Who is the "Captain of Thy Soul?"

These two poems juxtaposed next to each other was absolutely instrumental to my conversion to the church.  The first poem is a by a well known and celebrated poet and writer from the 19th century, the other is simply a member of the Quorum of the Twelve responding to the first, as he was apparently offended by it.  Both poems are powerful, but I myself see the second as truly beautiful & masterful.

What do you think?  Here they are:

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INVICTUS by William E Henley

Out 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 bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Life Without The Internet

As both of you who actually read this blog may have noticed (of course, that includes my girlfriend and my mother), I have been MIA online for the past few weeks. I promise you there is a great explanation for it. All I need now is to find a good way to spin it for you.

First of all to my Mother, I love you. I don't know where I would be without you. You teach me through your amazing example that it is possible to love an offbeat son unconditionally. If there was a “World's Greatest Mother” Award that my imaginary non-profit foundation gave out, you would have it, hands down. In all the trials that I go through, I now know that I can depend on you for anything. Which is why I feel that this is the best time to ask you an important question. May I have some money?

Life on the farm has been quiet. I've made friends with the cows, mended some fences, chased enemy cows out of our property, forgotten to bathe, (therefore I) lived like a hobo as I of course refined my highly sought after talents and skills with the Xbox. I gather that if I spend at least a few hours a day on it, I can be the gamer that other gamers speak of in legends. People will say, “Wow, He's really good!”; “He sure has a lot of gamer points!”; “He's using game-genie!”;“That ReprovedRapier guy really doesn't have a life does he?”

Marching Band, Anyone? -- The Solution to Many of the World's Sicknesses

Who are we? What can we do to change perceptions about us and people like us?

I believe that those things that matter most are how we treat each other, teach each other, and help each other to choose. And for that reason, I choose to support two things: fighting for the right to make more powerful choices, and working to help people make the most out of each and every choice that they make. I also realize that a lot of the time, that means marching to the beat of a different drum.

Buddha And Jesus Are Homeboys

Have you ever wondered how things could be if you had taken a different path? Like for instance, where you would be if you went to a different school, or lived in a different neighborhood, or had a different socio-economic status? How different would things be if you were more outgoing and confident in your ability? What if you never had come in contact with your best friends?

As I sit here reflecting, I think of the strange path that my life has taken, with some events that are so incredibly unique to me, and others that tie me irrevocably to the other people around me. What would have happened if I actually made my high school basketball team's first string? Would I have still been the geek that I am today? Would I still be, almost nightly, watching every single episode, right after another, of the TV show called "Heroes?" Maybe, perhaps, "Heroes" would not interest me. Maybe "Magic: The Gathering" would wrinkle my nose instead of tingle my senses. Maybe my room would be 15 degrees cooler, because my Xbox and TV would be off most of the time.

I've had some interesting things happen in my life, from being heralded as a genius in grade school, to flunking out of college, to running for political office, to being hit by a fire & rescue truck, to falling asleep on the highway, to this blog.

I've had 12 different vehicles, 5 cats, 4 dogs, 3 different types of teeth, 2 blogs, and a religion that most people [affectionately] name after the book they study.