The Last Word

I had a lovely Christmas poem all picked out for today. Sometimes, however, in the ebb and flow of life our train of thought gets redirected and such was the case today. We all have different opinions on various issues, which at times can lead to conflict. Now, we can circle around and around on an issue and argue until we’re blue in the face. Yet, in the end, each man must make his own decision about what he will think and do ... and be. When that time comes, others have no choice but to back off and let that man make his choices. Each man, after all, has both the right and the responsibility to live his own life. May the Lord, then, grant that we choose our way wisely and make the most of our one and only life.

The Last Word
There is comfort in the company
Of those whom we respect
And wisdom in their counsel
When our courses intersect
But in the end the course a man
Must follow is his own
The final choice he makes himself
And does so all alone
Alone, he walks the hallowed halls
Of independent thought
Alone, he must decide at last
Each thing he does, and not
And he who makes that final choice
Who holds the private key
Earns the consequences, good or bad
With the responsibility
We cannot place the blame
Upon another for our deeds
Nor does another have a claim
On us when we succeed
So in the end a man must make
His choices all alone
And reap the harvest he has earned
But at least it is his own
By Frank Carpenter ©