The Gain Of Self-Renunciation
One day, when great crowds of people were walking with Jesus, he turned and said to them:
“If any man comes to me and does not hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yes, and his very life, he can be no disciple of mine. Whoever does not carry his own cross, and walk in my steps, can be no disciple of mine. Why, which of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and reckon the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?—for fear that, if he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, every one who sees it should begin to laugh at him, and say, ‘Here is a man who began to build and was not able to finish!’ Or what king, when he is setting out to fight another king, does not first sit down and consider if with ten thousand men he is able to meet one who is coming against him with twenty thousand? And if he cannot, then, while the other is still at a distance, he sends envoys and asks for terms of peace. And so with every one of you who does not bid farewell to all he has—be cannot be a disciple of mine.”
—Luke.
Barnacles
My soul is Bailing through the sea,
But the Past is heavy and hindereth me.
The Past hath crusted cumbrous shells
That hold the flesh of cold sea-mells
About my soul.
The huge waves wash, the high waves roll,
Each barnacle clingeth and worketh dole
And hindereth me from sailing!
Old Past, let go, and drop i’ the sea
Till fathomless waters cover thee!
For I am living, but thou art dead;
Thou drawest back, I strive ahead
The day to find.
Thy shells unbind! Night comes behind;
I need must hurry with the wind
And trim me best for sailing.
—Sidney Lanier.