Blog - Joyful Curmudgeon - Blog
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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Of All the Souls – 4 March 2009
By Mary T. Hoffman

This poem by Emily Dickinson reminds me that we are on this Earth for a relatively short period of time, even if we live to be 150 (the age that some, who are working to prolong human life as long as possible, have set their sights on). For this reason we should try to bring as much joy, and cause as little pain as possible, to the inhabitants – both human and nonhuman – of this planet.

OF ALL THE SOULS
Emily Dickinson

Of all the souls that stand create
I have elected one.
When sense from spirit files away
And subterfuge is done;
 
When that which is and that which was
Apart, intrinsic, stand,
And this brief tragedy of flesh
Is sifted like a sand;
 
When figures show their royal front
And mists are carved away,–
Behold the atom I preferred
To all the lists of clay!
 
For more poems by Emily Dickinson, visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/poetry/dickinson_emily.html 

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

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