

- Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation