“Of Pearls And Treasure Found”

I’d messed about with database to sift out what I’ve got,
And come across the “GSL” – first version, which I thought
Was pretty good to lay a base of words in English tongue,
For tool to move back up the pipes from which its words were wrung.

I then laid out Rosetta Stone, just level one, that is,
Along with several other lists, to see what “basic” is
In modern terms, for Bodmer’s sauce is dated, and from Britts;
And Ogden is in archives now, as language doesn’t fit.

So much has changed these hundred years since Ogden had his day,
With plastics, bombs, designer drugs, with which the children play;
The world is cosmopolitan, like Corinth long ago,
So language groups communicate on Internet to know –

What folks around the world would say ’bout this or that of news;
To find out what to their neighbors think; or gather mentor’s views;
They cluster ’round some table with the few there on their street,
But Internet community is where they meet and greet.

Lord Jesus You told stories ’bout a treasure in a field;
And merchant-man who found a Perl – great value was its feel;
I now recall the day I saw sheer beauty in a font;
Well, GSL, as now revised, is platform which I want.

It’s not that I will ever be a wordsmith like my son,
Or wish to make a Service List before my days are done;
It’s more I’ve come across a tool-set – awesome to behold –
Words for today, well-crafted set, for writing clear and bold.

Lord, I just pause a moment now to thank You for this place –
You built the universe of sun, and moon, and stars, and lakes;
With inner beauty’s starting place, let us express our views,
So in these fonts and service lists we touch Your Spirit too.

I make these tools from other parts that folks have built their way;
And fashion them for other folks who people seek to sway;
I speak, and write, the best I can, no Hemingway am I;
But when I sense such excellence, I need not question why –

It is so rare in every field, professional or not;
For there is “sparkle” in our work, like manna, as You taught –
For when we let Your Spirit flow through us, each in our task,
Your excellence flows out once more in pictures, song, and dance.

So, thank You, Lord, for these folks’ work, a service list before,
And of revisers who have shaped their list to make it more
Acceptable for use today, in world that’s gone berserk –
A touch of wonder in this tool, that we might better work.

Thanks Lord for this.

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