Pardon me, but I can't resist the temptation:

-----Original Message-----
From: "John A. Lynch" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] 
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 11:02:15 -0500
Subject: [UTCSTAFF] Looking for meaning?

Dear All:

My father was in North Africa during World War II.  He found wisdom in
jokes and poems.  Here is one he often recited.

      Abou Ben Adhem

               Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
               Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
               And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
               Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
               An angel writing in a book of gold:--
               Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
               And to the presence in the room he said,
               "What writest thou?"--The vision raised its head,
               And with a look made of all sweet accord,
               Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."
               "And is mine one?" said Abou.  "Nay, not so,"
               Replied the angel.  Abou spoke more low,
               But cheerly still; and said, "I pray thee, then,
               Write me as one that loves his fellow men."

               The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
               It came again with a great wakening light,
               And showed the names whom love of God had blest,
               And lo!  Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.


- Leigh Hunt -

(1784-1859)

Reply:
--I heard it from my father in the 1930's.  I think it was consonant with his Masonic enthusiasm.   But I looked it up (with tom Ware's help) to recite at my brother's memorial service a couple of years ago.  He was a conscientious doctor in West Texas who had served in WW II and professed to be an atheist.  The latter particlularly bothered some of his children who had become church-going Christians.

--But here's another I learned in the 1930s, I think from my fourth grade teacher, and I memorized it for a poetry recital contest:

         "RECESSIONAL

"God of our fathers, known of old,
     Lord of our far-flung battle line,
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
     Dominion over palm and pine--
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget--lest we forget!

"The tumult and the shouting does;
     The captains and the kings depart;
Still stands Thine ancient scrifice,
     An humble and contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget--lest we forget!

"Far-called our navies melt away;
     On dune and headland sinks the fire;
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
     Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget--lest we forget!

"If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
     Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,
Such boastings as the Gentile use,
     Or lesser breeds without the Law--
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget--lest we forget!

"For heathen heart that puts her trust
      In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
     And guarding, calls not Thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish work--
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord!
                                                    Amen."
               Rudyard Kipling   (1865-1935)

--Was this prophetic for Britain in 1897?   Is it prophetic  for the U.S.A. in 2003?

--Incidentally, in the poetry recital, I came in second to the kid who recited "Whispering Bill".  We became bosom buddies through  High School.

      Carter Pate