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Indeed, Kelly, Tessa and all here. I am living testimony to following the heart. Coming of age in the 60s, I fled my Connecticut home, prep school, wealth, connections and privilege early in '69 to follow my heart. I went deep into the Sierra Nevada wilderness, opened my new Bible to a Gospel, and in an instant connected with Christ. After many rugged adventures in California, I returned east, attended Woodstock with 2 friends, and entered a seminary. Christ told me to leave, that a woman awaited me whose hand I was meant to hold ... so I did. And years later, after another journey to an island in Maine, I felt called to college, and graduated with honors ... and met her. Married 46 years with 9 children and many grandchildren, I composed this poem to the great Lady my Lord Jesus sent to heal my heart. Yes, and with the Beatitudes ("Blessings") that begin the Sermon on the Mount, we were taught to live by the heart, not regulations. And in our true hearts will be His defense for us in these End Times:

Lady of Love

Out on the meadow beneath a diamond sky

the doe stands framed in eloquence of star and soil.

The stag’s horns trail off

in splintered bursts of starlit splendor,

And peace vies with the Shout from Heaven’s gates

that Life is brought back to a barren land.

A woman’s hand reaches out

with the splendor of God’s life

To pair with her husband’s after the long sleep,

beauty of simple goodness

Perfected in her sweet clasp.

Lanterns of the night sky pierce the dark,

adorning it with jewels of light.

O majesty of love greatly given,

O wife, faithful answer to this young boy’s fears,

Making Earth fit to live, fecund and sweet.

There is majesty on the plain,

meaning in day’s work,

Peace in the soul for the receiving.

I have felt it in my lady’s hand tonight,

A promise never to let go,

made first by our God and seconded in her.

The answer to all longing

came to me in my lady’s gentle clasp,

Her hands so faithful, her heart so glad,

She just had to share it with me

Her happy king.

Robert Emmett Henry

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