1866 – On this day Thomas O. Chisholm, American Methodist pastor, teacher, editor and poet was born. His most famous work is no doubt the still popular hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.
Refrain
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Refrain
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Refrain
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1878 – Don Marquis, American newspaperman, poet, and playwright, was born. He is well-known for his writings about archy, a cockroach who commandeered his work typewriter at night while he was away. One such musing by archy was “what the ants are saying.” It includes the following:
dear boss i was talking with an ant
the other day
and he handed me a lot of
gossip which ants the world around
are chewing over among themselves
i pass it on to you
in the hope that you may relay it to other
human beings and hurt their feelings with it
no insect likes human beings
and if you think you can see why
the only reason i tolerate you is because
you seem less human to me than most of them
here is what the ants are saying
it wont be long now it wont be long
man is making deserts of the earth
it wont be long now
before man will have used it up
so that nothing but ants
and centipedes and scorpions
can find a living on it
man has oppressed us for a million years
but he goes on steadily
cutting the ground from under
his own feet making deserts deserts deserts
we ants remember
and have it all recorded
in our tribal lore
when gobi was a paradise
swarming with men and rich
in human prosperity
it is a desert now and the home
of scorpions ants and centipedes
what man calls civilization
always results in deserts
man is never on the square
he uses up the fat and greenery of the earth
each generation wastes a little more
of the future with greed and lust for riches
america was once a paradise
of timberland and stream
but it is dying because of the greed
and money lust of a thousand little kings
who slashed the timber all to hell
and would not be controlled
and changed the climate
and stole the rainfall from posterity
and it wont be long now
it wont be long
till everything is desert
it wont be long now It won’t be long
till earth is barren as the moon
and sapless as a mumbled bone
dear boss i relay this information
without any fear that humanity
will take warning and reform
To read the entire reflection, go here, and to read more of Marquis’ writings, click here.
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1890 Artist Vincent van Gogh died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Auvers, France, at age 37.
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1905 – Dag Hammarskjold, the Swedish Nobel Prize-winning 2nd secretary-general of the U. N., was born. A few quotes of his include:
“Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for.”
“The longest journey is the journey inward.”
“For all that has been, thanks. For all that will be, yes”
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Here’s hoping your day is a good one.
