Why these ages of delay?

Come, Lord, and tarry not

Words: Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)
Tune: Huddersfield

Come, Lord, and tarry not;
Bring the long-looked-for day;
O why these years of waiting here,
These ages of delay?

Come, for Thy saints still wait;
Daily ascends their sigh;
The Spirit and the bride say, Come;
Wilt Thou not hear the cry?

Come in Thy glorious might,
Come with the iron rod;
Scattering Thy foes before Thy face,
Most mighty Son of God.

Come, and make all things new;
Build up this ruined earth;
Restore our faded paradise,
Creation's second birth.

Come, and begin Thy reign
Of everlasting peace;
Come, take the kingdom to Thyself,
Great King of Righteousness!

Alleluia!

Selah.

A counterintuitive climb: stairway to heaven

Kingdom vs. the world: down vs. up

"How often, on the steps of this world, when you think you are going down, you are really ascending!"

George MacDonald, "Down the Hill," The Gentlewoman's Choice, edited by Michael R. Phillips.

Perhaps the greatest danger

A soul enslaved by relentless stuff

Perhaps the greatest danger that threatens us comes from being overly involved in the small, ordinary happenings of daily life—from becoming so enslaved by them that they fill our heart and soul. To go about life in this way is to go about unprotected, unaware, distracted, and removed from reality. Let us never allow ourselves to be dragged down by pettiness, or to take the things of this earth so seriously that they burden us day after day. Let us live constantly in the Promise.

Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, Now Is Eternity