There is a
quest that calls me,
In nights when I am lone...
The need to
ride,
where the ways divide,
The Known from the
Unknown.
I mount what thought is near me,
And soon I
reach the place...
The tenuous rim,
where the seen grows
dim,
and the Sightless hides it's face.
I have ridden
the wind, I have ridden the sea,
I have ridden the moon and
stars.
I have set my feet
in the stirrup seat
Of a comet
coursing Mars.
And everywhere, thro' the earth and
air
That my thought speeds lightning-shod,
It comes to a
place,
where checking pace,
It cries, "Beyond is God!"
It calls me
out of the darkness,
It calls me out of sleep,
"Ride! Ride!
Ride!
For you must –
to the end of Dust!"
It
bids, and on I sweep,
To the wide outposts of Being,
Where there
is Gulf alone –
And thru a vast
that was never passed,
I
listen for Life's tone.
I have ridden the wind,
I have
ridden the night,
I have ridden the ghosts that flee,
From the
vaults of death,
like a chilling breath,
over
eternity.
And everywhere is the world laid bare –
Ether and star and clod –
Until I wind
to it's brink and
find
but the cry, "Beyond is God!"
It calls me
and ever calls me!
And vainly I reply,
"Fools only
ride
where the ways divide
What is from whence and
why!"
I'm lifted into the saddle
of thought too strong
to tame,
and down the deeps,
and over the steeps,
I find
ever the same.
I have ridden the wind,
I have ridden
the stars,
I have ridden the force that soars
With far intent
thro' the firmament
And each to each allies.
And
everywhere
That a thought may dare
To gallop, mine has
trod...
Only to stand
at last in the strand
Where just
beyond is God.
~ ©Cale Young Rice ~
At 3:55 a.m. on July 04, 1998, the soul of Jerry Wayne Jeffries was escorted by angels into the Land of Freedom — that awesome realm of God that he had searched for in his dreams.
"How
Great Thou Art"
I thank Mr. Rice for this 'grown-up' version of a childhood story from long ago. In mind's eye, I can still see the pondering little face of my very young son as he'd tell me about the dream he'd had last night... "I was flyin' around in space without a helmet again last night, Mom..." (The other space guys (on TV and in story books) needed helmets to breathe up there, remember?)
As he'd grown older, I remained curious whether those dreams had continued and occasionally would comment something like, "They're really making a big deal about that hole in the ozone... They say it's worse over WV because of the coal... but I reckon a guy who cruises around in Space without a helmet wouldn't have to worry about that, huh?" He'd nonchalantly grin, "Nope." Another time I said, "Jerry, they showed pictures of a big meteor shower on the news, said if it's not cloudy, east coast can see it tonight." His reply: "It's pretty cool, but I've seen better... Do you have to work?"
Had Jerry found this verse by Mr. Rice, I'm certain it would have been given prominent status on the wall beside his bed with his poster of a masculine angel astride earth-bound Pegasus. He'd bought and placed the poster there sometime during middle-school years and while other posters had come and gone, Pegasus had remained long after High School and military boot camp. He'd inquired a few times while stationed at Camp LeJunene, but the poster had been misplaced when I moved from the old home place in 1994 and I'd not had opportunity to search for it among things that were in storage 75 miles away.
During last hours that we were together, he took me to see his new apartment. When I commented that he needed a picture for his bedroom, he said, "I'm waiting for my Pegasus poster, Mom." I didn't know we had mere 9 hours before he wouldn't need it anymore... Sometimes tomorrow never comes.
His tattered old poster now hangs on the wall beside my computer, inspiring much that you find at this website. The scene had seemed so forlorn to me back then, but often through mind's eye I now see beyond the sorrowful landscape into that serene realm of freedom where Jerry had gazed all along ― the one where mystic Pegasus and his Spirit Rider are no longer earth-bound.
"Not being known does not stop
truth from being true."
Life is
changed, †
not taken away.
To live in
hearts we leave behind is not to
die.
Click here to view Jerry's Pegasus poster
Page Updated: 10-27-09
Page
Designed, Created and Maintained by:
Mom ~ March 27, 1999
©Marilyn
Jeffries, Reflection of the Echo, 1974~2009
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~ C r e d i t s ~
Jerry's
Pegasus Poster: PC359 "Restrictions" ©John H. Pitre, 1982
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