Prayer for the New Year

For Thy guidance all the way
Through the New Year, Lord, we pray,
And in deep humility
Pray for speedy victory.
Let us hear it sung again:
"Peace on earth; good will to men."
Let this year see nations freed
Once again from war and greed.
On the home front help us keep
Faith with those in plane and jeep.
On the land and on the sea
Fighting for our liberty.
Bring them back, whom we hold dear,
Early in this hopeful year.

This poem / prayer was written by Nancy Richey Ranson . . . who was Poet Laureate of Texas from 1941 'til 1943 . . . it was published in the Dallas Morning News on January 1, 1945 . . .

Carved in Stone

Lay the green sod o'er me
carve my name in stone
lay the green sod o'er me
the soldier has come home.

Barry Sadler (1940-1989)
American Singer, Soldier and Songwriter



Human memory
is a marvelous
but fallacious instrument.
The memories
which lie within us
are not carved in stone;
not only
do they tend to become erased
as the years go by,
but often they change,
or even increase
by incorporating extraneous features.

Primo Levi (1919-1987)
Italian Author, Writer and Chemist



Carve not upon a stone
when I am dead,
The praises which
remorseful mourners give;
To women's graves -
a tardy recompense,
But speak them while I live.

Elizabeth Akers Allen



Just because it's carved in stone
does NOT mean it's true!

Texas Toasts

• "Texas, - May her foes turn pale at her name,
  and may she flourish until time is no more."
• "Soldiers of Texas; -
  May their "breast works" be honor,
  and fear always a days "march" behind them."

On April 21, 1837 -- one year after the Battle of San Jacinto -- a celebration was held in Liberty, Texas. The May 9, 1837 edition of the Telegraph and Texas Register newspaper (published in Houston, Texas) contained a write-up about that celebration. K K Searle posted the text of that article over at texas-history-page.blogspot.com. That blogpost is entitled Texas Toasts . . . make sure you go read the rest of the story . . .