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A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 

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“The Out-Doors Man” – 9 November 2008
By Mary T. Hoffman

For today I’ve chosen one of Edger A. Guest’s poems. I like the way he describes “The Out-Doors Man” as “The man who loves all living things….” instead of glorifying the killing of God’s creatures that unfortunately is promoted so much lately.

The Out-Doors Man
Edgar A. Guest

He must come back a better man,
Beneath the summer bronze and tan,
Who turns his back on city strife
To neighbor with the trees;
He must be stronger for the fight
And see with clearer eye the right,
Who fares beneath the open sky
And welcomes every breeze.

The man who loves all living things
Enough to go where Nature flings
Her glories everywhere about,
And dwell with them awhile,
Must be, when he comes back once more,
A little better than before,
A little surer of his faith
And readier to smile.

He never can be wholly bad
Who seeks the sunshine and is glad
To hear a songbird’s melody
Or wade a laughing stream;
Nor worse than when he went away
Will he return at close of day
Who’s chummed with happy birds and trees,
And taken time to dream.

For a large collection of poems and stories, visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/poetrydir.html

Go on to: Thought for Today – 10 November 2008
Return to: Momma Chimp and Tiger Cubs – 8 November 2008
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