The Princess in the Tower

The Princess in the Tower


I

The Princess sings:

I am the princess up in the tower
And I dream the whole day thro'
Of a knight who shall come with a silver spear
And a waving plume of blue.

I am the princess up in the tower,
And I dream my dreams by day,
But sometimes I wake, and my eyes are wet,
When the dusk is deep and gray.

For the peasant lovers go by beneath,
I hear them laugh and kiss,
And I forget my day-dream knight,
And long for a love like this.

II

The Minstrel sings:

I lie beside the princess' tower,
So close she cannot see my face,
And watch her dreaming all day long,
And bending with a lily's grace.

Her cheeks are paler than the moon
That sails along a sunny sky,
And yet her silent mouth is red
Where tender words and kisses lie.

I am a minstrel with a harp,
For love of her my songs are sweet,
And yet I dare not lift the voice
That lies so far beneath her feet.

III

The Knight sings:

O princess cease your dreams awhile
And look adown your tower's gray side --
The princess gazes far away,
Nor hears nor heeds the words I cried.

Perchance my heart was overbold,
God made her dreams too pure to break,
She sees the angels in the air
Fly to and fro for Mary's sake.

Farewell, I mount and go my way,
-- But oh her hair the sun sifts thro' --
The tilts and tourneys wait my spear,
I am the Knight of the Plume of Blue.

Sara Teasdale

free hugs and kisses for life

My heart is filled with love every time I hear Neil and Lydia call me Dad.
Frank

PARENT - Job Description
POSITION:
Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma
Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop


JOB DESCRIPTION:
Long-term team players needed for challenging permanent work
in an often chaotic environment.

Candidates must possess excellent communication and
organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours,
which will include evenings and weekends and frequent
24-hour shifts on call.

Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive
camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports
tournaments in faraway cities!

Travel expenses not reimbursed.

Extensive courier duties also required.


RESPONSIBILITIES:
The rest of your life.

Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until
someone needs $5.

Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly.

Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and
be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in
case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not
someone just crying wolf.

Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges,
such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets,
and stuck zippers.

Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars, and coordinate
production of multiple homework projects.

Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for
clients of all ages and mental outlooks.

Must be willing to be indispensable one minute and an
embarrassment the next.

Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half
million cheap plastic toys and battery-operated devices.

Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.

Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality
of the end product.

Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and
janitorial work throughout the facility.


POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION:
If you are lucky, you may be promoted to the position of
Grandparent. Of course, you must still retain and fulfill
all the responsibilities of Parent while assuming the new
title and job responsibilities of Grandparent.


PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:
None required, unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on
a continually exhausting basis.


WAGES AND COMPENSATION:
Get this! You pay them!

Offering frequent raises and bonuses.

A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the
assumption that college will help them become financially
independent.

When you die, you give them whatever is left.

The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that
you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.


BENEFITS:
While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition
reimbursement, no paid holidays, and no stock options are
offered, this job supplies limitless opportunities for
personal growth and free hugs and kisses for life if you
play your cards right.

--

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From your sweetness, may strength come forth

When someone asks me what kind of guy am I sometimes I'll say "I'm sweet"..lol..this beautiful gem puts into words what that means to me...
Frank

Out of your sweetness, may strength come forth. In weakness, may a brave heart grow. In your dependence, may faith take root. From wide-eyed wonder, may wisdom flow. May the lions you face meet a warrior. May you dance on the high fields of praise. May rejoicing run like a river through the valleys of your days. May you stand in your inheritance and live as a child of the king. May your ears be tuned to angels in the wind-whispered glory they sing.

May you carry a furnace fire of hope when the world falls dark around you. May you find in your heart forgiveness when others, unthinking, hurt you. May you know as deep as DNA in the marrow of your soul you are known, you are loved, you are valued. Though you fear it, you are never alone. May you walk in the cool of the evening in the garden your maker has given. May you bring to trembling, fragile earth the certain touch of heaven. May your eyes never lose the wonder of the miracle of your birth. From your heart, come love. From your life, come truth. From your sweetness, may strength come forth.

From Spoken Worship: Living Words for Personal and Public Prayer
by Gerard Kelly

The dance of our souls

Two of my loves, poetry and music, they comfort me and soothe my soul. And the following poem and song are dedicated to my new friend. I have enjoyed the dance of our souls. ;-)

Frank

"The Dreams of My Heart"

The dreams of my heart and my mind pass,
Nothing stays with me long,
But I have had from a child
The deep solace of song;

If that should ever leave me,
Let me find death and stay
With things whose tunes are played out and forgotten
Like the rain of yesterday.

Sarah Teasdale

Little Peggy March

I Will Follow Him

I will follow him
Follow him wherever he may go
There isn't an ocean too deep
A mountain so high it can keep me away

I must follow him
Ever since he touched my hand, I knew
That near him I always must be
And nothing can keep him from me
He is my destiny

I love him, I love him, I love him
And where he goes, I'll follow, I'll follow, I'll follow
He'll always be my true love, my true love, my true love
From now until forever, forever, forever

I will follow him
Follow him wherever he may go
There isn't an ocean too deep
A mountain so high it can keep, keep me away
Away from my love

I love him, I love him, I love him
And where he goes, I'll follow, forever and ever
And, side by side, together, I'll be with my true love
And share a thousand sunsets together beside him

I will follow him
Follow him wherever he may go
There isn't an ocean too deep
A mountain so high it can keep, keep me away
Away from my love

Backbeat.................
When Little Peggy March hit the charts in 1963, she helped pave the way for a boom in "girl groups" later in the decade. Born Margaret Annemarie Battavio in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, she began singing at family gatherings at age two and appeared on local TV programs shortly thereafter. In 1961, she was "discovered" and soon under contract to RCA Records.

Her early recordings created little notice, but when "I Will Follow Him" was released in 1963, it shot to number 1 in the United States and several foreign countries. It even reached the top of the R&B charts. Ironically, the same tune, entitled "Chariot" and sung in French by Petula Clarke was a hit in France the previous year.

Having no further successes in the United States, Little Peggy pursued her European career, scored many more hits there, and moved to Germany in the late sixties. Gifted at learning new languages, she kept producing international hits through the 1990s. However, in the United States she is virtually unknown and is relegated to the "oldies singer" category.

Riff...........................
Peggy's breathless passionate vocals, backed by a male doo-wop chorus, captured the sentiment perfectly---this was a commitment made be a vulnerable teenage girl to her boyfriend. And it struck a chord with the public because we know that romantic passion, at any age, can inspire us. We also know that this passion can fade. Give this girl a few months, and she'll be whining, "Why do we always have to go where you want to go?" Still, it's nice to remember that time of innocent devotion.

How does all of this compare with following Jesus? Many people feel an initial swell of religious passion when they first hear about Jesus. They raise a hand or walk down the aisle or pray a prayer and devote themselves to Christ. They're determined to "follow him wherever he may go." But sometimes that passion fades, and they have second thoughts.

Jesus encountered the same thing in his ministry. After he miraculously fed a crowd of thousands, his popularity was at an all-time high, but this support dwindled over time. Momentary excitement got doused by harsh reality. This came as no surprise to Jesus, who kept challenging his would-be disciples: "Then Jesus said to the disciples, 'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me.'" (Matthew 16:24 NLT). Shoulder your cross? That sounds serious.

Have you gotten past the initial rush of Christian commitment and into the serious business of following Jesus? Do you seek His leadership in every facet of your daily life, including finances, relationships, work, and leisure time? Can you honestly say, "I will follow him," no matter what?

Harmonies.....................
> Song Of Songs 7:10-12

10 I belong to my lover,
and his desire is for me.

11 Come, my lover, let us go to the countryside,
let us spend the night in the villages.

12 Let us go early to the vineyards
to see if the vines have budded,
if their blossoms have opened,
and if the pomegranates are in bloom—
there I will give you my love.

> Matthew 16:24

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

> John 6:26-27

26Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

> Matthew 10:37-39
37 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

> Mark 10:28-30

28Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!"

29"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.

> 1 Peter 2:21
21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

Used without permission from "Pop Music Wit & Wisdom" by Tony Rufo.