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Daniel
Was walking through the forest, I
Was thinking of a time.
When heroes didn’t fight with swords
And still they conquered crime.
Was sitting on a fallen log,
and trying to forget.
The things around me faded, and
I saw a silhouette.
It was a boy, from long ago,
He came before my eyes.
His name was Daniel, he was young
but he seemed very wise.
He touched the frown upon my lips,
And asked me what was wrong.
“It’s fear,” I said, “It’s everywhere,
The brave don’t stay for long.”
He smiled and withdrew from me,
I thought him gone for good.
But then I looked and saw him come,
And fearfully, I stood.
“What is that thing that you have there?”
I asked in puzzled voice.
“It’s nothing but a story, girl,
the power of a choice.”
I asked why a choice would tell me
How courage can be found.
He laughed again and said to just
Listen without a sound.
“Once ago,” he said to me, and
I stood breathlessly.
“There was a boy who loved a God,
who loved him endlessly.
“In fact he was so honest and
hardworking that God smiled.
But others who were jealous thought
Him backwards and defiled.
“One day they worked a plan out, that
would trap him and condemn.
The king must be worshipped by all,
No other god but him.
“The wicked men sat by and watched,
The boy heard of the law.
And while he knew the danger, he
Prayed where the others saw.
“A boy not bound by temptation
or fear or any threat.
They threw him in the lion’s den,
To pay the martyr’s debt.
“They underestimated the
kind of courage that heals.
That heals instead of waving swords,
A prayer, a faith that’s real.
“God shut the lions’ mouths so that
they would not devour.
A wild tamed and subdued, to
Save a boy with great power.”
The boy was finished speaking then,
He settled on the ground.
He looked so peacefully at ease,
A calmness very loud.
At last I had to say my part,
That I did not believe.
“The boy was saved by God,” I said,
“Not courage — he’s naïve.”
“Innocence and faith can do what
violence never can.
Who’s more brave, the soldier or
The boy who hates no man?
“Love will never destroy what
is brave or kind or true.
The bravest act of all holds not
A sword, but pure virtue.”
He vanished and I searched about,
But couldn’t find his face.
And then I knew, without a doubt,
The boy knew God’s embrace.
He must have been an angel sent
From somewhere up above.
To teach me what true courage is,
A never-ending love.
I thought about the story that
Daniel had told to me.
And realized I was wrong about
The boy in the story.
It’s not when facing lions that
Your courage comes to call.
It’s trusting God no matter what
And jumping in at all.
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Favorite Quote:
“If you're losing your soul and you know it, then you've still got a soul left to lose”
― Charles Bukowski