J. M. Yeary

I discovered this poem while I was looking through an old cemetery book at the courthouse in Crowell, Texas--a very good depiction of what most of us feel as we venture through life. Surely (at least in my humble opinion), you don't have to be a believer to appreciate or see the message within. For me, I don't think I have read anything else that struck me in such a way�enjoy

God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy filled with sorrow, peace without pain.

But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way.
Grace for the trials, with help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, and undying love.
--Unknown

I was born in Laurel, Maryland, but grew up in Glen Burnie, an outlying suburb of Baltimore. After many trials and tribulations in only 20 years, I made a life changing decision for the better, and enlisted in the US Armed Forces. I have literally seen the world; I have been to beautiful and exotic places, and places of great despair. I have seen the art of war and it holds no beauty, but I am grateful for having served. Now, I have closed that chapter, and have retired at age forty--anxious to begin the next chapter in my life.

I have a passion for penning what I feel, see, and hear. Like so many of you, my writings are from the soul, and in the soul is where passion lives. Writing has been a very therapeutic part of my life. A forum from which I can express what lurks inside. From this, I have learned a lot of things about myself and my life. One thing I have learned is that all that glitters is not gold; however, we live in a very imperfect world, and to think otherwise is to allow ourselves to be decieved and our hearts subject to disappointments. In my life, three words are the core of who I am; STRENGTH, LOVE, and PERSERVERENCE!

Bertrand Russell, wrote this, my favorite poem, which I feel, has been the greater part of my life, to some extent:

"Three passions have governed my life:
The longings for love, the search for knowledge,
and unbearable pity for the suffering of [humankind].
Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness.
In the union of love, I have seen,
in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision
of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.
With equal passion, I have sought knowledge.
I have wished to understand the hearts of [people].
I have wished to know why the stars shine.
Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens,
but always pity brought me back to earth;
cries of pain reverberated in my heart,
of children in famine, of victims tortured,
and of old people left helpless.
I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot,
and I too suffer.
This has been my life; I found it worth living."

I am currently working on an MBA in Information Technology Management at Touro University, and earned a Bachelor's degree in Education from Wayland Baptist University, majoring in Historical Studies, with a minor in Occupational Education. I also have two Associate's degrees from the Community College of the Air Force in Military Science and Technology, and Education amd Training Management.