The Notes (20 page)

I
f men will not be governed by God (that is to be honest, truthful, diligent, fair & just to all) then they must be governed by tyrants.

Numbers 6:24–26

T
he Lord bless thee & keep thee. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee & be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee & give thee peace.

Commandments

T
hou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart & with all thy soul & with all thy mind—this is the 1st & great commandment. (& the 2nd is like unto it).

T
hou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these 2 commandments, hang all the law & the prophets.

Irish Blessing

M
ay the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, the rain fall soft upon your fields & until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.

The Rangers Prayer

O
h God whose end is justice, Whose strength is all our stay, Be near & bless my mission as I go forth today. Let wisdom guide my actions, let courage fill my heart and help me, Lord, in every hour to do a Ranger’s part. Protect when danger threatens, sustain when trails are rough; help me to keep my standard high and smile at each rebuff. When might comes down upon me, I pray thee, Lord, be nigh, whether lonely scout, or camped, under the Texas sky. Keep me, oh God, in life and when my days shall end, forgive my sins and take me in, For Jesus’ sake, Amen.

High Flight—John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

Of sun-split clouds—and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,

I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of airs. . . .

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,

Where never lark, or even eagle, flew;

And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

(Written by a 19-year-old American volunteer with the Royal Canadian Air Force, who was killed in training December 11, 1941)

Anonymous

You cannot pray the Lord’s prayer & even once say ‘I,’

You cannot pray the Lord’s prayer & even once say ‘my’

You cannot pray the Lord’s prayer & not include another;

You cannot ask for daily bread & not include your brother.

For others are included in each & every plea;

From the very beginning it never once says me.

[Unknown, Christian Reader, Vol. 32, No. 3]

Isaiah 1:18

C
ome let us reason together.

Isaiah 19:20

I
f ye be willing ye shall eat the good of the land—but if ye refuse & rebel—ye shall be devoured with the sword. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Thomas Jefferson Prior to Writing Dec. of Independence, Inscribed on Jefferson Memorial, Wash. D.C.

T
he God who gave us life gave us lib. Can the libs. of a nat. be secure when we have removed a conviction that these libs. are the gift of God?

1962—St. N.Y. Proposed Prayer for Its Schools