Learning a new song...

Dave and I help lead a "gathering hymn" each Sunday at our church. This is usually done with guitar, and with our pianist friend Gregg, and is usually a contemporary hymn used to call everyone to worship and focus our thoughts on the Lord. We are getting ready to teach a new song, and this morning as I sat listening to the bees buzzing in my beautiful pear tree and watched the daffodils sway in the breeze, I found myself contemplating the words. A good sign, I think! I am singing it every day to learn it well, and will start playing it soon and teaching it to my patient dh (who has been dragged into music leadership, and does a lovely job of it.) We have lately been spending a month learning a new hymn, then reviewing familiar ones. Here is the new song for May. You can listen to it by clicking on the link in the title below, then clicking on the recording.

Go Up, My Heart by Horatius Bonar and David Ward

Go up, go up, my heart,
And dwell with God above;
For here you cannot find
A satisfying love.
Don’t set your love upon
These things so stained and dim;
Go up to meet with God,
Take up your love to Him.

Chorus:
Go up, my heart, go up
To the fountain of delights.
Go up, my heart, go up
To the source of all joy, Jesus Christ.

Go up, go up, my heart,
Don’t spend your treasure here:
Ascend above these clouds,
Soar to a higher sphere.
Don’t waste your precious stores
On creature-love below;
To God that wealth belongs,
On Him that wealth bestow.

Kissing on a Sunday...

Found this sweet love song on Pandora this afternoon.

Sunday by Bebo Norman

Day is fading, but baby, I don't mind
'Cause sunlight is dancing in your eyes
And time is frozen but somehow flying by
Here with your hand holding mine

It just feels right kissing on a Sunday
I'll hold you tight as if it were the last day
With all my might, I will keep the world away
It just feels right kissing you on a Sunday

Time is racing to the sound of my heart beating
Can the dreaming escape this life
Unfair, maybe, but know that I'm not leaving
Right now, baby, life is kind

Make this moment last for a lifetime
Don't let it slip away
Play it over and over like your favorite song
And we'll fit forever in a day

Sabbath Sentiments

Judge not Christ's love by providences, but by promises. Bless God for shaking off false foundations, for any way whereby He keeps the soul awakened and looking after Christ; better sickness and temptations, than security and superficiality.
~Thomas Wilcox, "Honey Out of the Rock"

The sweet exchange...

“When our unrighteousness was fulfilled, and it had been made perfectly clear that its wages—punishment and death—were to be expected, then the season arrived during which God had decided to reveal at last His goodness and power (oh, the surpassing kindness and love of God!).

He did not hate us, or reject us, or bear a grudge against us; instead He was patient and forbearing; in His mercy He took upon Himself our sins; He Himself gave up His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy one for the lawless, the guiltless for the guilty, the just for the unjust, the incorruptible for the corruptible, the immortal for the mortal.

For what else but His righteousness could have covered our sins? In whom was it possible for us, the lawless and ungodly, to be justified, except in the Son of God alone?

O the sweet exchange, O the incomprehensible work of God, O the unexpected blessings, that the sinfulness of many should be hidden in one righteous person, while the righteousness of one should justify many sinners!”

–The Epistle to Diognetus, 9:2-­5, in The Apostolic Fathers, trans. Michael W. Holmes (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007), 709–710. [HT:Tolle Lege)

Something light for a Friday...

"Tense Times with Verbs" by Richard Lederer

The verbs in English are a fright.
How can we learn to read and write?
Today we speak, but first we spoke;
Some faucets leak, but never loke.
Today we write, but first we wrote;
We bite our tongues, but never bote.
Each day I teach, for years I taught,
And preachers preach, but never praught.
This tale I tell; This tale I told;
I smell the flowers, but never smold.
If knights still slay, as once they slew.
Then do we play, as once we plew?
If I still do as once I did,
Then do cows moo, as they once mid?

Beware of cooling down...

“I have but one request to make, and that is that you will persevere. I implore you to maintain your zeal and never let it go. I urge you never to stop doing the things you did at first, never to leave your first love, never let it be said of you that the things that you did in the first part of your Christian life were better than the things you did in your latter years. Beware of cooling down. All you have to do is to be lazy, and to sit still, and you will soon lose all your zeal. You will soon become another person from what you are now. Oh, don’t think that this is a needless exhortation!”
~ J.C. Ryle
Practical Religion, “Zeal”, 208, 209.

HT: J C Ryle Quotes

Education is...

The purpose of intellectual education, according to John Henry Newman, is "to remove the original dimness of the mind's eye; to strengthen and perfect its vision; to enable it to look out onto the world right forward, steadily and truly; to give the mind clearness, accuracy, precision; to enable it to use words aright, to understand what it says, to conceive justly what it thinks about, to abstract, compare, analyze, divide, define and reason correctly."
~Tracy Lee Simmons, Climbing Parnanssus, p.163

Sundays with Jean

In our reading of Calvin's Institutes, I find that good old Jean grappled with the same church I grappled with as a young woman, and he often articulated, much better than I, the same realizations that, along with a godly husband, lead me away from the Roman church. In Book III, Chapter 20, Part 21, concerning the Roman practice of praying to saints, he had a couple of points that I had to "amen" right out loud as Dave read:

Now Scripture recalls us from all to Christ alone, our Heavenly Father wills that all things be gathered together in him. therefore, it was the height of stupidity, not to say madness, to be so intent on gaining access through the saints as to be led away from him, apart from whom no entry lies open to them.

...scripture offers him [Christ] alone to us, sends us to him, and establishes us in him. "He," says Ambrose, "is our mouth, through which we speak to the Father; he is our right hand, through which we offer ourselves to the Father. unless he intercedes, there is no intercourse with God either for us or for all saints."

Three people dressed for the wedding...

Can you see Person #3 in the photo below, Gentle Reader?

As nothing but Thy power doth cut...

The Altar by George Herbert

A broken ALTAR, Lord thy servant rears,
Made of a heart, and cemented with teares:
Whose parts are as thy hand did frame;
No workmans tool hath touch’d the same
A HEART alone
Is such a stone,
As nothing but
Thy pow’r doth cut.
Wherefore each part
Of my hard heart
Meets in this frame,
To praise thy Name:
That if I chance to hold my peace,
These stones to praise thee may not cease.
O let thy blessed SACRIFICE be mine,
And sanctifie this ALTAR to be thine.

(HT: KL)

The Divine Comedy complete...

On my walk this blustery morning, I finally finished Paradise, Canto 33, and brought my adventure through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise to an end. Of my two recent audio-book forays into epic poetry--Milton's Paradise Lost and Dante's Divine Comedy-- I must say I enjoyed Milton the most. I think that is true for several reasons.

First, I loved Milton's language. If I had been able to read Dante in his original Italian, that difference might have disappeared. Or if I had a different translation of Dante, that also may have helped. (I was listening to the John Ciardi translation).

Second, Milton's story is literally of Biblical proportion and roughly Protestant understanding, while I found much of Dante more Roman Catholic and extra-biblical in nature. My own RC baggage probably made this more irritating to me than it may be to others.

Third, Milton's allusions tend to be classical or biblical in nature, at least some of which I have a passing familiarity with. Dante tends to make local and historical Italian allusions, very few of which I know about or can relate to.

I am glad I completed The Divine Comedy. It is a great work which reflects its time in some remarkable ways. But I think my next audio book needs to be something lighter and more entertaining...

Everyone loves a give-away...

Check out the delicious give-away here.

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. RDW...

Meg and her Mom

Purify my perceptions...

"My feelings are not God. God is God. My feelings do not define truth. God's word defines truth. My feelings are echoes and responses to what my mind perceives. And sometimes--many times--my feelings are out of sync with the truth. When that happens--and it happens every day in some measure--I try not to bend the truth to justify my imperfect feelings, but rather, I plead with God: Purify my perceptions of your truth and transform my feelings so that they are in sync with the truth.

That's the way I live my life every day. I hope you are with me in that battle."

- John Piper, Finally Alive, pages 165-166

(HT: JH)

Freedom dies a little today...

Thanks to CR via twitter

Sabbath Sentiments

We confess and acknowledge one God alone, to whom we must cleave, whom alone we must serve, whom only we must worship, in whom alone we put our trust. Who is eternal, infinite, immeasurable, incomprehensible, omnipotent, invisible; one in substance and yet distinct in three persons, the Father , the Son, and the Holy Ghost. By whom we confess and believe all things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, to have been created, to be retained in their being, and to be ruled and guided by His inscrutable providence for such end as His eternal wisdom, goodness, and justice have appointed, and to manifestation of His own glory.
~The Scots Confession of 1560: Of God

The end of publishing...

Thanks, Elsa, for pointing out this clever ad!

When Helping Hurts

I attended a webinar recently, presented by the folks from the Chalmers Center at Covenant College, on relief work and long-term aid in Haiti. (Thanks Randy, for pointing this out.) I was challenged in my understanding of works of mercy, and felt the few hours were well worth it. So much so, as a matter of fact, I ordered their book and donated to them. That doesn't happen often!

But what was more important is that the Lord used that webinar as a start at a deeper understanding of what Scripture has to say about poverty and our attitude towards the poor. This is one of those transformational ideas. I keep wondering, why did I never define poverty the way they define it? This is so clear, why didn't I understand? I think the Lord is using it in the great overhaul of my mind known as mind renewal.

The folks at Chalmers Center are offering a more general webinar on the content of their book. I am excited to read the book and hear the authors! The webinars begin next week, March 24, and I recommend all of you, Gentle Readers, who are interested in helpin the poor, head over there on Wednesdays for a few weeks. I am sure it will be well worth the time! You can register for free here. I am sure you'll be hearing more about this as i try to spread the word...

A poke at corporate culture...

The sons of my friend Lynne recently entered this short film in a competition. They did an excellent job, and I thought I would share the fruit of their labors!

Meet the Puritans

Great give-away at J C Ryle Quotes. Check it out.

Warriors, not figure skaters...

Pulpit Highlights - Phil Johnson from Grace Community Church on Vimeo.

Sabbath Sentiments

Whatever My God Ordains Is Right by Samuel Rodergast, 1676, translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1863

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
His holy will abideth;
I will be still whate’er He doth;
And follow where He guideth;
He is my God; though dark my road,
He holds me that I shall not fall:
Wherefore to Him I leave it all.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
He never will deceive me;
He leads me by the proper path:
I know He will not leave me.
I take, content, what He hath sent;
His hand can turn my griefs away,
And patiently I wait His day.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
His loving thought attends me;
No poison can be in the cup
That my Physician sends me.
My God is true; each morn anew
I’ll trust His grace unending,
My life to Him commending.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
He is my Friend and Father;
He suffers naught to do me harm,
Though many storms may gather,
Now I may know both joy and woe,
Some day I shall see clearly
That He hath loved me dearly.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Though now this cup, in drinking,
May bitter seem to my faint heart,
I take it, all unshrinking.
My God is true; each morn anew
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrow shall depart.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet I am not forsaken.
My Father’s care is round me there;
He holds me that I shall not fall:
And so to Him I leave it all.

Knowing ourselves...

He that has any feeling of his own sinfulness, ought to thank God for it. That very sense of weakness, wickedness, and corruption, which perhaps makes you uncomfortable, is in reality a token for good, and a cause for praise. The first step towards being really good, is to feel bad. The preparation for heaven, is to know that we deserve hell. Before we can be counted righteous we must know ourselves to be miserable sinners. Before we can have inward happiness and peace with God, we must learn to be ashamed and confounded because of our manifold transgressions. Before we can rejoice in a well-grounded hope, we must be taught to say, “Unclean, unclean! God, be merciful to me a sinner!”

~ J.C. Ryle, Old Paths, “Our Sins”, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1999], 155.

HT: JCR Quotes

Immensely long perspective...

Albert Jay Nock on classical education:

The literature of Greece and Rome comprise the longest and fullest continuous record available to us of what the human mind has been busy about in practically every department of spiritual and social activity... The record covers twenty-five hundred consecutive years o the human mind's operations in poetry, drama, law, agriculture, philosophy, architecture, natural history, philology, rhetoric, astronomy, politics, medicine, theology, geography, everything. Hence the mind that has attentively canvassed this record is not only a disciplined mind but an experienced mind; a mind that instinctively views any contemporary phenomenon from the vantage-point of an immensely long perspective attained through this profound and weighty experience of the human spirit's operations. If I may paraphrase the words of Emerson, this discipline brings us into the feeling of an immense longevity, and maintains us in it.
~T. L. Simmons, Climbing Parnassus, pp.156-157

No Accident...

no accident from Puritan Reformed on Vimeo.

HT: TC

Some thoughts on love...

Many years ago, I was introduced to the concept of "love languages", based on Gary Chapman's book. I have found the identifying of others' predispositions to be often helpful. But Justin Taylor, in reviewing ideas from David Powlison, over at the First Things blog, has hit the nail on the head in regards to just how self-centered we can all become. Taylor quotes in part:

Powlison summarizes Chapman’s “full working philosophy” as follows:

“I’ll find out where you itch, and I’ll scratch your back, so you feel better. Along the way, I’ll let you know my itches in a non-demanding manner. You’ll feel good about me because your itches are being scratched, so eventually you’ll probably scratch my back, too.”

But therein lies the problem: Chapman takes an “is” and turns it into an “ought”:

Unwittingly [Chapman] exalts the observation that “even tax collectors, gentiles, and sinners love those who love them” (Matt. 5:46f; Luke 6:32ff) into his guiding principle for human relationships. This is the dynamo that makes his entire model go. This is the instinct that he appeals to in his readers. If I scratch your back, you’ll tend to scratch mine. If you’re happy to see me, I’ll tend to be happy to see you, too. So, 5LL teaches you how to become aware of what others want, and then tells you to give that to them. This is the principle behind How to Win Friends and Influence People and The 30-second Manager. It’s the dynamic at work in hundreds of other books on “relational skills,” or “attending skills,” or “salesmanship,” or “how to find the love you want.” Identify the felt need and meet it, and, odds are, your relationships will go pretty well.

I find these thoughts very provocative this morning. What exactly is my motivation in sharing my "felt needs" with my husband? Am I seeking his good, or my own gratification? Hmmm...

Couple this (no pun intended)with the excellent series on the "Myths of Marriage" by Glen Knecht being run (in parts) at the blog of First Pres, Jackson, MS, and I have lots to think about today. May God keep me from my default desire to please myself, and give me the grace to love my husband, and others, well.

Midweek Miscellany

With a photo of pruning a mesquite tree, how about if I prune away a few finds I have been saving for you, Gentle Reader?

Poem of the day: from my friend KL, a beauty by Christina Rosetti

Cartoon of the Day: Took this to my composition class to share today. I will pull it out when I am in my grammar-Nazi mood.

Chocolate of the Day (or month): My friend Renee is doing a whole month of chocolate recipes. Check them out! And last month, she did a month of house-cleaning challenges, each one to take no more than 5 minutes. They were fun: so check out her January posts as well.

Frightening Cultural Trend of the Day: Check out this story from Dr. Veith.

Economics Visual of the Day: Here's a picture of how the US's debt stacks up.

Movie Moment of the Day: I haven't seen Avatar, and am not all that interested in seeing it, but this made me laugh.

Thoughts on being a theologian...

DugDownDeep_Carnahan.mov from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

HT: JH

Vincit qui patitur...

When dealing with my own laziness, or the laziness of my charges, I often have to remind myself that insisting on hard work is actually a kindness to myself and my students, not some sort of torture. As T. L. Simmons quotes older maxims,

Nil sine magno vita labore dedit mortalibus. Life gives nothing to us without tremendous work and sacrifice. Vincit qui patitur. One who suffers also conquers.
~Tacy Lee Simmons, Climbing Parnassus, p.165

Wednesday without words

Economics Rap

Special Thanks to my friend AR, who is a genius at finding fascinating things on the web...

Sabbath Sentiments

Let Me But Hear My Savior Say, Isaac Watts, 1709

Let me but hear my Savior say,
"Strength shall be equal to thy day,"
Then I rejoice in deep distress,
Leaning on all-sufficient grace.

I glory in infirmity,
that Christ's own power may rest on me:
When I am weak, then I am strong,
Grace is my shield and Christ my song.

I can do all things, or can bear
All suff'rings, if my Lord be there;
Sweet pleasures mingle with the pains,
While his left hand my head sustains.

But if the Lord be once withdrawn,
And we attempt the work alone,
When new temptations spring and rise,
We find how great our weakness is.

The most aggressively inarticulate generation...

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

With thanks to Taylor Mali, Cindy and Joe Carter.

At the start of the new year...

A child unborn, the coming year
Grows big within us, dangerous,
And yet we hunger as we fear
For its increase, the blunted bud

To free the leaf to have its day,
The unborn to be born. The ones
Who are to come are on their way,
And though we stand in mortal good

Among our dead, we turn in doom
In joy to welcome them, stirred by
That ghost who stirs in seed and tomb,
Who brings the stones to parenthood

Wendell Berry, The Sabbath Poems, 1982, Poem V

HT: AK

Something to meditate on in the coming year...

2010 is here, and as we enter it, we have been learning a new hymn to teach at church. It provides great ideas for carrying into the new year. May 2010 be a year when we recognize the extent of Christ's Lordship over us and our lives!

The Lord Is King by David Ward and Josiah Conder (1789-1851)

The Lord is King; lift up your voice
O earth, and all you heav’ns rejoice;
From world to world the joy will ring,
The Lord omnipotent is King.

Chorus:
Rejoice, the Lord is King,
Rejoice, His praises sing,
From earth and heav’n His glories ring
For He is our King!

The Lord is King; who then will dare
Resist His will, distrust His care,
Or murmur at His wise decrees,
Or doubt His royal promises.

The Lord is King, child of the dust,
The judge of all the earth is just;
His holiness crowns all His ways,
Let every creature shout His praise.

The Lord is King; the Three in One,
The Father, Spirit, and the Son.
We lift our voices now in song;
To Him alone all praise belongs.

Christmas Poem

G.K.Chesterton

There fared a mother driven forth
Out of an inn to roam;
In the place where she was homeless
All men are at home.
The crazy stable close at hand,
With shaking timber and shifting sand,
Grew a stronger thing to abide and stand
Than the square stones of Rome.

For men are homesick in their homes,
And strangers under the sun,
And they lay their heads in a foreign land
Whenever the day is done.

Here we have battle and blazing eyes,
And chance and honour and high surprise,
But our homes are under miraculous skies
Where the yule tale was begun.

A child in a foul stable,
Where the beasts feed and foam;
Only where He was homeless
Are you and I at home;
We have hands that fashion and heads that know,
But our hearts we lost---how long ago!
In a place no chart nor ship can show
Under the sky's dome.

This world is wild as an old wife's tale,
And strange the plain things are,
The earth is enough and the air is enough
For our wonder and our war;
But our rest is as far as the fire-drake swings
And our peace is put in impossible things
Where clashed and thundered unthinkable wings
Round an incredible star.

To an open house in the evening
Home shall all men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.

Christmas Eve Miscellany

Hunting for a little peace during this busy holiday season? Read what one friend has to say about peace here. Or read some reflections about the Prince of Peace here. If you're struggling with the whole idea of peace, get some perspective on defiance here. And for an interesting take on Christmas from an interesting source, look here.

And whatever you read today, Gentle Reader, remember to spare some time to contemplate what Christmas means. Tonight Dave and I will sing the following lyrics at our Christmas eve service. Contemplate with us that being's source begins to be:

Glory Be to God Bob Kauflin

Glory be to God on high
Let peace on earth descend
God comes down before our eyes
To Bethlehem
God invisible appears
Endless ages wrapped in years
He has come who cannot change
And Jesus is His name

Emptied of His majesty
He comes in human form
Being’s source begins to be
And God is born
All our griefs He’ll gladly share
All our sins He’ll fully bear
He will cover our disgrace
And suffer in our place

Let the joyful news ring out
The Prince of Peace proclaim
Lift your heart and voice to shout
Immanuel’s name
God has kept His promises
What a work of grace this is
Son of Mary, chosen One
The Lamb of God has come

Hosanna, hosanna
The Lamb of God has come
Hosanna, hosanna
He is the promised One

Glory be to God on high
Let peace on earth descend
God comes down before our eyes
To Bethlehem

Reflections on a mighty child...

I love reflecting on Jesus at all times, but especially at Christmas. There is something so amazing about the implications of the incarnation that I never tire of thinking about it!

This morning I read an article by Anthiny Esolen (who is fast becoming one of my favorite authors, and making me think seriously about subscribing to Touchstone Magazine...) it is a different reflection on Christ and childlikeness. I recommend it to you in its entirety, Gentle Reader. But here is one of my favorite little parts, just to whet your appetite:

...At which he heaved a sigh and said to us, “Suffer the little children to come unto me.” Rumpling the hair of one of the runny-nosed, he added, “Let them come, for the kingdom of heaven is peopled with citizens like these.” And he looked us in the eye. “As for you, unless you become like a little child, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

I thought he was just using a figure of speech. That was the way out—or in. You can drive a camel through a figure of speech. So I never gave his saying a lot of thought...

~Anthony Esolen, "A Mighty Child", Touchstone Magazine, December 2005

The Christmas story

That's Christmas (Short Film) HD from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

(HT: JT)

A Christmas poem

Nativity by John Donne

Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb,
Now leaves His well-belov'd imprisonment,
There He hath made Himself to His intent
Weak enough, now into the world to come;
But O, for thee, for Him, hath the inn no room?
Yet lay Him in this stall, and from the Orient,
Stars and wise men will travel to prevent
The effect of Herod's jealous general doom.
Seest thou, my soul, with thy faith's eyes, how He
Which fills all place, yet none holds Him, doth lie?
Was not His pity towards thee wondrous high,
That would have need to be pitied by thee?
Kiss Him, and with Him into Egypt go,
With His kind mother, who partakes thy woe.

Midweek Miscellany

I read a very convicting article today, written by a young Chritian woman who has had four abortions. Her thoughts and reflections are moving. The fact that she needs to speak to the place where there is the most silence, and she idetifies that as the church, is more than heart-breaking! (Thanks to TB) I found A. Kern's short words on climategate interesting and logical, and this article from the NY Times a cross between horrifying and ridiculous. (Al Mohler has a helpful take on this issue here.) I found these salient points about modesty from Time, of all places, helpful. And while we're looking at culture, did you read these powerful reflections from Anthony Esolen?

Christmas funnies

Yesterday, my pastor performed the piece shown here at our annual "'Round the Table Carol Sing." It is a fun "family" time, singing carols and songs fo the season, and several people offering performances and readings. Well, this song had us all in stitches.

Manhattan Declaration Hubbub

Have you read the Manhattan Declaration, Gentle Readers? There is a lot of hubbub about it on Evnagelical blogs. If you haven't read it, you can access it here. It's not very long, and I encourage you to read it.

The Declaration is being hailed by the likes of Charles Colson. There are many signatories on there that I respect. As Ligon Duncan has said, in signing with Catholic and Anglican priests, the signatories see themselves standing as co-beligerants against a rising attack on the dignity of human life. But, as R. C. Sproul has said, the document seems to miss the main point of the transformative power of the gospel, and casts a very wide net in its definition of Christianity.

There has been some thought-provoking discussion of the whole topic at Pyromaniacs. I am not sure what I believe. But good discussion is happening, I think. May God use it, and all things, for His glory.

Snow Day Miscellany

Today is a snow day here in LA (the LA in New Mexico, that is.) I love the enforced spontaneity of everyone home bound for an unexpected day! And in the lightness of that moment, here are some odd and quirky things I've been saving for you, Gentle Readers.

In the unexpected category, would you believe that Al Mohler blogged about cooking? And as always, his thoughts were edifying. And how about a few words in praise of the cliche? For you film buffs out there, here is an interesting site which is a treasure trove of early films and clips. And speaking of treasures, have you heard about this find?

In the "You've GOT to be kidding" category, this product would make me laugh it it didn't make me feel ill, while this blog made me laugh out loud.

And every day is better with Calvin and Hobbes. Check out a recent favorite here.

Poem for a snowy night

Psalm 67 by Anthony Esolen (original post here)

May God cause His face to shine upon you

I am a passenger on a train,
Alone, in a full car at night,
And I feel the carriage's stress and strain,
And peer into the windowpane

And see there in the blanching light
The heads of other travelers.
No doubt they are doing what seems right,
Shading their eyes from anyone's sight,

And if they are laden with many years,
Or young, and full of a yearning heart,
Or blank, or idle, or welling with tears,
Or quick as a signal that disappears,

I cannot tell, from my world apart.
But I think if only I could say --
Or if someone else could make a start,
Or, what surpasses human art,

Lean to me in the simplest way
To whisper, "Friend, you are not alone,"
Ah, then the carriage would shine like day!
And emptiness would flee away.

For once in my travels a light shone,
A countenance I could not retain,
But he watches us as the wheels roll on,
The One I love, and the only One.

Sabbath Semtiments

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, from the Liturgy of St. James, trans. by Gerard Moultrie

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
and with fear and trembling stand;
ponder nothing earthly-minded,
for with blessing in his hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
as of old on earth he stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
in the body and the blood;
he will give to all the faithful
his own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
spreads its vanguard on the way,
as the Light of light descendeth
from the realms of endless day,
that the powers of hell may vanish
as the darkness clears away.

At his feet the six-winged seraph,
cherubim, with sleepless eye,
veil their faces to the presence,
as with ceaseless voice they cry:
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia, Lord Most High!

The Lord is King!

I am learning a new song, and I love the words. The contemporary setting is by David Ward at Reformed Worship. Give it a listen-- it will lift your hearts, Gentle Reader!

The Lord is King; lift up your voice
O earth, and all you heav’ns rejoice;
From world to world the joy will ring,
The Lord omnipotent is King.

Chorus:
Rejoice, the Lord is King,
Rejoice, His praises sing,
From earth and heav’n His glories ring
For He is our King!

The Lord is King; who then will dare
Resist His will, distrust His care,
Or murmur at His wise decrees,
Or doubt His royal promises.

The Lord is King, child of the dust,
The judge of all the earth is just;
His holiness crowns all His ways,
Let every creature shout His praise.

The Lord is King; the Three in One,
The Father, Spirit, and the Son.
We lift our voices now in song;
To Him alone all praise belongs.
The Lord is King; lift up thy voice
O earth, and all ye heav’ns rejoice;
From world to world the joy shall ring,
(new)
The Lord is King; who then shall dare
Holy and true are all His ways,
Let every creature speak His praise.
(new)

Climbing above what we are...

Political ideals of equality, Lewis said, may be necessary. But he, like Aristotle before him, drew the valuable distinction between the "education which democrats like" and "the education which will preserve democracy." For close up they face the world differently. One allows us to recline and feel good about ourselves; the other quickens us, out of a sense of our innate unfitness and incompleteness, to climb above what we are and rise to that which we might become.
~T. L. Simmons, Climbing Parnassus, p.154

Follow Him more fully...

“Let us cleave to Christ more closely, love Him more heartily, live to Him more thoroughly, copy Him more exactly, confess Him more boldly, follow Him more fully.”

~ J.C. Ryle

Practical Religion, “Sickness”, 373

Reading List 2008

You may have noticed, Gentle Readers, that I keep a list of books read in the side bar. I have decided it is getting too long, so I am going to make a permanent listing here at around this time each year. So below you will find the books I read in 2008. ANd a list will appear after the first of the year with all the books from 2009. That will keep my side bar more manageable. And I can't just delete them. There is something so satisfying about having a list of ideas accomplished.

I am very heavy on fiction. That is because it is so easy. I do make myself read some hard fiction, but still. I need to add some other genres in there in the coming year. I do all right with theology. Time to add history and biography at least.

What have you been reading? What do you suggest I add to my long list?

Books read in 2008

The Lord God Made Them All by James Herriot (completed 12-08)

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (completed 12-08)

Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith (completed 11-08)

Suffering and the Sovereignty of God ed. by Justin Taylor and John Piper (completed 10-08)

The Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith (Completed 10-16-08)

Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince by J. K. Rowlings (Completed 10-08)

The Wasteland by T. S. Eliot (completed 9-08)

Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan (completed 9-08)

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (completed 9-08)

The Night Journal by Elizabeth Crook (Completed 9-08)

Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers (Completed 8-08)

Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card (Completed 8-08)

Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card (Completed 8-08)

Martin Luther in His Own Words (Completed 7-08)

The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton (complete 6-08)

Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie (completed 6-08)

Paradise Lost by John Milton (completed 5-08)

A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin (completed 4-08)

The Cross-Centered Life by C. J. Mahaney (completed 4-08)