Begin the day with God
Words: Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)
Tune: Dominica
Begin the day with God:
He is the rising Sun,
His is the radiance of thy dawn,
His the fresh day begun.
Sing a new song at morn;
Join the glad woods and hills;
Join the fresh winds and seas and plains;
Join the bright flowers and rills.
Awake, cold lips, and sing;
Arise, dull heart, and pray;
Lift up, O man, thy heart and eyes;
Brush slothfulness away.
Cast every weight aside;
Do battle with each sin;
Fight with the faithless world without,
The faithless heart within.
Look up beyond these clouds,
Thither thy pathway lies;
Mount up, away, and linger not,
Thy goal is yonder skies!
Selah.
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Thursday, July 02, 2009
The inner work
Little is much if God is in it
All great things have a small beginning, and the man who would do great things must be willing to do a small thing as a great thing. The surest path to the future lies straightway in your next duty.
George MacDonald
The outward work can never be small if the inward one is great, and the outward work can never be great or good if the inward is small or of little worth. The inward work always includes in itself all size, all breadth and all length.
Meister Eckhart
All great things have a small beginning, and the man who would do great things must be willing to do a small thing as a great thing. The surest path to the future lies straightway in your next duty.
George MacDonald
The outward work can never be small if the inward one is great, and the outward work can never be great or good if the inward is small or of little worth. The inward work always includes in itself all size, all breadth and all length.
Meister Eckhart
Monday, March 09, 2009
We render thanks to thee
Not here for high and holy things
Words: Geoffrey Anketel Studdert-Kennedy
Tune: Morning Song
Not here for high and holy things
we render thanks to thee,
but for the common things of earth,
the purple pageantry
of dawning and of dying days,
the splendor of the sea,
the royal robes of autumn moors,
the golden gates of spring,
the velvet of soft summer nights,
the silver glistering
of all the million million stars,
the silent song they sing,
of faith and hope and love undimmed,
undying still through death,
the resurrection of the world,
what time there comes the breath
of dawn that rustles through the trees,
and that clear voice that saith:
Awake, awake to love and work!
The lark is in the sky,
the fields are wet with diamond dew,
the worlds awake to cry
their blessings on the Lord of life,
as he goes meekly by.
Come, let thy voice be one with theirs,
shout with their shout of praise;
see how the giant sun soars up,
great lord of years and days!
So let the love of Jesus come
and set thy soul ablaze,
to give and give, and give again,
what God hath given thee;
to spend thyself nor count the cost;
to serve right gloriously
the God who gave all worlds that are,
and all that are to be.
Selah.
Words: Geoffrey Anketel Studdert-Kennedy
Tune: Morning Song
Not here for high and holy things
we render thanks to thee,
but for the common things of earth,
the purple pageantry
of dawning and of dying days,
the splendor of the sea,
the royal robes of autumn moors,
the golden gates of spring,
the velvet of soft summer nights,
the silver glistering
of all the million million stars,
the silent song they sing,
of faith and hope and love undimmed,
undying still through death,
the resurrection of the world,
what time there comes the breath
of dawn that rustles through the trees,
and that clear voice that saith:
Awake, awake to love and work!
The lark is in the sky,
the fields are wet with diamond dew,
the worlds awake to cry
their blessings on the Lord of life,
as he goes meekly by.
Come, let thy voice be one with theirs,
shout with their shout of praise;
see how the giant sun soars up,
great lord of years and days!
So let the love of Jesus come
and set thy soul ablaze,
to give and give, and give again,
what God hath given thee;
to spend thyself nor count the cost;
to serve right gloriously
the God who gave all worlds that are,
and all that are to be.
Selah.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thanksgiving gold: All which God doth touch and own
Teach me, my God and King
Words: George Herbert, 1633
Music: Carlisle
Teach me, my God and King,
in all things thee to see,
and what I do in anything
to do it as for thee.
A man that looks on glass,
on it may stay his eye;
or if he pleaseth, through it pass,
and then the heaven espy.
All may of thee partake;
nothing can be so mean,
which with this tincture, "for thy sake,"
will not grow bright and clean.
A servant with this clause
makes drudgery divine:
who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,
makes that and the action fine.
This is the famous stone
that turneth all to gold;
for that which God doth touch and own
cannot for less be told.
Selah.
Monday, September 01, 2008
A theology of blessed work
All labor gained new dignity
Words: John Oxenham, 1920
Tune: Labor
All labor gained new dignity
since He who all creation made
toiled with His hands for daily bread
right manfully.
No work is commonplace, if all
be done as unto Him alone;
life's simplest toil to Him is known
who knoweth all.
Each smallest common thing He makes
serves Him with its minutest part;
man only with his wand'ring heart
His way forsakes.
His service is life's highest joy,
it yields fair fruit a hundred fold:
be this our prayer--"Not fame, nor gold,
but--thine employ!"
Selah.
Words: John Oxenham, 1920
Tune: Labor
All labor gained new dignity
since He who all creation made
toiled with His hands for daily bread
right manfully.
No work is commonplace, if all
be done as unto Him alone;
life's simplest toil to Him is known
who knoweth all.
Each smallest common thing He makes
serves Him with its minutest part;
man only with his wand'ring heart
His way forsakes.
His service is life's highest joy,
it yields fair fruit a hundred fold:
be this our prayer--"Not fame, nor gold,
but--thine employ!"
Selah.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
The divinity of your task
A mystery of calling
“Come here,” said the Lion. And she had to. She was almost between its paws now, looking straight into its face. But she couldn’t stand that for long; she dropped her eyes.
“Human Child,” said the Lion, “Where is the Boy?”
“He fell over the cliff,” said Jill, and added, “Sir.” She didn’t know what else to call him, and it sounded cheek to call him nothing.
“How did he come to do that, Human Child?”
“He was trying to stop me from falling, Sir.”
“Why were you so near the edge, Human Child?”
“I was showing off, Sir.”
“That is a very good answer, Human Child. Do so no more (and here, for the first time, the Lion’s face became a little less stern) “The Boy is safe. I have blown him to Narnia. But your task will be harder because of what you have done.”
“Please, what task, Sir?” said Jill.
“The task for which I called you and him here, out of your own world.”
This puzzled Jill very much. “It’s mistaking me for someone else,” she thought. She didn’t dare tell the Lion this, though she felt things would get into a dreadful muddle unless she did.
“Speak your thought, Human Child,” said the Lion.
“I was wondering – I mean – could there be some mistake? Because nobody called me and Scrubb, you know. It was we who asked to come here. Scrubb said we were to call to – to Somebody – it was a name I wouldn’t know – and perhaps the Somebody would let us in. And we did, and then we found the door open.”
“You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you,” said the Lion.
“Then you are Somebody, Sir?” said Jill.
“I am,” said He. “And now hear your task…”
Selah.
C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair, 18-19.
“Come here,” said the Lion. And she had to. She was almost between its paws now, looking straight into its face. But she couldn’t stand that for long; she dropped her eyes.
“Human Child,” said the Lion, “Where is the Boy?”
“He fell over the cliff,” said Jill, and added, “Sir.” She didn’t know what else to call him, and it sounded cheek to call him nothing.
“How did he come to do that, Human Child?”
“He was trying to stop me from falling, Sir.”
“Why were you so near the edge, Human Child?”
“I was showing off, Sir.”
“That is a very good answer, Human Child. Do so no more (and here, for the first time, the Lion’s face became a little less stern) “The Boy is safe. I have blown him to Narnia. But your task will be harder because of what you have done.”
“Please, what task, Sir?” said Jill.
“The task for which I called you and him here, out of your own world.”
This puzzled Jill very much. “It’s mistaking me for someone else,” she thought. She didn’t dare tell the Lion this, though she felt things would get into a dreadful muddle unless she did.
“Speak your thought, Human Child,” said the Lion.
“I was wondering – I mean – could there be some mistake? Because nobody called me and Scrubb, you know. It was we who asked to come here. Scrubb said we were to call to – to Somebody – it was a name I wouldn’t know – and perhaps the Somebody would let us in. And we did, and then we found the door open.”
“You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you,” said the Lion.
“Then you are Somebody, Sir?” said Jill.
“I am,” said He. “And now hear your task…”
Selah.
C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair, 18-19.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
A road of hard work for the true self
A destiny to gain, only by selling all for the true calling
When nothing seems to help, I go and look at the stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it – but all that had gone before.
Jacob Riis
Nothing can resist the human will which will stake even its existence on the extent of its purpose.
Benjamin Disraeli
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause which we believe to be just.
Abraham Lincoln
A life not tested is not worth living.
Epictetus
The world can use these words, I know this now. Every man gives his life for what he believes, every woman gives her life for what she believes. Sometimes, people believe in little or nothing, and yet they give their lives to that little or nothing. One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. And then it's gone. But to surrender what you are and live without belief is more terrible than dying, even more terrible than dying young.
Joan of Arc
When nothing seems to help, I go and look at the stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it – but all that had gone before.
Jacob Riis
Nothing can resist the human will which will stake even its existence on the extent of its purpose.
Benjamin Disraeli
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause which we believe to be just.
Abraham Lincoln
A life not tested is not worth living.
Epictetus
The world can use these words, I know this now. Every man gives his life for what he believes, every woman gives her life for what she believes. Sometimes, people believe in little or nothing, and yet they give their lives to that little or nothing. One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. And then it's gone. But to surrender what you are and live without belief is more terrible than dying, even more terrible than dying young.
Joan of Arc