Like A Diamond In The Sky

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  “Under the stars,” she repeated. “I never noticed the stars before. I always thought of them as great big diamonds that belonged to someone. Now they frighten me. They make me feel that it was all a dream, all my youth.”  “It was a dream,” said John quietly.  “Everybody’s youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness.”  “How pleasant then to be insane!” —“The Diamond as Big as the Ritz” A Short Story By F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)

Prayer for the New Year

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"Almighty and most merciful Father, I again appear in Thy Presence, the wretched misspender of another year which Thy mercy has allowed me. O Lord, let me now sink into total depravity, look down upon me, and rescue me at last from the captivity of sin. Impart to me good resolutions, and give me strength and perservance to perform them. Take not from me Thy Holy Spirit, but grant that I may redeem the time lost, and that by temperance and diligence, by sincere repentance and faithful obedience I may finally attain everlasting happiness, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord." (Samuel Johnson, 1709 - 1784).

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