The Passionate Shepherd to his Love

Come live with me and be my Love,

And we will all the pleasures prove

That hills and valleys, dale and field,

And all the craggy mountains yield.

There will we sit upon the rocks

And see the shepherds feed their flocks,

By shallow rivers, to whose falls

Melodious birds sing madrigals.

There will I make thee beds of roses

And a thousand fragrant posies,

A cap of flowers, and a kirtle

Embroider'd all with leaves of myrtle.

A gown made of the finest wool,

Which from our pretty lambs we pull,

Fair lined slippers for the cold,

With buckles of the purest gold.

A belt of straw and ivy buds

With coral clasps and amber studs:

And if these pleasures may thee move,

Come live with me and be my Love.

Thy silver dishes for thy meat

As precious as the gods do eat,

Shall on an ivory table be

Prepared each day for thee and me.

The shepherd swains shall dance and sing

For they delight each May-morning:

If these delights thy mind may move,

Then live with me and be my Love.

                                                   +C. Marlowe

                                                                      (artist: Luigi Bechi)

Patience

"Patience is better than wisdom. An ounce of patience is better than a pound of brains. All men praise patience but few enough can practice it; it is a medicine which is good for all diseases, and therefore every old woman recommends it: but it is not every garden that grows the herbs to make it with. When one's flesh and bones are full of aches and pains, it is as natural for us to murmur as it for a horse to shake his head when the flies tease him, or a wheel to rattle when a spoke is loose; but nature should not be the rule with Christians. Or what is their religion worth?



~ Charles Spurgeon

(John Ploughman's Talk)

Courage

       To live courageously demands wholehearted commitment. Some Christians profess to have the courage to die for Christ, but they lack the courage to live daily for him...... Courage is not just the force behind spectacular public acts. It is also the motivation to carry out private deeds hardly noticeable to others.

--BJU Press - Explorations in Literature