Say not the struggle naught availeth,
The labour and the wounds are vain,
The enemy faints not, nor faileth,
And as things have been they remain.
If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars;
It may be, in yon smoke conceal’d,
Your comrades chase e’en now the fliers,
And, but for you, possess the field.
For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.
And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light;
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly!
But westward, look, the land is bright!
One of my favorite poems, it was quoted by Winston Churchill on the floor of Parliament when Britain stood alone against the Third Reich:
Fortune does favor the bold and those who will never stop fighting for a good cause, no matter the odds.
:^)
That’s the sweetener that makes my coffee taste better than usual.
Thanks for the post Don.
A few years our parish had one of them abueses who has been transferred from another. He went on the run and I don’t think they ever caught him. It just about wrecked our aged pastor.
We have a Polish priest who is very conservative. Seems there is a Polish seminary that sends young priests to the wilds of America.
Our pastor is about 60 y.o. and while he pushes the food bank and helping parishioners. I would judge him not liberal. We have Eucharistic adoration, parish rosaries, holy hours, novenas, retreats. His sermons are on point.
Personal/anecdotal observation. We have had several priests who had jobs/careers and found vocations. One was a Navy enlisted, 20-year man another a former [gasp] lawyer. All were good for this crazy yahoo.
One newly ordained priest had gone to Catholic High School with my sons. He is the BEST. I think he is a pastor, now.
In other news. We can do better.
In a World study of national alcohol consumption. the USA was ranked ‘average.’
We can do better.