Wednesday, October 29, 2008

October painting: trees, field & sky


Here is a picture taken in October of last year -- the sunlight on the autumn trees, the phenomenal clouds with their rare blue-scale coloration and painted texture, and shadowed field of grey and dusky purple... it was an amazing moment: autumn glory! Enjoy!

God is working out His purpose

God is working His purpose out

Words: Arthur Campbell Aigner, 1894
Tune: Purpose


God is working His purpose out
as year succeeds to year:
God is working his purpose out,
and the time is drawing near;
nearer and nearer draws the time,
the time that shall surely be,
when the earth shall be filled
with the glory of God
as the waters cover the sea.

From utmost east to utmost west,
wherever foot hath trod,
by the mouth of many messengers
goes forth the voice of God;
give ear to me, ye continents,
ye isles, give ear to me,
that earth may filled
with the glory of God
as the waters cover the sea.

What can we do to work God's work,
to prosper and increase
the brotherhood of all mankind--
the reign of the Prince of Peace?
What can we do to hasten the time--
the time that shall surely be,
when the earth shall be filled
with the glory of God
as the waters cover the sea.

March we forth in the strength of God,
with the banner of Christ unfurled,
that the light of the glorious gospel of truth
may shine throughout the world:
fight we the fight with sorrow and sin
to set their captives free,
that earth may filled
with the glory of God
as the waters cover the sea.

All we can do is nothing worth
unless God blessed the deed;
vainly we hope for the harvest-tide
till God gives life to the seed;
yet nearer and nearer draws the time,
the time that shall surely be,
when the earth shall be filled
with the glory of God
as the waters cover the sea.

Selah.

So what about content of character?



Michael Ramirez presents an incisive political cartoon, perhaps a little too close to truth for comfort: not much laughter, but insightful. As soon as one scratches the surface on Obama's voting, his associates, his words, his actions, anything at all revealing his character and true persona, it seems as if those things are suddenly taken off the table as viable topics of discussion. Interesting.

Hat tip: John Hinderake
r.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

The very dangerous game: media & power

Michael Malone at ABC has a must read piece on the role of the media in this election.

Quote:

The traditional media are playing a very, very dangerous game — with their readers, with the Constitution and with their own fates.

The sheer bias in the print and television coverage of this election campaign is not just bewildering, but appalling. And over the last few months I’ve found myself slowly moving from shaking my head at the obvious one-sided reporting, to actually shouting at the screen of my television and my laptop computer.

But worst of all, for the last couple weeks, I’ve begun — for the first time in my adult life — to be embarrassed to admit what I do for a living. A few days ago, when asked by a new acquaintance what I did for a living, I replied that I was “a writer,” because I couldn’t bring myself to admit to a stranger that I’m a journalist.



Indeed. Read it all.

Selah.

Hat tip: Jules Crittendon.

Monday, October 27, 2008

A word for the day: As the deer, so my soul

As the deer longs for the water-brooks...

Psalm 42

As the deer longs for the water-brooks,

so longs my soul for you, O God.

My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God;

when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?

My tears have been my food day and night,

while all day long they say to me,

'Where now is your God?'

I pour out my soul when I think on these things:

how I went with the multitude

and led them into the house of God,

With the voice of praise and thanksgiving,

among those who keep holy-day.

Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul?

and why are you so disquieted within me?

Put your trust in God;

for I will yet give thanks to him,

who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

My soul is heavy within me;

therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan,

and from the peak of Mizar among the heights of Hermon.

One deep calls to another in the noise of your cataracts;

all your rapids and floods have gone over me.

The Lord grants his loving-kindness in the daytime;

in the night season his song is with me,

a prayer to the God of my life.

I will say to the God of my strength,

'Why have you forgotten me?

and why do I go so heavily

while the enemy oppresses me?'

While my bones are being broken,

my enemies mock me to my face;

All day long they mock me

say to me, 'Where now is your God?'

Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul?

and why are you so disquieted within me?

Put your trust in God;

for I will yet give thanks to him,

who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

Selah.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Lead us, O Father, in the paths of peace

Lead us, O Father, in the paths of peace

Words: William Henry Burleigh, 1868
Music: Song 22


Lead us, O Father, in the paths of peace;
without thy guiding hand we go astray,
and doubts appall, and sorrows still increase;
lead us through Christ, the true and living Way.

Lead us, O Father, in the paths of truth;
unhelped by thee, in error's maze we grope,
while passion strains, and folly dims our youth,
and age comes on, uncheered by faith and hope.

Lead us, O Father, in the paths of right;
blindly we stumble when we walk alone,
involved in shadows of a darksome night;
only with thee we journey safely on.

Lead us, O Father, to thy heavenly rest,
however rough and steep the pathway be;
through joy or sorrow, as thou deemest best,
until our lives are perfected in thee.

Selah.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

October study: fence, field & scudding sky



People have enjoyed my PA scenes so much that I've decided to post some of my PA pictures, from time to time. I'll be doing this seasonally, so that distant friends can sense the feeling of nature, the beauty and rhythm of creation! :-)

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Search out our hearts and make us true

Before thy throne, O God, we kneel

Words: William Boyd Carpenter (1841-1918)
Music: St. Petersburg


Before thy throne, O God, we kneel:
give us a conscience quick to feel,
a ready mind to understand
the meaning of thy chastening hand;
whate'er the pain and shame may be,
bring us, O Father, nearer thee.

Search out our hearts and make us true;
help us to give to all their due.
From love of pleasure, lust of gold,
from sins which make the heart grow cold,
wean us and train us with thy rod;
teach us to know our faults, O God.

For sins of heedless word and deed,
for pride ambitions to succeed,
for crafty trade and subtle snare
to catch the simple unaware,
for lives bereft of purpose high,
forgive, forgive, O Lord, we cry.

Let the fierce fires which burn and try,
our inmost spirits purify:
consume the ill; purge out the shame;
O God, be with us in the flame;
a newborn people may we rise,
more pure, more true, more nobly wise.

Selah.

Monday, October 20, 2008

The fairest flowers: the noblest psalms



The fairest Alpine flowers bloom in the wildest and most rugged mountain passes -- the noblest psalms were the outcome of the profoundest agony of soul. And souls which love God will find reasons for bounding, leaping joy. Not simply to endure God's will, nor only to choose it; but to rejoice in it with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Selah.

Note: A quote shared by George Hosier. Thanks, George!

We have not known thee as we ought

We have not known thee as we ought

Words: Thomas Benson Pollock, 1875
Music: St. Chrysostom


We have not known thee as we ought,
nor learned thy wisdom, grace and power;
the things of earth have filled our thought,
and trifles of the passing hour.
Lord, give us light thy truth to see,
and make us wise in knowing thee.

We have not feared thee as we ought,
nor bowed beneath thine awful eye,
nor guarded deed and word and thought,
remembering that God was nigh.
Lord, give us faith to know thee near,
and grant the grace of holy fear.

We have not loved thee as we ought,
nor cared that we are loved by thee;
thy presence we have coldly sought,
and feebly longed thy face to see.
Lord, give a pure and loving heart
to feel and know the love thou art.

We have not served thee as we ought,
alas, the duties left undone,
the work with little fervor wrought,
the battles lost or scarcely won!
Lord, give the zeal, and give the might,
for thee to toil, for thee to fight.

When shall we know thee as we ought,
and fear and love and serve aright?
when shall we, out of trial brought,
be perfect in the land of light?
Lord, may we day by day prepare
to see thy face and serve thee there.

Selah
.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

A meditation of a pink rose



Here is a visual key for your devotional thoughts: look at this pink rose in silence, bow your head, pray, and consider what God speaks to you through this rose. God bless you!

Selah.

A word for the day: Keep me as the apple of your eye

Let my vindication come from your Presence

Psalm 17

Hear my plea of innocence, O Lord;
give heed to my cry;
listen to my prayer,
which does not come from lying lips.
Let my vindication come forth from your presence;
let your eyes be fixed on justice.
Weigh my heart, summon me by night,
melt me down; you will find no impurity in me.
I give no offence with my mouth as others do;
I have heeded the words of your lips.
My footsteps hold fast to the ways of your law;
in your paths my feet shall not stumble.
I call upon you, O God, for you will answer me;
incline your ear to me and hear my words.
Show me your marvelous loving-kindness,
O Savior of those who take refuge at your right hand
from those who rise up against them.
Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me under the shadow of your wings,
From the wicked who assault me,
from my deadly enemies who surround me.
They have closed their heart to pity,
and their mouth speaks proud things.
They press me hard,
now they surround me,
watching how they may cast me to the ground,
Like a lion, greedy for its prey,
and like a young lion lurking in secret places.
Arise, O Lord; confront them and bring them down;
deliver me from the wicked by your sword.
Deliver me, O Lord, by your hand
from those whose portion in life is this world;
Whose bellies you fill with your treasure,
who are well supplied with children
and leave their wealth to their little ones.
But at my vindication I shall see your face;
when I awake, I shall be satisfied,
beholding your likeness.

Selah.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Meditation: I will renew thee in My love



O little bird that sings


by Amy Carmichael


O little bird that sings
Long before the glad day springs,
What radiant victory
You show to me.

You sing of conquering faith,
And of life subduing death,
And of joy before the light
Has vanquished night.

God of the sweet bird-song,
Let us all be borne along
By this triumphant mirth
That is not of earth.

Foreseeing dawn, would we
Now exult melodiously,
And sing before the light
Has vanquished night.

Selah.

I will renew thee in My love

by Amy Carmichael

But there are times when we feel too tired even to desire; nothing is left in us to be refreshed – virtue has gone out of us. Will it ever come back? Can fatigue annihilate that which used to be, that resilience that so often has saved us from collapse? To be wakened by pain long before we should awaken, in spite of all that has been done to give us sleep… that is to know the feeling of being too tired to be refreshed, too tired even to desire.

And yet, when wakening, there comes a song of a bird – a magpie robin, a happy little bird in tidy black and white that sings before the dawn, sometimes as early as three o’clock. A long sustained sweetness suddenly breaks through the darkness, and drops of silver song are scattered everywhere. You lie listening gratefully, and your “Oh, how tired I am!” gradually becomes, “O little bird that sings” – which is at least happier than the other.

But not even the memory of that silvery sweetness can carry us through the day. Nothing but the very word of God made vital to the heart can do that. I wonder if this will do for another what it has done for me? The Septuagint reading of Zephaniah 3:17, “He will rest in His love,” is, “He will renew thee in His love.” There is enchantment in that word. There is life. There is strength.

O God, renew us in Thy love today’
For our tomorrow we have not a care;
Who blessed our yesterday
Will meet us there.

But our today is all athirst for Thee;
Come in the stillness, O Thou heavenly Dew;
Come Thou to us – to me –
Revive, renew.


September, on the southeastern coast of India, is a burnt-up month. Round about Dohnaver the earth is terra-cotta colored, and asks for the relief of low-growing green things; it can glare hotly when all that grows low is brown. The henna, within view of my window [henna is the camphire of the Song of Songs, “My beloved is to me like a cluster of henna”], is then bare, brown twig – the creamy, scented clusters are a mere memory; the little butterfly, caesalpinia, is a flicker of gold on unhappy stalks; frangipani, the temple flower, breaks out in strong blossom from a naked, fat finger-stem, and the flame of the forest is all flame and no forest green.

But this year is different, and this morning my chair was turned so that I could see into the enclosure upon which my room opens, and till the sun rose and made it too bright I feasted my eyes on the greenness. Never before have these eyes seen a green September. This year, the first time within living memory, not only are the greater trees, and of course all the palms, green [that is their happy custom], but the little henna is green, the gaiety of the caesalpinia set in green, the temple-tree flowers are like pale stars in a green night, the gorgeous crimson of the forest flame glows bright from among its own gracious foliage. Rioting over a tangle of low bushes near my window the delicate large bells of the blue convolvulvus call to the little sunbirds, and those lovely things, iridescent jewels in feathers, peck through the tube from the outside, poised in the air on tiny, fluttering wings. Beside me is a fern, lately achieved after many a vain assay; the mass of fragile lace is full of the whispers of woods and water. The unwonted beauty is because this year we have had rain during the hot weather: the sap is racing up every growing thing as though the thermometer did not register between 90 and 100 degrees in the shade.

And all this sweet greenness and the dewy freshness of flowers is like a picture in color, set to familiar words. Leaves and flowers, down to the last leaf bud and flower bud, are nourished in sap. They do not cause the sap to rise or regulate its flow. They do not understand its mysterious power. But as it flows through them it revives them, renews them. We who are ill [and tested and dry] know that we could never do much to bring the sap of life to bear upon our own souls. We may have helps [I have, and they are countless], or we may have none [some have very few]; but whether we are set in families or as lonely as a sparrow on a housetop – that friendliest of little birds that does not like to be alone anywhere – we know that we depend on something that is not of ourselves to keep us fresh and green. And we know that we are sometimes too spent even to pray for it.

And here is grace: we need not pray. There are times when all that is asked of us is just what is asked of the leaves and flowers and the fronds of the fern. They continue in the plant, the sap flows up to them.

Continue you in My love, says our Lord. And even the most tired of us can continue, stay there, be there – no words can be too simple to say what He means. Do not go away, He says. Why should we? How could we? Do we want to speak to Him? “He then, lying on Jesus’ breast, saith unto Him…” Are we too tired to speak at all? Be silent then, in love. “Surely towards God silence becometh my soul; from Him is my expectation,” is Rotherham’s rendering of Psalm 62:1, 5. And as we are silent, letting our hearts rest in quietness in Him from who is our expectation, He will cause sap to rise. He will renew us in His love.

And so, however weary the clogging flesh my be, we shall win through and we shall know,

Patience of comfort, peace and fortitude,
Drink where fresh waters flow,
Taste angels’ food.
For loving, Thou dost love until the end;
O great and dear Redeemer, we have proved
What Love Divine can spend
On its beloved.


The things we would least choose to have are round about us. But “In these things be not thrown down, nor in despair; but stand evenly at the will of God, and suffer all things that come to thee, to the praising of our Lord Jesus Christ; for after winter cometh summer, and after night cometh day, and after tempest cometh clearness.

Alleluia!

Selah.

Amy Carmichael, Rose from Brier, 60-65.

A word for the day: The Lord does wonders for the faithful

Answer me when I call, O God

Psalm 4

Answer me when I call, O God, defender of my cause,
you set me free when I am hard-pressed;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
'You mortals, how long will you dishonour my glory;
how long will you worship dumb idols
and run after false gods?'
Know that the Lord does wonders for the faithful;
when I call upon the Lord, He will hear me.
Tremble, then, and do not sin;
speak to your heart in silence upon your bed.
Offer the appointed sacrifices
and put your trust in the Lord.
Many are saying,
'O that we might see better times!'
Lift up the light of your countenance upon us, O Lord.
You have put gladness in my heart,
more than when grain and wine and oil increase.
I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep;
for only you, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Selah.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

hail, Abraham's God and mine!

The God of Abraham praise

Words: Thomas Olivers, 1770
Tune: Leoni


The God of Abraham praise,
who reigns enthroned above;
Ancient of everlasting days,
and God of love;
Jehovah, great I AM,
by earth and heaven confessed:
I bow and bless the sacred Name
for ever blessed.

The God of Abraham praise,
at whose supreme command
from earth we rise, and seek the joys
at his right hand;
we all on earth forsake,
its wisdom, fame and power;
and him our only portion make,
our Shield and Tower.

The goodly land we see,
with peace and plenty blessed:
a land of sacred liberty
and endless rest;
there milk and honey flow,
and oil and wine abound,
and trees of life for ever grow,
with mercy crowned.

There dwells the Lord, our King,
the Lord, our Righteousness,
triumphant o'er the world and sin,
the Prince of Peace;
on Zion's sacred height
his kingdom he maintains,
and, glorious with his saints in light,
for ever reigns.

The God who reigns on high,
the great archangels sing,
and "Holy, holy, holy," cry,
"Almighty King!"
Who was and is the same,
and evermore shall be:
Jehovah, Father, great I AM,
we worship thee."

The whole triumphant host
give thanks to God on high;
"Hail, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost"
they ever cry;
hail, Abraham's God and mine;
I join the heavenly lays;
all might and majesty are thine,
and endless praise!

Selah.

Friday, October 10, 2008

October sky after storm



Here is the sky over Lake Okeechobee, after a storm moved through. I just love the sky after a storm! That freshly-washed look and the rainy-clean smell in the air... And Florida has lots of that beauty -- perennial sun, intermittent storms, big sky and majestic clouds of all shades... amazing light. enjoy!

Light before us through the darkness

Through the night of doubt and sorrow

Words: Bernhardt Severin Ingemann, 1825;
trans. Sabine Baring-Gould, 1867
Tune: Ton-y-Botel (Ebenezer)


Through the night of doubt and sorrow,
onward goes the pilgrim band,
singing songs of expectation,
marching to the promised land.
Clear before us through the darkness
gleams and burns the guiding light:
trusting God we march together
stepping fearless through the night.

One the light of God's own presence,
o'er his ransomed people shed,
chasing far the gloom and terror,
brightening all the path we tread:
one the object of our journey,
one the faith which never tires,
one the earnest looking forward,
one the hope our God inspires.

One the strain the lips of thousands
lift as from the heart of one;
one the conflict, one the peril,
one the march in God begun:
one the gladness of rejoicing
on the far eternal shore,
where the one almighty Father
reigns in love for evermore.

Onward, therefore, pilgrim brothers,
onward with the cross our aid;
bear its shame, and fight its battle,
till we rest beneath its shade.
Soon shall come the great awaking,
soon the rending of the tomb;
then the scattering of all shadows,
and the end of toil and gloom!

Selah.

Monday, October 06, 2008

A glory of October sky -- Florida style!



Here is a glimpse of the beauty on Friday... there's just so much to like in this picture: the colored rays of light, a sky divided into blue and pink, quiet reflection in the lake, burning orb of sun, glory of sky! Enjoy!

When the storms are o'er us

Lord, thy Word abideth

Words: Henry Williams Baker, 1861
Tune: Ravenshaw


Lord, thy Word abideth,
and our footsteps guideth;
who its truth believeth
light and joy receiveth.

When our foes are near us,
then thy Word doth cheer us,
Word of consolation,
message of salvation.

When the storms are o'er us,
and dark clouds before us,
then its light directeth,
and our way protecteth.

Who can tell the pleasure,
who recount the treasure,
by thy Word imparted
to the simple-hearted?

Word of mercy, giving
succor to the living;
word of life, supplying
comfort to the dying!

O that we, discerning,
its most holy learning,
Lord, may love and fear thee,
evermore be near thee!

Selah.

Saturday, October 04, 2008

The power of your love

Wisdom from Francis of Assisi

From the first known letter from Francis to all believers:

O how happy and blessed are those who love the Lord and do as the Lord himself said in the gospel: You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and your whole soul, and your neighbor as yourself. Therefore, let us love God and adore him with pure heart and mind. This is His particular desire when he says: True worshipers adore the Father in spirit and truth. For all who adore Him must do so in the spirit of truth. Let us also direct to Him our praises and prayers, saying: "Our Father, who are in heaven," since we must always pray and never grow slack.

Furthermore, let us produce worthy fruits of penance. Let us also love our neighbors as ourselves. Let us have charity and humility. Let us give alms because these cleanse our souls from the stains of sin. Humans lose all the material things they leave behind in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For these they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve. We must not be wise and prudent according to the flesh. Rather we must be simple, humble and pure. We should never desire to be over others. Instead, we ought to be servants who are submissive to every human being for God's sake. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on all who live in this way and persevere in it to the end. He will permanently dwell in them. They will be the Father's children who do his work. They are the spouses, brothers and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ.


May the power of your love, Lord Jesus Christ

May the power of your love, Lord Christ,
fiery and sweet as honey,
so absorb our hearts
as to withdraw them from all that is under heaven.
Grant that we may be ready
to die for love of your love,
as you died for love of our love. Amen.

Selah.

Friday, October 03, 2008

A living prayer



Here is my prayer for today! I'll share it with you... God bless you! :-)

A new blog for Lesotho orphans: Bana!


orphans with new blankets from BANA Project

Ladell Patterson is blogging for the BANA Project at Kingdom Orphans.

Please visit the blog and also look at what Jennifer and Chris Roe are doing to raise funds for the orphans. Good stuff. And take time to visit her Encounter humanity orphan blog.

God bless you, Ladell! And Chris and Jennifer!

Note: If you wish, you can donate for the Project at Logos Global -- or just click here: Support the Bana Project.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Repentance: Facing the Apocalypse

How penitence renews us in covenant protection

The rush of natural disasters, hurricanes, wind and fire, the march of terror and war, the hint of economic crash… these things we can no longer ignore. People now ask me, “Is this the beginning of the end?”

It is a serious question.

I try to answer it in biblical terms. Scripture never emphasizes the when of apocalypse, but always emphasizes the what of apocalypse, as in, “What should be our response in such a time as this?” “How then should we live?”

The Hebraic prophets called for repentance when faced with national disaster. Such teaching is totally opposite our postmodern intuitions. What? A spiritual response to physical disaster? Surely not!

We then ask, “Why?” Why would the prophets call for a moral response to material calamity? Why would Jesus finish His sermon on apocalypse by saying, “Watch, therefore…”? In other words, ‘Live a certain way.’

Is there some link between moral and physical reality? Scripture answers this, a resounding “Yes!”

Scripture asserts that our spiritual thoughts, our mental and internal status, affect physical reality. Our universe is first a spiritual universe. All that is, is held together by the Spirit of God. ‘In Him we live and move and have our being.’ ‘And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.’ ‘By the word of the Lord were the heavens made…’‘You send forth your Spirit and they are created…”

So when faced with physical calamity, the prophets say, “Repent.”

When humans repent, we bring our lives into line with the Spirit that holds the whole together. An actual connection with the eternal occurs – whether we realize it or not.

This is why it is no mere child’s game to say that our prayers affect even physical disasters, such as hurricanes or economic crash. The prophets emphasized this, repeatedly. And they were only applying the specific covenant promise of God. 2 Chronicles 7:14:
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

It is the same promise that God offered them in when He brought them out of Egypt:
There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there He tested them, saying, ‘If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer’ [Exodus 15:35, et al].


In covenant repentance, God acts on behalf of His children. “I am your healer; I will heal your land.” Penitence and prayer thus become the most powerful things in the universe – things that re-connect us to the One who renews us, even if silent and unseen

Physical reality is connected with spiritual actions. Sara Yoheved Rigler, a Jewish writer, puts it this way:
A person stealing $100 in Tel Aviv lowers the moral fiber in Mexico City and could encourage massive embezzlement in Melbourne. Conversely, a person [praying] in Haifa may avert an auto accident in London or prevent complications during open-heart surgery in Los Angeles. The spiritual channels of effect run far below the surface, untraceable but powerful.

Spiritual forces, like ocean waves, do not lose their power over distance.[1]


Our repentance, covenant repentance, means that the power of God comes to bear, to forgive past offenses and grant healing. God promises himself as healer and deliverer.

Covenant repentance: exactly what is it? Since it is so compelling, how does it happen?

2 Chronicles 7:14 gives the pattern: humble the self, pray, seek the face of God, and turn from personal unrighteousness. It is simply taking relation with God seriously, accepting the fact that God is a Holy God. This is biblical penitence: Humility, committed prayer, wholehearted seeking of God, and turning away from known sin: Life in light of the gracious choice of God.

It is so powerful, it could save a nation. It could save a city. It could save a family. It could save a relationship. It could save you.

C. S. Lewis frames repentance as lived remorse, “where we lay down our [weapons] and surrender, say we're sorry, realize we're on the wrong track, and move full speed astern.” Repentance, he says, is “the only way out of a hole.”

In practical terms, penitence is humbly living in the grace of God – and this to such degree that we bring God into the details of daily life, into the small things. This is the test of grace.

Francois de Fenelon says:
To do small things that are right continually…is much more important [than doing 'great things']. These small acts attack our pride, our laziness, our self-centeredness, and our oversensitive nature. It is much more appealing to make great sacrifices to God, however hard they might be, so that we might do whatever we want with the small decisions of life. Faithfulness in the little things better proves our love for God. It is the slow, plodding path [of daily obedience] that matters...


Righteousness is letting God into the small things, and then realizing that He owns all things.

Our defense against the day of apocalypse is the action of this day. This day! ‘Today, if you will hear my voice,’ says the Lord. ‘Harden not your heart as in the day of provocation…’ ‘Now is the appointed time. Today is the day of salvation…’

Today!

Hear the voice that calls for repentance, and face the Apocalypse. It could be that your prayers will avert the day of disaster. Your prayers might save a relation or save the nation.

Alleluia!

Selah.

[1] S.Y. Rigler, “A spiritual response to disaster,” Society Today, http://www.aish.com/societyWork/society/Reacting_to_the_Tsunami.asp

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

October awareness: Hope, faith, courage, strength, love



October is breast cancer awareness month. Tell someone you love!

And be strong, those of you who battle cancer: Hope, faith, courage and love to you!

Heal our wounds, our strength renew

Come, thou Holy Spirit, come

Words: Latin, thirteenth century; trans. Edward Caswall, 1849
Tune: Veni Sancte Spiritus


Come, thou Holy Spirit, come,
and from thy celestial home
shed a ray of light divine!
Come, thou Father of the poor!
Come, thou Source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine!

Thou, of comforters the best;
thou, the soul's most welcome guest;
sweet refreshment here below;
in our labor, rest most sweet;
grateful coolness in the heat;
solace in the midst of woe.

O most blessed Light divine,
shine within these hearts of thine,
and our inmost being fill!
Where thou art not, man hath naught,
nothing good in deed or thought,
nothing free from taint of ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
on our dryness pour thy dew;
wash the stains of guilt away;
bend the stubborn heart and will;
melt the frozen, warm the chill;
guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful, who adore
and confess thee, evermore
in thy sevenfold gift descend;
give them virtue's sure reward
give them thy salvation, Lord;
give them joys that never end.

Selah.