Delay benefits no one.
Prepare. Prepare. Prepare.
The Muffin Post
Online Journal for the common (Wo)Man.
Category Archives: Inspirational
The Ways Of Man
govia
Men may go to caverns within the earth to slither with snakes, or do deeds so silken that dreams allow, he is aloft with Angels.
Considering all things
Francis Anthony Govia
The most important skill that a person can acquire is the ability to read; the curiosity to go on a differing course, the morality to stay grounded, and the independence to analyze things.
Sometimes we win
By Govia
Thru time
It is love that keeps
Us together.
The kindness
Of good friends that
Quiets the storms.
Your soft hand
Resting on his
At the end of a brutal day
That keeps things
In perspective.
His strong hands
Rubbing
Your feet
That makes you feel
Cherished.
In the world
There are many
Who share a similar
Experience.
People drawn
Together in
A common cause –
Or for one reason or another
Share a special
Connection
With something
Or someone
The connection for what
We speaks
Is remarkably
Beyond Faith.
It is intrinsically
Indescribable.
It is beyond reason
That we relinquish
Our individuality:
With so much sincerity,
We become captive
To that which makes
Us complete.
As long as the Sun
By Govia
In the end there
Is nothing but
Those thoughts
My friend
Shadows that
Dance
And no one
Sees but you.
Gifts of God
That ask for Life
That is yours
To give
To occupy space
With the gravity
Of feelings earned.
No one can deter greatness!
No one should deter you!
No one can deter
Thoughts that come from
The incubator
Of the unconquerable mind
And sit on a page.
This life will end
And so too yours,
But words live on,
Words live
As long as the sun.
For Stephen R. Lyne*
By Govia
There are those
Who believe
Their sons and daughters
Have failed them.
Their purposes
Derailed by one
Fault or
Another.
I say to them
No one is
A failure
Until they
Are dead.
A teacher once
Told a story about
Those who
Worked in the
Diplomatic Corps –
One got up
And left the
Perfectly good job.
They all thought
That he was crazy.
He spent several years
Being knocked around
The block
Then came roaring back
In a greater capacity
And fired the whole
Lot of them.
You guys
Don’t want to
Take any risk
He said.
For those inclined
To think
That they are failures –
You are not.
As long as you
Have life
You can still
reinvent
yourself.
_____
*Ambassador Stephen R. Lyne (Ret.) once told a story to students in the Department of International Relations at Boston University.
Miracles
If misfortune can come by coincidence, so too can miracles.
– By Mark Kenneth Anthony Elegino, the Philippines
The Story of Life
A gifted person needs someone exceptional to move him beyond his zone of comfort. The less talented person needs someone acquiescent to coddle him within his zone of safety.
– Francis Anthony Govia
And Thanks to Milton and Jabez
By Francis Anthony Govia
Perhaps the greatest sonnet ever written, and certainly my personal favorite, is “On his Blindness,”’ one of the fine works of the English poet John Milton. When I was a child, I happened upon that poem, in a book that had long since lost its appeal, and was tossed into a trash heap by its owner. At that time, no one thought about recycling paper, but for my curiosity, the book would have been incinerated.
The book was a fine one in its day. Its hardcover was stout, and red, and its spine, which was then tattered, had threads in it.
Inside of the book were the tell tale signs of something that had a taste for its pages, and all over, were tiny little round holes that were eaten through from front to back.
Thankfully, Milton’s beautiful sonnet was spared, along with a few notable verses by other great poets of the past like Longfellow.
John Milton (1608 - 1674)
I took this book home with me to feast on its pages, but in a more polite way than the creatures before me had done, and read the poems within it through the joys, and at other times, the sad days of my childhood. Nearly all of these poems have since left my memory, but not Milton’s. It has been an enduring part of my life; that along with the prayer of Jabez, and together, they once served as bookends in a very special space in my office in Manhattan.
Just about every Believer knows the story of Jabez. He was the one who was born in pain, who cried out and asked God: Oh, would thou bless me indeed, enlarge my territory, keep my hands from evil, and cause me no pain. Hence, God granted him his wish. But few it seems still give thought to, or mention, the wonderful sonnet of Milton.
Both Milton and Jabez cried out to God. Milton asked for light “to serve his Maker” which represents an opportunity to see, or a strength of purpose to give graciously. His aspirations are written more subtly than that of Jabez; whose intent is expressed with more directness. Both men, however, expressed fervor to do what appear righteous, or noble. Whereas Milton seemed resigned to wait in the end for direction from God, Jabez’s prayer is more resolute and urgent.
On days when ordinary men laugh in your face at aspirations that you hold so dear, it is important to remember the things that give you inspiration and form that closure. Today, I am in need of my bookends.
When I consider how my light is spent
E’re half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide,
Lodg’d with me useless, though my Soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, least he returning chide,
Doth God exact day-labour, light denied,
I fondly ask; But patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts, who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best, his State
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’re Land and Ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.
Where are you going?
By Francis Anthony Govia
Where are you going, young Man?
Where are your dreams? What are your
motives? By what means do your
dreams live?
Time cannot sanction this childlike
behavior. You are a man now with mind
and matter enough to achieve any
dream.
When you are old and weak no lullabies
are sung to you. The wind is cold, and
old bones ache right through. But
nothing aches like a heart full
of regret.
__
The painting is entitled “Ecstatic”, and done in acrylic on canvas by Ghanaian Frank Nortei Nortey. More of Mr. Nortey’s paintings can be viewed at Novica.
