Poeta Non Fit Sed Nascitur

Dusk in Tuscanny by Stephen Hannock

Dear B:

An eminent English Renaissance playwright and poet says this about Shakespeare. He is “not of an age, but for all time.” Surely, the latter is poeta non fit sed nascitur. Indeed, the English Bard was not made, but a borne poet and playwright. Therefore, on your upcoming birthday, I like to quote this Bard verse, “in honor of whose birth these triumphs are.”

As God says, “gray hair is a crown of glory.” Even so at our different stage of life, we are ever the contingents of God. So it is, you filled my heart with quiet joy in this milestone. May you continue to embrace His wisdom where you are,“where the vine and fig bask hand in hand.”

In shadow or shine, in flower and thorn, I leave you this birthday thought and evermore: a gentleness of heart, a firmness of mind, and a simplicity of life.

in gratia Dei,

L’

‘A’ Train to Zarathustra

12 August, 2024

Dear B_: 

I wish you a very special birthday coming very soon; soft years ahead; a long life fill with the God’s love. As His truth is innate, wait for God and surely He will guide your journeys on the path of life (cf. Psalm 52:9; 16:11).

Shakespeare writes, “So that as clear as is the summer’s sun”. Far be it that I can (no one can) write like the Bard, much less in poetry. So then, I will impart these thoughts to you. 

Life’s tapestry in this world is constantly as Yates says, “stitching and unstitching.” Mankind in God’s tarnished image is always building a better mousetrap on earth from time immemorial. Furthermore, since east of Eden, one sees the Godless culture and the Goliathan shadow of humanism. Parallel with humanism is the violence and self-righteousness garnered in a technological world. From the ‘A’ Train to Zarathustra, i.e., A to Z, mankind is always striving against self and God (cf. Genesis 4:16-24). The palimpsest of man has two elements in its vicious circle: the joyful or vacuous days of wine and roses, and days of despair and bitterness of the souls. For the redeemed, however, time and again God has shown pleasure to adorn or glorify them (cf. Psalm 149:4; Isaiah 60:9). In accordance to His divine will and mercy, anthropomorphically speaking, He has kept count of the tosses and tears in a bottle (cf. Psalm 56:8). With or without the modern version of balms and physicians of Gilead, God in His timing always provides exodus to the afflicted. With tender mercies, He guides the redeemed into an everlasting peace (cf. Jeremiah 8:22; Ezekiel 37:26; Luke 1:78-79). 

Therefore, B_, the recherché on your upcoming birthday and forevermore is this: may you 

utmost embrace not man’s but God’s wisdom and His power (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:5).

 

Take care. 

in gratia Dei,

L’