"There is enough in Thee to dry Oceans of Ink..."

I stumbled across these two sonnets by George Herbert the other day and found them simply gorgeous. In the first one, Herbert wonders where the burning love for God has gone and why are not all poems written for Him. This sentiment is continued in the second: all creation sings His praise and there is more beauty in God than man's poor pen could ever express. Why, then, do men write of women and praise their beauty which pales so greatly in comparison? 
My brief little explanations most certainly do not do justice to these poems. But I hope when you read them you will enjoy them just as much as I did.

Sonnet I 
My God, where is that ancient heat towards thee, 
Wherewith whole showls of Martyrs once did burn, 
Besides their other flames? Doth Poetry 
Wear Venus livery? only serve her turn? 
Why are not Sonnets made of thee? and layes 
Upon thine Altar burnt? Cannot thy love 
Heighten a spirit to sound out thy praise 
As well as any she? Cannot thy Dove 
Out-strip their Cupid easily in flight? 
Or, since thy wayes are deep, and still the fame, 
Will not a verse run smooth that bears thy name! 
Why doth that fire, which by thy power and might 
Each breast does feel, no braver fuel choose 
Than that, which one day, Worms, may chance refuse? 

Sonnet II

Sure Lord, there is enough in thee to dry 
Oceans of Ink ; for, as the Deluge did 
Cover the Earth, so doth thy Majesty : 
Each Cloud distills thy praise, and doth forbid 
Poets to turn it to another use. 
Roses and Lillies speak thee ; and to make 
A pair of Cheeks of them, is thy abuse. 
Why should I Womens eyes for Chrystal take? 
Such poor invention burns in their low mind, 
Whose fire is wild, and doth not upward go 
To praise, and on thee Lord, some Ink bestow. 
Open the bones, and you shall nothing find 
In the best face but filth, when Lord, in thee 
The beauty lies, in the discovery. 

Life

"The more I live the more I see that 

this life's not about me."

-Anberlin, Burn Out Brighter

So, what's it about? Life is about living for You, living for them. Life is about taking my talents, gifts and loves and applying them to the world to make it a little better -- a little more beautiful -- all for Your glory. You created us to delight in You and so my actions ought to aide others, constantly bringing them closer to delight in You. Living this way will bring me peace, joy and a freedom from myself; in short, You. That's what life's about. 

From the Prayer Journal...

I always wished my heart could be like a quiet garden; a sweet place of repose. With all the slander, hate and ugliness thrown at You, I'd wish to make my heart, my soul, a quiet place of rest for You. When I receive the Eucharist and You enter into my heart as a guest (or the returning master) into a home, I'd wish it to please You. I'd wish it to bring balm to Your most Sacred, wounded Heart. I wish to welcome You well.

Concerned

I was preparing for confession with an examination of conscience and was struck by one line in the beginning: "...The Creator that brought you forth into being is concerned for you." How many times must I remind myself that confession isn't "paying my dues" or remember my failings just to feel horrible about myself? God doesn't need our "I'm sorry"s. What is the point? The point is for us to acknowledge our missteps and then bring them to Christ -- to the light -- so that He may break the bars that encase our heart.

Little Tools

It seems to me that God has given me little things, little tools, that I can use to calm down, be happy and direct myself back to God. He's given me little things that make it easier for me to pursue Him. He knows how weak I am and so helps me out a little extra ( As if the sacraments, saints, and His own body, blood, soul and divinity weren't enough ;) but I am weak and He wants success. I thought I'd just write up a little list of the things for which I most often say "thank You".

Running: Running gets me out of my head and gives me something to focus on. It helps me de-stress (yay for endorphins!) and feel better about myself. My body and body image has always been a huge struggle for me -- it quite often consumes me -- so anything I can do to boost confidence and feelings about my body is really wonderful. Also is gives me a great sense of accomplishment: "Yes! I pushed myself 5 mins longer!" "I finally made it to my 30min goal!" even if it's just "Well, I didn't want to start, and I wanted to quit the whole time but I pushed myself. I did it." They're small accomplishments but they do me alot of good. So running is a great little tool for me to feel better about myself sometimes some suffering to offer up ;)

Writing: This isn't always as constant as running. I will always feel good about getting out and running, even just for 5 mins. But writing... meh. Sometimes I completely give up. I think I'm an incredibly terrible writer and so I quit. But there are other times when writing makes me happy. It makes me feel like I have a skill to give back to Him.

Good Company: A night of discussion or talking, joking and goofing off with friends makes me feel united. We are all broken, all trying for the same end goal and we all need others' help.

Pretty Little Things: A pretty skirt, a good hair day, good coffee, pretty flowers... I'm a girl, okay? Little moments of beauty or calm can totally reshape my day.

Moments of Quiet: A silent, peaceful morning or just a moment to breathe and reorient oneself with the world: "I am here and He is all around."

Music, Art, Nature... : Now this one applies for every single person.  Beautiful art, music and scenery cannot help but direct ones mind to the Origin of such beauty. Same applies to poetry which often appeals to me more than prose because of the emotion and feeling often more effectively expressed. 
This is a song I just found and love: Hero by Abandon

God Bless,

Liz

Regina Pacis

"Holy Mother Mary is the Queen of peace, and thus the Church invokes her. So when your soul or your family are troubled, or things go wrong at work, in society or between nations, cry out to her without ceasing. Call to her by this title : Regina pacis, ora pro nobis --- Queen of peace, pray for us. Have you at least tried it when you have lost your calm?... You will be surprised at its immediate effect."

- St. Jose Maria Escrive, The Furrow 874