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  • Author's Testimony & Introduction--FAQS
    • Table of Contents
  • 1 His Kingdom to Prepare
  • 2 My Choice Companions
  • 3 Companions
  • 4 Companions II
  • 5 A Mother's MTC Farewell
  • 6 Who Will Dare for Christ
  • 7 To a Chosen Generation
  • 8. I Feel Such a Strangeness
  • 9. Not Me
  • 10. My Brother's Father
  • 11. Not Far Away
  • 12. Questions for Our Leaders
  • 13. Questions From Our Leaders
  • 14. The Visit
  • 15. Show and Tell
  • 16. Within Our Slumber We Will Dream
  • 17. Servants in the Shadows
  • 18. Joya Escojida/Chosen Jewel
  • 19. Las Aguas Del Senor/The Waters of the Lord
  • 20. Come Fasting to the Meeting House
  • 21. As Voices Join in Sacred Sabbath Worship
  • 22. A Child's Baptismal Day
  • 23. In Temple White
  • 24. Temple Hill
  • 25. This Precious Day
  • 26. The Translators
  • 27. I Your Husband Who Have Fallen [First Poem of The Repentance Trilogy.]
  • 28. The Wife's Song
  • 29. Remember Not Past Years
  • 30. A Priesthood Lullaby
  • 31. The Season of Our Need
  • 32. Cherished Daughter, Valiant Servant
  • 33. Daughter, Hear and Heed Your Savior's Voice
  • 34. Bird Mom
  • 35. Eric's Song
  • 36. A Wedding Song of Praise
  • 37. Testimonies to My Daughters
  • 38. Prayer for a Caring Granddaughter
  • 39. Firstborn Son and Firstborn Daughter
  • 40. Father's Day
  • 41 The Hospital
  • 42. The Children of the World
  • 43. For the Healers of the World
  • 44. Simple Heroes of Our Day
  • 45. To This World So Prone to Peril
  • 46. Somewhere
  • 47. Servant of Servants
  • 48. We Wish That You Were Here
  • 49. The Teacher
  • 50. To Protect Marriage and Family
  • 51. Earth's Unborn Children Weeping
  • 52. Prayers for the Peacekeepers
  • 53. That Patriot Dreams Will Come to Pass
  • 54. We Would Do It All Again
  • 55. So Much More
  • 56. Passage and Pilot
  • 57. Because of the Son
  • 58. Growing Up
  • 59. The Olive Leaf
  • 60. Until All Are One With Him
  • 61. Death Has Not Won, But Lost
  • 62. Call to Arms
  • 63. When All Is Done
  • 64. How Rarely Have I Come This Way
  • 65. At a Place So Very Different
  • 66. My Best Years Lie Ahead
  • 67. Sons of Zion, Jesus Calls You
  • 68. Come, Sing Your Song to Me
  • 69. May It Be Always So
  • 70. Until Safe in Heaven's Embrace
  • 71. Seek the Spirit
  • 72. Undertow
  • 73. If I Am Given Time
  • 74. Sons and Daughters, Heirs of Promise
  • 75. Wrestling for a Call
  • 76. When Everything is Ready
  • 77. One Thousand Times
  • 78. Tearful and Fearful I Prayed Through the Evening
  • 79. Tell Us, How Do Servants and Teachers Like You Come Along?
  • 80. Blessings for Beloved Servants
  • 81. Our Gayla's Free at Last
  • 82. I Am a Witness of Your Worth
  • 83. I'll Live With You Again
  • 84. Brother, Friend, and Fellow Servant
  • 85. Grieve Not for Him
  • 86. Press On From Payson's Hill
  • 87. The Righteous Live in Me
  • 88. Homecoming
  • 89. In Honor of My Friends Unseen
  • 90. [An Invitation] We Call to You
  • 91. Fellow Americans, Let Us Talk
  • 92. Brothers and Sisters, Fulfilled Together
  • 93. What We Have Lost in Our Digital Paradise
  • 94. Running Out of Time
  • 95. Ere You Hear the Sound of Battle
  • 96. 21st Century Gadiantons
  • 97 The Setting Apart
  • 98. What Do You Say?
  • 99. To a Woman of Tempered Steel
  • 100. A Correction Soon Begins
  • 101. The Quiet of the Morning
  • 102. Slippery Slope
  • 103. Stormy--We've Got to Stop Meeting Like This
  • 104. Warriors of the Mind and Soul [Poetic Process Discussion]
  • 105. He Wrote Just as He Lived
  • 106. Life Singer
  • 107. Zion's Daughter Leanore
  • 108. Does Your House of Worship Now Seem Lonely
  • 109. Crucify the "Old Man of Sin"
  • 110. We Loved Them Once
  • 111. Winter's Mothers God Holds Most Dear
  • 112. Lord, Please Forgive Us Anew
  • 113. Patriot's Faith Will Triumph Yet
  • 114. Indexing
  • 115. I Am Liberty
  • 116. The Beauty
  • 117. To Aid the Innocents Abused
  • 118. A Noble Bugler Has Returned
  • 119. The Music of the Lord
  • 120. Frog Cat
  • 121. God's Storms
  • 122. The Daughters of the Lord
  • 123. Come Back, Before Our Souls for Error Yearn
  • 124. Don't Tell Me That My Time Has Come
  • 125. From the Dust [Comes The Book of Mormon]
  • 126 To See the Sun Again
  • 127. Mourning America
  • 128. For Baby Adam
  • 129. Despedida Ansiosa/Anxious Farewell
  • 130. Between the Lines
  • 131. Will You Ever Ask the Questions
  • 132. The Days I Spent With You
  • 133. For Nelda
  • 134. The Covenant Path
  • 135. Heartland Dream
  • 136 We Sent Our Very Best
  • 137. Sisters of the Covenant, Daughters of God
  • 138 Sisters Share Their Cheerful Hearts
  • 139 God Looketh On the Heart
  • 140 What of Me?
  • 141 The Return
  • 142 Latter-day Defenders
  • 143. "Come and See, Come and Help, Come and Share"
  • 144. The Best of Father's Seed I've Known
  • 145. [Complete, but pending.]
  • 146. When the Days of Wait Are Over
  • 147. Red Kettles and Silver Bells
  • 148. Victory
  • 149. He Lacks Not Faith
  • 150. "Am I a Friend of Jesus?" [Spring 2020 Semi-Final Examination]
  • 151. Christ is Our Refuge Once Again
  • 152. Until We Kneel at Our Savior's Feet
  • 153. Where You Stand, You Should Still Lift
  • 154. No Day Shall Pass nor Night Shall Fall
  • 155. We Pray for You
  • 156. Bountiful Harvest
  • 157. A Message of Peace and Love
  • 158. Israel, Israel God Shall Save Thee
  • 159. For Those Who Wait
  • 160. Friends Who Intercede
  • 161. Young Women's "Frog Camp"

154.  "No Day Shall Pass nor Night Shall Fall"
(A Promise to A.A. and his Companion Defenders)

Picture







Background and Trigger:


The "A" family, "across the way" has had a notable and enduring impact upon me and mine.  Mrs. A's birthday years ago inspired my first Spanish poem, No. 18, "Joya Escojida", and I shall be forever grateful for that motivation because of the subsequent Spanish poems found here--which still probably require correction as to accent marks!  At that birthday, all of her four sons were present--two of whom were former Marines and a third ("A") was still in the Army. 

The "ongoing unpleasantness" began with what some call "The Plandemic", and continued with ferocious riots in numerous cities large and small; including our own little desert community.  As a consequence of that threat, Mrs. "A's" former Marine with whom she lived, joined me in an informal "mutual defense treaty" by which we will appear if needed.  While I pray this never becomes necessary, I am prepared to respond instantly. 

I learned this week that Mrs. "A's" army son would arrive on family leave--an event justifying another gathering of the clan. Mrs. "A" had 60 direct descendants, who, with diverse in-laws, filled impressive public service posts in medicine, education, and more.  This was a formidable posterity which supported their parents' new homeland with zeal.  

I told my neighbor that I would bring a cake to their feast.  [And I did--a suitably large confection with a bright flag made of icing and the deserved inscription:  "Familia Sobresaliente" (Outstanding Family).] However, the occasion was simply too perfect to ignore a prompting that "something more" was called for.  Pleading for inspiration, I began a poem I first tentatively named, "The Pledge", which was based around the "hook" or "trigger phrase" now seen in the published version below.  

In a notable "tender mercy" the Lord gave me the piece in time for the family's fiesta, and it was accompanied by gifts to the veterans of boxes of small but surprisingly heavy items sold in lots of 50--this both "made a statement" and affirmed the promise I made before the Lord:  No day shall pass nor night shall fall but I will protect these whom I love with such limited powers as I still possess.    

​
#154.  “No Day Shall Pass nor Night Shall Fall”
 
The soldier’s bags were almost packed, and he would soon depart.
He gazed upon a tender scene, with love that pierced his heart.
His mother, well advanced in years, surrounded by his kin,
Would soon extent tearful farewell, as duty called again.
 
No more a youth, his visage shown with purpose fierce and rare,
He’d leave the comforts of his home to protect those who lived there.
On foreign shores, cruel tyrants mocked the flag and faith they bore.
Thus, men of strength and will were called to guard our land once more.
 
I was a neighbor, “across the way”, and I knew this family well.
For years we shared both work and play and the news we’d often tell,
Of “How are things? What’s new with you?  And yours—how are they all?
“And have you heard from the soldier-son who answered freedom’s call?”
 
I paid a visit to their home before he left again,
And, prompted by our Heavenly Sire, I promised this to him:
“My summer’s youth has long since passed, my prime has fled away.
“My eyes grow dim with the price of time;  My stamina won’t stay.”
 
“But though I’m worn, and old and weak, until death comes for me,
“No day shall pass nor night shall fall but I shall pray for thee.
“And even as you’ve pledged your soul to the God who made us free,
“I pledge to you I shall give my all to preserve those dear to thee.
 
“So leave those whom you love the most, assured I love them too,
“And fight for the freedom of our homes with faith both bold and true.
“As you have answered a ‘call to arms’, I shall answer your family’s call.
“And if or when they need my aid, I’ll protect them ‘til I fall.”


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Afterward:  

This is October Conference week-end, and, to me, both glorious balm and further warnings were conveyed.  Our time of peril shall indeed pass, leaving a Restored Church strengthened and expanded by the Lord's foresight and preparations.  However, before the ultimate day of glory, more trials and challenges may yet await us.  To me, one of numerous personal promptings I received was clear--I need more range time, even as I need to refine my soul on the covenant path.

 
See also:
 
#53                In praise of our Founders
#54                In honor of Law Enforcement Officers
#112              A request for Divine forgiveness for our nation
#113              A call to support Columbia again
#115              Liberty’s promise to those who love her
#127              A prayer for our troubled homeland
#142              The need for latter-day defenders