Margaret’s Song

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  There was a king in Thule,  True even to the grave;  To whom his dying mistress  A golden beaker gave.  At every feast he drained it,  Naught was to him so dear,  And often as he drained it,  Gush’d from his eyes the tear.  When death came, unrepining  His cities o’er he told;  All to his heir resigning,  Except his cup of gold.  With many a knightly vassal  At a royal feast sat he,  In yon proud hall ancestral,  In his castle o’er the sea.  Up stood the jovial monarch,  And quaff’d his last life’s glow,  Then hurled the hallow’d goblet  Into the flood below.  He saw it splashing, drinking,  And plunging in the sea;  His eyes meanwhile were sinking,  And never again drank he. “Margaret’s Song” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) in “Faust. Part I.”

A Hot Summer's Day

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Here are two scenarios. The first is: You are standing by the edge of a swimming pool on a hot summer's day. Your flesh is hot; the water's cold. It's not going to be pleasant when you first hit the water. The longer you hesitate, the harder it becomes. Your friends call out, "The water's fine. Come on. You can do it. Just dive in!"

Now here's the second scenario: You are hesitating by the water's edge. Suddenly you see your beloved four-year-old sink beneath the water in front of you. He's drowning! Do you still think about the cold water? No! Not for a second.

Every day 150,000 people sink into the cold waters of death. Do you need to be coaxed to dive in to reach them before they pass into eternity? There goes another minute. Gone forever. Go share your faith while you still have time .

From: Way of the Master Minute.

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