I like the power that poetry puts behind words. William Ernest Henley wrote this famous poem. It is a great poem but for the sake of this post, read the "Invictus" first and then read the response in the second poem.
INVICTUSOut of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever Gods may be,
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance,
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance,
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears,
Looms but the horror of the shade.
And yet the menace of the years,
Finds and shall find me, unafraid.
It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
I love the perspective brought to the table through the words penned by Orson F. Whitney in response to this poem. He writes;
THE SOUL'S CAPTAIN
Art thou of truth? Then what of Him
Who bought thee with his blood?
Who plunged into devouring seas
And snatched thee from the flood?
Who bore for all our fallen race,
What none but Him could bear,
The God who died that man might live,
And endless glory share?
Of what avail thy vaunted strength,
Apart from His vast might?
Pray that his light may pierce the loom,
That thou mayest see aright.
Men are as bubbles on the wave,
As leaves upon the tree.
Thou, captain of they soul, indeed!
Who gave that place to thee?FREE will is thine-free agency,
To wield for right or wrong;
But thou must answer unto Him
To whom all souls belong.
Bend to the dust that head "unbowed"
Small part of life's great whole!
And see in Him, and Him alone
The captain of thy soul.
The words of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon also says it well.
"19And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his days in your service, and yet has been in the service of God, do merit any thanks from you, O how you ought to athank your heavenly bKing!
20I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the athanks and bpraise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and cpreserved you, and has caused that ye should drejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—
21I say unto you that if ye should aserve him who has created you from the beginning, and is bpreserving you from day to day, by lending you cbreath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own dwill, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your ewhole souls yet ye would be funprofitable servants.
22And behold, all that he arequires of you is to bkeep his commandments; and he has cpromised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth dvary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do ekeep his fcommandments he doth bless you and prosper you.
23And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.
24And secondly, he doth arequire that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bbless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?
25And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were acreated of the bdust of the earth; but behold, it cbelongeth to him who created you."
May we remember our God who gave us life, live in humility and give thanks specifically and daily for our many blessings.
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