Christian Nature Poetry

Proof

2012-01-09T14:06:00.005-07:00

That I did always love,
I bring thee proof:
That till I loved
I did not love enough.

That I shall love alway,
I offer thee
That love is life,
And life hath immortality.

This, dost thou doubt, sweet?
Then have I
Nothing to show
But Calvary.* ---Emily Dickinson
* The mountain where Jesus died.

Calm on the Listening Ear of Night

2011-12-01T11:05:00.005-07:00

1. Calm on the listening ear of night

Come heaven's melodious strains,

Where wild Judea stretch'ed far

Her silver mantled plains.

2. Celestial choirs from courts above

Shed sacred glories there;

And angels, with their sparkling lyres,

Make music on the air.

3. The answering hills of Palestine

Send back the glad reply;

And greet, from all their holy heights,
The Dayspring* from on high.

4. O'er the blue depths of Galilee**

There comes a holier calm,

And Sharon*** waves, in solemn praise,

Her silent groves of palm.

5. "Glory to God!" the sounding skies

Loud with their anthems ring,

"Peace to the earth, good will to men,

From heaven's eternal King!"

6. Light on thy hills, Jerusalem!

The Savior now is born:

More bright on Bethlehem's joyous plains

Breaks the first Christmas morn.

---Edmund Hamilton Sears, 1834 (abridged)

*Dayspring: a poetic expression of "The Rising Sun", specifically the Messiah come to earth. From Luke 1:78, the Song of Zechariah at the birth of his son, John the Baptist. John was born to prepare the way of Jesus, the Messiah.

**The Sea of Galilee, up in the northern region of the Holy Land.

***Plain of Sharon: a lush coastal plain in Israel, between Joppa to the south & Mt. Carmel to the north.

For the Fruit of His Creation

2011-11-06T13:00:00.003-07:00

For the fruits of His creation,
Thanks be to God.
Gifts bestowed on every nation,
Thanks be to God.
For the plowing, sowing, reaping,
Silent growth while we are sleeping,
Future needs in earth's safekeeping,
Thanks be to God.

In the just reward of labor,
God's will is done.
In the help we give our neighbor,
God's will is done.
In our worldwide task of caring
For the hungry and despairing,
In the harvests we are sharing,
God's will is done.

For the harvests of the Spirit,
Thanks be to God.
For the good we all inherit,
Thanks be to God.
For the wonders that astound us,
For the truths that still confound us,
Most of all that love has found us,
Thanks be to God.

---Fred Pratt Green (d. 2000);

(This poem is a hymn set to the old Welsh lulllaby tune, "All Through the Night" ["Ar Hyd y Nos"])

When All Else Fails.....Rejoice!

2011-10-02T17:42:00.004-06:00

Though the fig tree does not blossom
Nor grapes on the vines;
Though the olive crop fails
And the fields yield no fruit,
Though there are no flocks in the stalls,
Yet will I rejoice in Yahweh
And will be joyful in the God of my salvation.
The Lord Yahweh is my strength;
He makes my feet like the deer's"
He makes me [able] to tread on high places.
For the Director of Music. On my [Habakkuk's] stringed instruments.
---Habakkuk 3:17-19
Habakkuk had been praying to Yahweh (God) throughout this book about various injustices. God's own people were cheating others. Then the Babylonians (Chaldeans) were to come to punish the Jews, but the Babylonians were a violent people. But each time, God gave Habakkuk an answer, and the prophet wrote this song in the end to praise God, whatever the circumstances surrounding him might be.

God of Our Fathers

2011-09-03T10:33:00.004-06:00

(posted for the 10th Anniversary of 9-11)

God of our fathers, whose almighty hand
Leads forth in beauty all the starry band
Of shining worlds in splendor through the skies
Our grateful songs before Thy throne arise.

Thy love divine hath led us in the past,
In this free land by Thee our lot is cast,
Be Thou our Ruler, Guardian, Guide and Stay,
Thy Word our law, Thy paths our chosen way.

From war’s alarms, from deadly pestilence,
Be Thy strong arm our ever sure defense;
Thy true religion in our hearts increase,
Thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace.

Refresh Thy people on their toilsome way,
Lead us from night to never ending day;
Fill all our lives with love and grace divine,
And glory, laud, and praise be ever Thine.
-----Daniel C. Warren, 1876 (for our nation's centennial)
(this hymn, while written by a Christian, granted, does not have the saving grace of Christ spelled out in its text)

I shall know why (untitled)

2011-08-01T19:00:00.005-06:00

193

I shall know why—when Time is over—
And I have ceased to wonder why—
Christ will explain each separate anguish
In the fair schoolroom of the sky*—

He will tell me what "Peter" promised**—
And I—for wonder at his woe—
I shall forget the drop of Anguish
That scalds me now—that scalds me now!

---Emily Dickinson, circa 1880

* Many people have speculated that in heaven, we will have all our questions answered, but that, then, it won't matter anymore.

**Probably a reference to Peter's promise to Jesus that he absolutely would not deny Him through the hard times coming up. Those hard times were Jesus's trial later that night, His suffering and His death. Peter did, indeed, deny Christ, three times, and then went out and wept bitterly when the rooster crowed (as Jesus had prophesied), and Peter laid eyes on Jesus. This was Peter's anguish. Dickinson is probably making a parallel to the ways she knows she has fallen short and the anguish that brings, realizing that her anguish will fade when (1) confronted by Peter's in person and (2) she is in the presence of Christ. Since "Peter" is in quotes, Dickinson may be going beyond the literal Peter of the Bible to refer to someone, some man, who left her feeling betrayed.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness*

2011-07-11T18:11:00.004-06:00

1."Great is Thy faithfulness," O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

(Chorus) "Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
"Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

2. Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

3.Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

---Thomas Obediah Chisholm, 1923

*Based on Lamentations 3:22-24: "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." (NIV)

Creator, Spirit, By Whose Aid

2011-06-02T18:09:00.007-06:00

(a hymn for Pentecost)

Creator, Spirit*, by whose aid

The world's foundations first were laid.

Come, visit every humble mind;

Come pour Your joys on humankind.

From sin and sorrow set us free;

May we Your living temples be.

Giver of grace, descend from high;

Your sevenfold** gifts to us supply.

Help us eternal truths receive

And practice all that we believe.

Give us Yourself that we may see

The glory of the Trinity.

Immortal honor, endless fame

Attend the Almighty Father's Name.

The Savior, Son, be glorified,

Who for all humankind has died.

To You, O Counselor***, we raise

Unending songs of thanks and praise.

---Rabanus Marus, early 9th century A.D.; translated by John Dryden, adapted c.m.b., 2011.

*For more on the Holy Spirit in creation, see notes on Gerard Manley Hopkins's "God's Grandeur" below

**Sevenfold gift of the Spirit: (Isaiah 11:1-2). The Catholic Catechism defines them as "wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord." While this is not a Biblical listing, it is a listing worth considering.

***Greek "Paraclete", counselor, advisor, comfortor, legal counsel (lawyer), all-in-one.

May

2011-05-08T15:22:00.003-06:00

I cannot tell you how it was,
But this I know: it came to pass
Upon a bright and sunny day
When May was young; ah, pleasant May!
As yet the poppies were not born
Between the blades of tender corn;
The last egg had not hatched as yet,
Nor any bird foregone its mate*.

I cannot tell you what it was,
But this I know: it did but pass.
It passed away with sunny May,
Like all sweet things it passed away,
And left me old, and cold, and gray.

---Christina Rossetti, (1830-1894)

*in the world of birds, many males leave their mates after the babies are old enough to fly away

Lent & Easter

2011-04-04T18:01:00.004-06:00

For poems & items related to Lent, Good Friday & Easter, see the menu bar at left, particularly "40 Days", "Crucifixion", "Lent", "Easter", and "Resurrection". Right now, I am too busy with work, music & family obligations to post the quality of works I would like to. God bless your season!

Joseph the Faithful Carpenter

2011-03-19T12:29:00.005-06:00

(March 19th Commemorates Joseph, Stepfather of Jesus)
Joseph, the Faithful Carpenter
Ponders the new he keeps concealed
His bride-to-be in found with child—
A father’s name is not revealed.

As Joseph slumbers fitfully
An angel enters Joseph’s dream
To tell him that this comes of God
And things are not as they may seem:

“O, Joseph, banish all your fears
And take Young Mary as your wife
And be a father to God’s child
Who comes to share in human life.”

Good Joseph, born of David’s line
(which matters not in days of Rome)
Bequeaths a human royalty
And gives the Boy a godly home.

A jealous Herod fears this King
So Joseph takes them speedily
To Egypt, where again he works,
To care for his small family.

An angel tells that Herod’s deal,
So Joseph brings them all back home;
He brings them to quaint Nazareth
And raises God’s Son as his own.

---C. Marie Byars, 1999 (c)
Painting by Coello, c. 1650

Deer's Cry

2011-03-02T19:53:00.005-07:00

(St.Patrick's Breastplate)

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendour of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgement of Doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of the Cherubim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In the hope of the resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In prediction of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak to me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me,

Christ to shield me today,
Against poising, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So there come to me abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye of every one who sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

---Attributed to St. Patrick, 385-461
(from a translation by Kuno Meyer;adapted from an earier translation by Cecil Francis Alexander)

Winter Sun

2011-02-03T15:17:00.005-07:00

Most of the U.S. has just survived a massive cold front with huge snowfall. So, here's some "sunshine" to brighten your day!!!

Grand Canyon

2011-02-02T16:13:00.001-07:00

Love Divine, All Love Excelling

2011-02-01T15:26:00.003-07:00

Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling;
All thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit,
Into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit;
Let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its Beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.

Come, Almighty to deliver,
Let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return and never,
Never more Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing,
Glory in Thy perfect love.

Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.
--- Charles Wesley, 1747
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Cardinals in Winter

2011-01-01T10:28:00.003-07:00

These are not my photos---they're stock internet photos of a male and a female cardinal. Such lovely birds. Surely in heaven, when we are perfect people, the cardinals will have no fear of us and come close to perch on us. (I hope, anyway. And I think it's a pretty reasonable hope.)

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day*

2010-12-18T12:45:00.002-07:00

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head**
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”
---Henry Wordsworth Longfellow, 1864

*Usually sung to a tune written by Jean Baptiste Calkin
*This poem was written during the Civil War. Two stanzas further reflecting the sense of despair over the war are not usually included anymore in the hymn and are not included here.

Moonless darkness stands between

2010-12-14T18:39:00.004-07:00

Moonless darkness stands between.
Past, the Past, no more be seen!
But the Bethlehem-star may lead me
To the sight of Him Who freed me
From the self that I have been.
Make me pure, Lord: Thou art holy;
Make me meek, Lord: Thou wert lowly;
Now beginning, and alway:
Now begin, on Christmas day.
---Gerard Manley Hopkins

Gerard Manley Hopkins Icon

2010-12-14T18:29:00.004-07:00

I've long been an admirer of Gerard Manley Hopkins' poetry. I wrote the thesis for my FIRST master's degree on his work. Father William Hart McNichols has created an "icon" of him in Eastern Orthodox style, although both were Roman Catholic priests.

Daughter Zion*

2010-11-28T19:05:00.006-07:00

Daughter Zion, O rejoice;

Shout aloud with cheer, O Jerusalem.

See, your King now comes**, riding unto you***,

Royal Prince of Peace, He comes in God's own time.

Daughter Zion, O rejoice;

Shout aloud with cheer, O Jerusalem.

Hosanna, David's Son;

Blessed be Your people, O blessed One!

Your eternal Kingdom establish, LORD!

Hosanna, "Save us!", Eternal Word.

Hosanna, David's Son;

Blessed be Your people, O blessed One!

Hosanna, David's Son;

Be with joy now greeted, O King most mild!
Forever stands in peace Your royal Throne:
You, Eternal Father's Eternal Child.
Hosanna, David's Son;

Be with joy now greeted, O King most mild!
---German Adventslied; translated C. Marie Byars (c) 2004
*A German folk carol for Advent, set to music from G.F. Handel's Judas Maccabeus
**The first Sunday in Advent traditionally has a reading from Palm Sunday, which this song reflects. The "hope" that people had all those centuries before Christ came was to be fulfilled soon after Christ's entry into Jerusalem; He suffered, died on the cross and rose from the dead in that next week.
***The fact that Jesus was able to ride the "unbroken colt" of a donkey which had never been ridden before shows that He IS the Lord of Nature.

O, Blessed Spring*

2010-11-20T21:30:00.007-07:00

O, Blessed Spring where Word and Sign
Embrace us into Christ the Vine:
Here Christ enjoins each one to be
A branch of this life-giving Tree.

Through summer heat of youthful tears,
Uncertain faith, rebellious tears,
Sustained by Christ's infusing rain,
The boughs will shout for joy again.

When autumn cools and youth is cold,
When limbs their heavy harvest hold,
Then through us, warm, the Christ will move
With gifts of beauty, wisdom love.

As winter comes, as winters must,
We breathe our last, return to dust;
Still held in Christ, our souls take wing
And trust the promise of the spring.

Christ, Holy Vine, Christ, Living Tree,
Be praised for this blest mystery:
That Word and water thus revive
And join us to Your Tree of Life.
---Susan Palo Cherwien; (c) 1993
*(A hymn to be sung to the old English folk song, "The Water is Wide [I can't get o'er]"

Pied Beauty (Redux)

2010-10-25T16:57:00.002-06:00

Always nice to repeat some of Hopkins work:

Glory be to God for dappled things,
For skies of couple-color as a brindled cow,
For rose-moles in stipple** upon trout that swim.
Fresh-firecoal chestnut falls***, finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced---fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, spare, original, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled, (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise Him.
---Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1877

*Pied: Having patches of more than one color; i.e. the "Pied Piper"
**Rose-colored dots or flecks
***Fallen chestnuts, red as burning coals

Beside Still Waters

2010-10-10T21:48:00.004-06:00

The LORD [Yahweh] is my shepherd;
I shall not [be in] want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.**
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou anointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
----King David; Psalm 23 KJV*
*I normally don't read the King James Version anymore, but the etched-in beauty of this older version captivated me.
**Recently revisiting this Psalm (which, actually, is not my "favorite" of the Psalms, unlike many other people), I emphasized the "still waters" and "restoring my soul" because of some great, deep, long-sought but elusive peace which He recently brought to me & which I pray continues through the next leg of life's journey.

The Crescent Moon

2010-10-09T19:42:00.005-06:00

This is tonight's crescent Moon. (The New Moon was on Thursday the 7th.) See the Emily Dickison poem, "The Moon", which is linked in from below.

Harvest Moon

2010-09-24T11:14:00.006-06:00

(Enhanced)

(Unenhanced)

The Harvest Moon is the first full Moon at or right after the Autumn Equinox. This year, as a rare occurrence, it made its appearance right at the time of the Fall Equinox, which happened in the wee hours of September 23rd.

(This was taken on the night of September 22nd in the Western Hemisphere, leading into the equinox.)

The other bright spot is the planet Jupiter, which is yellowish in color in "real life." Its closeness to the Moon offered another point of interest for this year's Harvest Moon.

By the next night (the evening of the 23rd in the Western Hemisphere), the Moon had moved further away from Jupiter.

Fringed Gentian

2010-09-09T17:06:00.007-06:00

God made a little gentian;
It tried to be a rose
And failed, and all the summer laughed.
But just before the snows
There came a purple creature
That ravished all the hill;
And summer hid her forehead,
And mockery was still.
The frosts were her condition;
The Tyrian* would not come
Until the North evoked it.
"Creator! shall I bloom?"

---Emily Dickinson

*Tyrian: A shade of purple, named for the dye made in the ancient city of Tyre.

To Everything a Season

2010-08-20T13:05:00.005-06:00

There is a time for everything,
And a season for every activity under heaven:

A time to be born and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot;
A time to kill off forcefully and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build;
A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to grieve and a time to dance;
A time to scatter stones about and a time to gather them up;
A time to embrace and a time to hold back;
A time to search and a time to abandon search;
A time to keep and a time to discard;
A time to tear and a time to mend;
A time to be silent and a time to speak
A time to love and a time to hate*;
A time for war and a time for peace....

[God] has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity into the hearts of people,
Yet they cannot grasp what God has done
From beginning to end. --(King Solomon?); Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11
*We are called to truly hate what is evil or false; not to arbitrarily hate other people.

Summer

2010-07-13T16:09:00.002-06:00

[no mention of the Christian faith, but still a lovely poem BY a Christian!]
Winter is cold-hearted
Spring is yea and nay,
Autumn is a weather-cock
Blown every way:
Summer days for me
When every leaf is on its tree;
When Robin's not a beggar,
And Jenny Wren's a bride,
And larks hang singing, singing, singing,
Over the wheat-fields wide,
And anchored lilies ride,
And the pendulum spider
Swings from side to side,
And blue-black beetles transact business,
And gnats fly in a host,
And furry caterpillars hasten
That no time be lost,
And moths grow fat and thrive,
And ladybirds arrive.
Before green apples blush,
Before green nuts embrown,
Why, one day in the country
Is worth a month in town;
Is worth a day and a year
Of the dusty, musty, lag-last fashion
That days drone elsewhere.

---Christina Rosetti, 1866

The Navy Hymn

2010-07-01T20:35:00.003-06:00

(for American Independence Day, July 4th)

Eternal Father, Strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the mighty Ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep*;
O hear us when we cry to thee,
for those in peril on the sea.

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walked'st on the foaming deep,
and calm amidst its rage didst sleep**;
Oh hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

Most Holy spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee,
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.
---adapted from Rev. William Whiting, 1861

*From the Book of Job; Yahweh reminds Job that He set the limits of the ocean at the beginning of time.
**Jesus walked upon the water and calmed the stormy waters of the Sea of Galilee in the gospels. During one of these episodes, He slept on deck while the storm raged until His panicked disciples woke Him up.
***Genesis 1: The Holy Spirit brooded on the formlessness, the waters, before creation began

When I Consider How My Light is Spent*

2010-06-20T22:11:00.005-06:00

(Sonnet XIX)
When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide**
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest He returning chide,
"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"
I fondly ask; But patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best
Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at His bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait."

---John Milton

*A poem on his imprending blindness

**It would be a "mini-death" to have to give up writing poetry.

Rest

2010-06-02T21:12:00.001-06:00

O Earth, lie heavily upon her eyes;
Seal her sweet eyes weary of watching, Earth;
Lie close around her; leave no room for mirth
With its harsh laughter, nor for sound of sighs.
She hath no questions, she hath no replies,
Hushed in and curtained with a blessed dearth
Of all that irked her from the hour of birth;
With stillness that is almost Paradise.
Darkness more clear than noon-day holdeth her,
Silence more musical than any song;
Even her very heart has ceased to stir:
Until the morning of Eternity
Her rest shall not begin nor end, but be;
And when she wakes she will not think it long.
--Christina Rossetti
From Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862)

A Literature Professor Passes

2010-05-05T21:09:00.001-06:00

Robert Lee Conners Conners, Robert Lee, 72, passed away Tuesday, April 13, 2010 due to complications of Parkinson's disease. He was an English Literature Professor at many Lutheran colleges and universities during his 42 year career among which was St. John's in Winfield, Kansas. It was there that I met this fine professor & was introduced to the work of GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS in his literature classes. Bob encouraged the exploration of this work, which was very important for me in my life's journey.

Bob was survived by many children & grandchildren and will be missed by many.

Easter Song

2010-04-13T15:58:00.002-06:00

I Got me flowers to straw Thy way,
I got me boughs off many a tree;
But Thou wast up by break of day,
And brought’st Thy sweets along with Thee.

The sunne arising in the East,
Though he give light, and th’ East perfume,
If they should offer to contest
With Thy arising, they presume.

Can there be any day but this,
Though many sunnes to shine endeavour?
We count three hundred, but we misse:
There is but one, and that one ever.

---by George Herbert (Welsh; 1593-1633)

A Better Resurrection

2010-03-20T18:13:00.004-06:00

[an excerpt; for the end of Lent & Easter]
I have no wit, no words, no tears;
My heart within me like a stone
Is numb'd too much for hopes or fears;
Look right, look left, I dwell alone;
I lift mine eyes, but dimm'd with grief
No everlasting hills I see;
My life is in the falling leaf:
O Jesus, quicken me.

My life is like a faded leaf,
My harvest dwindled to a husk:
Truly my life is void and brief
And tedious in the barren dusk;
My life is like a frozen thing,
No bud nor greenness can I see:
Yet rise it shall--the sap of Spring;
O Jesus, rise in me.
---Christina Rossetti

"The Love of Christ Which Passeth Knowledge"

2010-02-24T19:13:00.003-07:00

[A useful reflection for Lent]
I bore with thee long weary days and nights,
Through many pangs of heart, through many tears;
I bore with thee, thy hardness, coldness, slights,
For three and thirty years.

Who else had dared for thee what I have dared?
I plunged the depth most deep from bliss above;
I not My flesh, I not My spirit spared:
Give thou Me love for love.

For thee I thirsted in the daily drouth,
For thee I trembled in the nightly frost:
Much sweeter thou than honey to My mouth:
Why wilt thou still be lost?

I bore thee on My shoulders and rejoiced:
Men only marked upon My shoulders borne
The branding cross; and shouted hungry-voiced,
Or wagged their heads in scorn.
---Christina Rossetti

The Quality of Mercy

2010-01-30T17:43:00.002-07:00

The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings.
But mercy is above this sceptered sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings;
It is an attribute of God himself;
And earthly power doth then show like God's
When mercy seasons justice.
---William Shakespeare; 1600
(Portia’s speech in Act IV, Scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice)

Theft, Part Deux

2010-01-23T15:20:00.004-07:00

We were broken into AGAIN!!! And I have more (at least low-grade) anger than the first time. It actually has every appearance of being the same thieves. Probably done for drug money. See link regarding that earlier theft below at http://jesusrhymetime.blogspot.com/2009/07/theft.html
But life has to keep on keeping on, regardless of these things happening.

Poetic Prose

2010-01-11T19:34:00.005-07:00

"For an afternoon's ramble ending in a picnic tea it would have been delightful. It had everything you could want on an occasion of that sort---rumbling waterfalls, silver cascades, deep, amber-coloured pools, mossy rocks, and deep moss on the banks in which you could sink over you ankles, every kind of fern, jewel-like dragon flies, sometimes a hawk overhead and once (Peter and Trumpkin both thought) an eagle." ---C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian; The Chronicles of Narnia

Epiphany

2010-01-04T15:44:00.004-07:00

'Lord Babe, if Thou art He
We sought for patiently,
Where is Thy court?
Hither may prophecy and star resort;
Men heed not their report.' –
'Bow down and worship, righteous man:
This Infant of a span
Is He man sought for since the world began!' –
'Then, Lord, accept my gold, too base a thing
For Thee, of all kings King.' –

'Lord Babe, despite Thy youth
I hold Thee of a truth
Both Good and Great:
But wherefore dost Thou keep so mean a state,
Low-lying desolate?' –
'Bow down and worship, righteous seer:
The Lord our God is here
Approachable, Who bids us all draw near.' –
'Wherefore to Thee I offer frankincense,
Thou Sole Omnipotence.' –

'But I have only brought
Myrrh; no wise afterthought
Instructed me
To gather pearls or gems, or choice to see
Coral or ivory.' –
'Not least thine offering proves thee wise:
For myrrh means sacrifice,
And He that lives, this Same is He that dies.' –
'Then here is myrrh: alas, yea woe is me
That myrrh befitteth Thee.' –

Myrrh, frankincense, and gold:
And lo from wintry fold
Good-will doth bring
A Lamb, the innocent likeness of this King
Whom stars and seraphs sing:
And lo the bird of love, a Dove,
Flutters and coos above:
And Dove and Lamb and Babe agree in love: –
Come all mankind, come all creation hither,
Come, worship Christ together.

--Christina Rosetti; Before 1886

In the Bleak Midwinter

2009-12-01T15:48:00.004-07:00

In the bleak midwinter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter,
Long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold him,
Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When he comes to reign;
In the bleak midwinter
A stable place sufficed
The Lord God incarnate,
Jesus Christ.

Enough for him, whom Cherubim
Worship night and day
A breast full of milk
And a manger full of hay.
Enough for him, whom angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
which adore.

What can I give him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him —
Give my heart.
---Christina Rossetti, circa 1872

Praise, Oh, Praise our God and King

2009-11-15T16:01:00.005-07:00

A Paraphrase of Psalm 136
Praise, oh, praise, our God and King,
Hymns of adoration sing;
For His mercies still endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.

Praise Him that He made the sun
Day by day his course to run;
And the silver moon by night,
Shining with her gentle light;
For His mercies still endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.

Praise Him that He gave the rain
To mature the swelling grain;
And hath bid the fruitful field
Crops of precious increase yield;
For His mercies still endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.

Glory to our bounteous King,
"Glory", let creation sing:
Glory to the Father, Son,
And the Spirit, Three in One!
For His mercies still endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.
---Rev. Henry Baker, 1861; reformatted c.m.b. 2007

Who Am I?

2009-11-08T17:40:00.003-07:00

Dietrich Bonhöffer, a young [Lutheran] theologian of great promise [from the German state church], was martyred by the Nazis for his participation in a plot against the life of Adolf Hitler. His writings have greatly influenced recent theological thought. This article appeared in the Journal Christianity and Crisis, March 4, 1946. [Some Lutherans question the depth or expression of his Lutheran theology, but this is a moving poem, regardless.]
Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a squire from his country-house.
Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As though it were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equally, smilingly, proudly,
Like one accustomed to win.

Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were
compressing my throat,
Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectation of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?

Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, 0 God, I am Thine!*
----Dietrich Bonhoeffer; March 4,1946
*Because Jesus died on the cross for us

Sing to the Lord of Harvest

2009-10-27T14:25:00.003-06:00

Sing to the Lord of harvest,
Sing songs of love and praise;
With joyful hearts and voices
Your alleluias raise.
By Him the rolling seasons
In fruitful order move;
Sing to the Lord of harvest,
A joyous song of love.

By Him the clouds drop fatness,
The deserts bloom and spring,
The hills leap up in gladness,
The valleys laugh and sing.
He fills them with His fullness
And all things will increase,
He crowns the year with goodness,
With plenty and with peace.

Bring to His sacred altar

The gifts His goodness gave,

The golden sheaves of harvest,

The souls He died to save.

Your hearts lay down before Him

When at His feet you fall,

And with your lives adore Him,

Who gave His life for all.

To God the gracious Father,
Who made us “very good,”
To Christ, who, when we wandered,
Restored us with His blood,

And to the Holy Spirit,
Who doth upon us pour
His blessèd dews and sunshine,
Be praise forevermore!
---John S.B. Monsell, 1866; adapted c.m.b., 2009

2009-10-17T16:09:00.001-06:00

Here's a link to see some glorious fall photos!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=114912&l=1a37126cb7&id=100000100553886

Indian Summer

2009-10-03T15:08:00.003-06:00

These are the days when birds come back,
A very few, a bird or two,
To take a backward look.

These are the days when skies put on
The old, old sophistries* of June ---
A blue and gold mistake.

Oh, fraud that cannot cheat the bee,
Almost thy plausibility
Induces my belief,

Till ranks of seeds their witness bear,
And softly through the altered air
Hurries a timid leaf!

Oh, sacrament** of summer days,
Oh, last communion** in the haze,
Permit a child to join,

Thy sacred emblems to partake,
Thy consecrated bread to break,
Taste thine immortal wine!
---Emily Dickinson
*Sophistries: subtly deceiving reasoning or artifacts
**Emily was so taken with the natural experience that she equates it with the Lord's Supper (Communion). No, I don't put nature on that par (it doesn't give forgiveness of sins), but the fact that nature is less tinged by the effects of sin makes it sometimes seem almost "sacred."

Aaahhh...VivAHldi!

2009-09-16T20:00:00.004-06:00

This isn't a poem, but it IS a lovely rendition of Vivaldi's "Autumn" with great video clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tHgtzAJePo
BTW, you can read a translation of the poems Vivaldi wrote describing each of the Four Season Concertos by clicking the "Vivaldi" link below or to the left.

My Own Heart Let Me Have More Pity On

2009-09-08T06:37:00.004-06:00

[originally untitled]
(Forgiveness in Christ brings joy; but sometimes a tender conscience is hard on a person for a period of time. Hopkins experienced a period of what appears to be depression in connection with this.)

My own heart let me have more pity on; let
Me live to see my sad self hereafter kind,
Charitable; not live this tormented mind
With this tormented mind tormenting yet.
I cast for comfort I can no more get
By going round my comfortless, than blind
Eyes in their dark can day or thirst can find*
Thirst's all-in-all in all a world of wet.

Would, self; come, poor Jackself*, I do advise
You, jaded, let be;*** call off thoughts awhile
Elsewhere; leave comfort root-room; let joy size
At God knows when to God knows what; whose smile****
's bit wrung, see you; unforeseen times rather---as skies
Betweenpie mountains---lights a lovely mile.
---Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1885

*The poet is "groping around" in the manner of a blind man, searching for comfort that eludes him
**Hopkins often used "Jack" as a stand in for "anyone", the "man on the street", himself
***"Let it go", in modern language; he's telling his soul this hanging on to jadedness & sad thougts needs to go
****No, the poet doesn't really believe that God (the Father) has a physical smile; it's figurative, and he's comparing it to the "dappled" bright "U" of sky in the saddle between two dark mountains

The Destruction of Sennacherib*

2009-08-21T15:29:00.003-06:00

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride:
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail;
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances uplifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword*,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!
---George Gordon, Lord Byron

*II Kings 18: 13-19; II Chronicles 32: 1-21; Isaiah chapters 36-37. Sennacherib was an Assyrian king. A previous Assyrian king, Slamaneser, had carried the northern kingdom of Israel. When Sennacherib threatened Judah, Isaiah and King Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh (the Lord), and the Angel of God killed Sennacherib's best fighting men in camp. Sennacherib withdrew home, and was later killed by some of his own sons in the temple of his god.

Facebook

2009-08-13T17:28:00.008-06:00

I'm on "Facebook" now. The following photo album may be of interest to you!!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2762&id=100000100553886&l=3a471538d7

Music on the Wing*

2009-08-04T12:17:00.006-06:00

Let me be to Thee as the circling bird,
Or bat with tender and air-crisping wings
That shapes in half-light his departing rings**,
from both of whom a changeless note is heard.

I have found my music in a common word,
Trying each pleasurable throat that sings
And every praised sequence of sweet strings,
And know infallibly which I preferred.

The authentic cadence was discovered late
Which ends those only strains that I approve,
and other science all gone out of date
And minor sweetness scarce made mention of;
I have found the dominant of my range*** and state--
Love, O my God, to call Thee Love and Love.
---Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1865
*Originally untitled
**The bats circling to depart at sunset ("half-light")
***The author found his "true singing voice" late, or so he says. His "range" (literally, how low & high one can sing) is all wrapped up in Love for God. (This love can come only as a response to knowing that Christ has died for our sins.)

Theft

2009-07-14T17:33:00.005-06:00

We were recently broken into---someone kicking in the door & grabbing things in a hurry. They didn't get much of either sentimental or monetary value. But it prompted me to think of these sayings of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount:

"Don't keep on storing up for yourselves (plural)* treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break through and steal. But treasure up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys nor where thieves break through and steal. For where your (singular)* treasure is, there will be also your (singular) heart." Matthew 6: 19-21 (original translation).

*Greek has singular and plural forms of "you." Jesus is speaking to a crowd of people, plural "you", but each person's salvation and eternal place is a singular matter---your belief in Jesus cannot be a "group matter." (And Jesus is the one who turns the heart to treasure the right things.)

Be Still, My Soul

2009-06-29T12:23:00.004-06:00

[These are tough economic times for people. And, yet, the timeless wisdom and loving care of God never change.]

Be still, my soul*: the Lord is on your side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to your God to order and provide:
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: your best, your heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: your God will undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake:
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
Christ's voice, which ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears.
Then you shall better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe your sorrow and your fears.
Be still, my soul: your Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise;
While still on earth, sing to your Lord on high.
Acknowledge Him in all your words and ways**,
So shall He view you with a well-pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of Life*** divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we will meet at last.
---Katharina A. von Schlagel, 1752 (German); translated 1855 Jane L. Borthwick; adapted c.m.b., 2009
*Psalms 46: 10 & 42: 4-11
**Proverbs 3: 5-6
***Malachi 4:2; Jesus as the "Sun of Righteousness"

Narnia Findings

2009-06-20T18:00:00.006-06:00

I'm totally a fan of C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. (Nature alert: if you read his books with the love of nature in mind, you see Lewis's sensitive treatment of nature all over the place.) But I have a beef with how the many productions cast the Narnia characters because I've read and re-read these books about 8 or 9 times, at least. And they don't bother to get the physical charactertics right. (And don't even get me started on how the big budget films just bury the warm, cozy joys of the books in special effects!) Anyway, for you Narnia buffs, here's how Lewis described them:

Digory, Edmund, Lucy, Cor (Shasta) & twin Corin, Caspian X and Prince Rilian all had "golden" or blonde hair.
Susan had "raven" (black) hair.
Jill was curly-headed.
Frank was red-faced and a good singing voice.
Helen/Nellie was young.
Jadis (the White Witch) had long hair; was 7 feet tall; was 1/2 Jinn (genie??) and 1/2 giantess; had white, white skin (like snow or paper) and bright red lips (which became that color when she ate the "forbidden fruit").
In all my combing through, I have not detected what color Peter's hair was. Same for Polly and Trinian.

Making Known God's Glory

2009-06-05T15:20:00.005-06:00

(an original translation of Psalm 19; verse numbering follows the Hebrew text)
(1) For the choir director. A song of David.
(2) The heavens are recounting
The glory of God*,
And their expanse makes conspicuous
The work of His hands.
(3) Day to day speech bubbles up,
And night to night knowledge is told.
(4) There is no speech nor are there words:
Their voice is not heard.
(5) [Yet] In the whole earth,
Their line has gone out,
To the end of the earth, their utterances**.
He has set up a tent for the Sun in them.
(6) And he [the Sun] is like a bridegroom
Coming out of his canopy;
He rejoices as a strong man
To run the course.
(7) From the end of the heavens
Is his going forth;
And his circuit is at the ends:
There is nothing hidden from his heat...
(8a) The Torah *** of Yahweh is perfect,
Turning back the soul...
(10b) The judgments of Yahweh are true,
They are altogether righteous...
(12) Also by them is Your servant warned;
In keeping them is great reward****...
(15) Let the words of my mouth
And the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your Presence,
O, Yahweh, my Rock and my Redeemer.
*St. Paul speaks in Romans 1:19 how all creation reflects God's divine power
**Romans 10:18 quotes this to show how evangelists have taken God's Word out into the world.
***"Torah" is sometimes translated "Law", due to old Jewish use. It more properly means the entire collections of Moses, the Prophets, and the special writings; in other words, the Old Testament. (Not all of the O.T. is "Law"!!)
****"Great reward"; following the best path usually provides its own rewards in this life by keeping you out of trouble. The teachings in the Bible keep you connected to Christ, who actually gives the eternal reward.

Luther's Backyard

2009-05-19T16:36:00.003-06:00

(Free Verse)
I stood in Luther's "backyard",
A walled enclave behind Wittenburg castle.
I remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday,
Even though it was Nineteen-ninety-nine.
There were trees, bearing white blossoms
And fresh grass.
What was once one large enclosure,
Including Katie's beer crops
Was now divided by a road.
I had some sense now
Of those things which inspired Luther's
Writings about Nature.
Now when I need a safe place
In my own mind,
That is the place
To which I return.
---C. Marie Byars, (c) 2009

Spring "Song"

2009-05-05T18:53:00.002-06:00

(from "Pippa Passes")
The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-side's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn:
God's in His heaven---
And all's right with the world*!
---Robert Burns
*Well, sort of. The natural world goes along with a lot of beautiful & good things in it; but it, too, is damaged by sin.

He's Risen, He's Risen & Happy Easter

2009-04-05T16:26:00.006-06:00

He's risen, He's risen, Christ Jesus, the Lord;
He opened death's prison, the incarnate, true Word.
Break forth, hosts of heaven, in jubilant song,
And earth, sea, and mountain the praises prolong.

The foe was triumphant when on Calvary
The Lord of creation was nailed to the tree.
In Satan's domain did the hosts shout and jeer:
For Jesus was slain, whom the evil ones fear.

But short was their triumph: the Savior arose!
And death, hell, and Satan He vanquished, His foes.
The conquering Lord lifts His banner on high:
He lives, yes, He lives, and will never-more die.

O, where is your sting, death?* We fear you no more!
Christ rose, and now open is fair Eden's door.
For all our transgressions His blood does atone;
Redeemed and forgiven, we now are His own.

Then sing your hosannas and raise your glad voice;
Proclaim the blest tidings that all may rejoice.
Laud, honor, and praise to the Lamb that was slain;
With Father and Spirit He ever shall reign.
----Rev. C.F.W. Walther, 1860
(adapted from the translation by Anna M. Meyer)

*Hosea 13: 14 & I Corintians 15: 55

O, Darkest Woe!

2009-02-25T19:32:00.006-07:00

O darkest woe! You tears, forth flow!
Has earth so sad a wonder?
God the Father’s only Son
Once was buried yonder.

O sorrow dread! God’s Son was dead,
Upon the cross extended.
There His love enlivened us
As His life was ended.

Laid low in death, Sweet silent lips,
As You, dead, then lay sleeping!
Surely all that live must mourn
Here with bitter weeping.

Oh, blest shall be Eternally
All who repent and ponder
Why the glorious Prince of Life
Should be buried yonder.

O Jesus blest, my Help and Rest!
With tears I pray, Lord hear me:
Make me love Thee to the last,
And in death be near me.
---Friedrich von Spee, 1628 (German); translation: composite

God Bless Our Native Land

2009-01-20T10:40:00.005-07:00

(A poetic hymn to celebrate & exhort our nation this Inauguration Day.)

God bless our native land;
Firm may she ever stand
Through storm and night.
When the wild tempests rave,
Ruler of wind and wave,
Do Thou our country save
By Thy great might.

For her our prayers shall rise
To God, above the skies;
On Him we wait.
Thou who art ever nigh,
Guarding with watchful eye:
To Thee aloud we cry,
God save the state!

And not to us alone,
But be Thy mercies known
From shore to shore.
Lord, make the nations see
That men should brothers be
And form one family
The wide world o'er.

--Stanzas 1-2, Siegfried A. Mahlmann, 1815
--Stanza 3, William E. Hickson, 1835

To Bethlehem With Gladness

2009-01-03T19:43:00.005-07:00

(An adaptation of the hymn "As With Gladness Men of Old")

As the Wise Men from of old
Did the guiding star* behold
As with joy they hailed its light,
Leading onward, beaming bright:
So, most gracious Lord, may we
Evermore be led to Thee.

As with joyful steps they sped
To Thy lowly cradle bed;
There to bend the knee before
Thee, Whom heaven and earth adore;
So may we with willing feet
Ever seek Thy mercy seat.

As they offered gifts most rare
At Thy cradle, rude and bare;
So may we with holy joy,
Pure and free from sin's alloy**,
All our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to Thee, our heavenly King.

Holy Jesus, every day
Keep us in the narrow way;
And, when earthly things are past,
Bring our ransomed souls at last
Where they need no star to guide,
Where no clouds Thy glory hide.

In the heavenly country bright,
Need they no created light:
Thou its light, its joy, its crown,
Thou its Sun*** which goes not down;
There forever may we sing
Alleluias to our King!
---William Chatterton Dix, 1860

*Numbers 24:17; it was prophesied that a Star would rise out of the Israelites, referring both to the actual star & to Messiah Jesus
**An alloy is something mixed in which diluted purity. Dix prays that we can offer our gifts to Christ with the greatest of purity, an admirable hope, but a condition we will not see perfectly in this lifetime.
***Messiah Jesus was to be the "Sun of Righteousness" who would rise "with healing in His wings." (Cf. the words of "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.)

Help of the Ages

2008-12-29T13:27:00.005-07:00

An original translation from Psalm 90 for New Year's

(1) A Prayer of Moses, Man of God:
Lord (Adonai), You are a Safe-Haven;
YOU are ours from generation to generation.
(2) Before the mountains were given birth
Or You brought forth the earth and the world---
From everlasting to everlasting
You are God.
(3) You return humanity unto dust
When You say, "Return, sons of Adam [man]."
(4) For a thousand years in Your eyes
Are as a day just passed
Or as a watch served in the night.
(5) You flush them away in sleep
And they are in the morning
As new green grass passed away---
(6)In the morning,
It springs up as new grass;
In the evening,
it is withered and dried out.
(10a) The days which we are given--
In them is seventy years;
Or if there is strength,
Eighty years.
(12) Teach us our days thus to reckon
So that we may obtain a heart of wisdom.

Once in Royal David's City

2008-12-06T13:24:00.007-07:00

Once in royal David's city
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her Baby
In a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child.

He came down to earth from heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all;
And His shelter was a stable,
And His cradle was a stall.
With the poor, the scorned, the lowly,
Lived on earth our Savior holy.

And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own redeeming love;
For that Child who seemed so helpless
Is our Lord in heaven above;
And he leads His children
Onto the place where He is gone.

---Cecil Frances Alexander,1848

KEE L'Oh-LAHM CHas-DOE

2008-10-31T14:33:00.008-06:00

...For His lovingkindness lasts to eternity. (Psalm 136:10).

As I went for a walk
On legs that are able,
I praise You,
For I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
I revel in leaves
And a family picnic table.
Your works are wonderful,
How rightly I realize this! (Ps. 139:14)
...His lovingkindness lasts to eternity.

High above arches the pale blue dome
On which billowy white clouds have been hung;
He causes the clouds to rise
From the ends of the earth...
I breath in autumn
With clear, healthy lungs.
And brings out the wind
From within His storehouses. (Ps. 135:7)
...His lovingkindness lasts to eternity.

Fuzzy brown squirrels
Are storing up food...
The eyes of all look unto You,
For You give them their food in the right season.
And I munch an apple~
Sensing all that is good.
You open up Your Hand
And satisfy the wants of all living things. (Ps. 145:15-16)
...His lovingkindness lasts to eternity.

My health is restored
As only He could;
Who forgives all my sins
And heals my diseases;
My strength is as birds' wings
Going south as they should.
He satisfies my desires with good things
So that my strength is renewed like the eagle's. (Ps. 103: 3, 5)
...His lovingkindness lasts to eternity.

Tiny purple asters and once-lush green grass
Now ready for fall are dying away.
Man ~ his days are as grass,
He flourishes as a flower of the field;
Autumn reminds me that I, too, shall die
To live again in a glorious new day.
The wind blows over it and it is not,
And its own place remembers it no more. (Ps. 103:15-16)
...His lovingkindness lasts to eternity.

The cold nips my nose
As I kick about leaves...
He spreads His snow as soft wool
And scatters the frost as if ashes;
Thinking about winter
With drifts to my knees.
He hurls down His ice like pebbles~
Who can stand before His cold? (Ps. 147:16-17)
...His lovingkindness lasts to eternity.

I trust in my Father
Who looks out for me;
Create in me a clean heart, O, God
And renew an upright spirit within me.
He takes away my sins,
And I'll praise Him eternally.
O, my Lord, open up my lips
So that my mouth might declare Your praise. (Ps. 51:10,15)

Deep inside, I let out a sigh,
For You, O, Jesus, are always close by.
Because I know You, I sense You all around me
And on a day like today, I'm just "happy to be."

Praise Yahweh!
Give thanks unto Yahweh,
For He is good;
For His lovingkindness
Lasts to eternity. (Ps. 136:1)
---(c) C. Marie Byars, 1984; Winfield, KS

Farewell

2008-10-13T08:46:00.005-06:00

[for the upcoming observances of "All Hallows' Eve" & All Saints' Day]

Tie the strings to my life, my Lord,
Then I am ready to go!
Just a look at the horses---
Rapid! That will do!

Put me in on the firmest side,
So I shall never fall;
For we must ride to the Judgment,
And it's partly down hill.

But never I mind the bridges,
And never I mind the sea;
Held fast in everlasting race*
By my own choice and thee.

Good-bye to the life I used to live,
and the world I used to know;
And kiss the hills for me, just once;
Now I am ready to go!
----Emily Dickinson

*It's really God who chooses us. (John 15:16)

Vivaldi's Autumn

2008-08-24T15:20:00.005-06:00

[This is the "Autumn" sonnet that Antonio Vivaldi wrote to accompany the "Autumn" Concerto of his "Four Seasons" Cycle. The other three seasons are in earlier posts.]

ALLEGRO
The countryman celebrates with dance and song
The sweet pleasure of a good harvest,
[The "drunkard"; LENTO]
And many, fired by the liquor of Bacchus,
[Allegro assai; adagio molto]
End their enjoyment by falling asleep.

Everyone is made to abandon singing and dancing
By the temperate air, which gives pleasure,
And by the season, which invites so many
To enjoy the sweetness of sleep.

ALLEGRO
The huntsmen come out at the crack of dawn
[The fleeing prey; LEGATO]
With their horns, guns and hounds;
The quarry flees and they track it:

Already terrified and tired out by the great noise
Of the guns and hounds, the wounded beast
Makes a feeble effort to flee but dies in agony.
----Antonio Vivaldi

Call of the Desert

2008-08-16T14:46:00.003-06:00

Ah. . .
I can laugh,
And my echo laughs back with me.
I can run,
And only the wind runs with me.
I can leap,
And I can land gracefully.
I see beauty:
A beauty I always see.
I am alone,
For I came to be free.
The earth speaks,
And I hear, for it's a part of me.
Who am I
That God should open my eyes to see
The deep beauty
Of what imperfect earth can be?
The thorns poke,
But even they cannot stop me;
For I laugh,
And You, O, LORD, laugh back with me.
---C. Marie Byars, 1985; New Mexico

Praise to God, Immortal Praise

2008-08-08T19:43:00.008-06:00

Praise to God, immortal praise,
For the love that crowns our days;
Bounteous Source of every joy,
Let Thy praise our tongues employ.

Flocks that whiten all the plain;
Yellow sheaves of ripened grain;
Clouds that drop their fattening dews,
Sun that temperate warmth diffuses.
All that Spring with bounteous hand
Scatters o’er the smiling land;
All that liberal Autumn pours
From her rich o’erflowing stores.
These to Thee, my God, we owe,
Source whence all our blessings flow;
And for these my soul shall raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise.

Yet, should rising whirlwinds tear
From its stem the ripening ear;
Should the fig tree’s blasted shoot*
Drop her green untimely fruit,
Should the vine put forth no more,
Nor the olive yield her store;
Though the sickening flocks should fall,
And the herds desert the stall,
Yet to Thee my soul shall raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise;
And, when every blessing’s flown
Love Thee for Thyself alone.**
---Anna L. Barbauld, 1772 (adapted c.m.b. 2008)

*Habakkuk 3:17-19 (a near paraphrase). After chapters of asking "How, God?" and "Why, God?"---and getting answers from God!!---Habakkuk makes this statement of faith. [Habakkuk ties another as my favorite book of the Bible]
**Christian thinkers, C.S. Lewis included, have said that as we mature in our faith, we love God for who He is and not just for the great benefits of heaven which we get from Him

The Moon

2008-08-01T08:19:00.007-06:00

The Moon was but a chin of gold*
A night or two ago,
And now she turns her perfect face
Upon the world below.

Her forehead is of amplest blond*;
Her cheek like beryl* stone;
Her eye unto the summer dew
The likest I have known.

Her lips of amber* never part;
But what must be the smile
Upon her friend she could bestow
Were such her silver will.

And what a privilege to be
But the remotest star!
For certainly her way might pass
Beside your twinkling door.

Her bonnet is the firmament,
The universe her shoe,
The stars the trinkets at her belt,
Her dimities** of blue.
---Emily Dickinson

*Imagery for the moon is usually "silvery." This uses more of the "yellow", and sometimes the Moon (esp. when full) does have a yellowish cast
**Dimity: A sheer, crisp (double-threaded; "di") cotton fabric. It is woven with raised stripes or checks and was used mostly for dresses or curtains.

Children of the Heavenly Father

2008-07-27T19:12:00.007-06:00

Children of the Heavenly Father
Safely in His bosom gather;
Nestling bird nor star in heaven*
Such a refuge e'er was given.

God His own doth tend and nourish
In His holy courts they flourish.
From all evil things He spares them**;
In His mighty arms He bears them.

Neither life nor death shall ever
From the Lord His children sever**.
Unto them His grace He showeth
And their sorrows all He knoweth.

Though He giveth or He taketh
God His children ne'er forsaketh***;
His the loving purpose solely
To preserve them pure and holy.

---Karoline Sandell-Berg (Swedish), 1858; translated Ernst W. Olson

*Jesus said, "Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. And even the hairs of your head are numbered. So stop being afraid: you are worth much more than many sparrows." Matthew 10:30. (Another song verse not given here--because it was clumsy in its translation---speaks of the numbering of the hairs.)
**Romans 8:28-39. God brings good out of all things and nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even death.
***When Job's first troubles came, he responded by saying, "Naked came I from my mother's womb and naked shall I return there [the dark "womb" of the grave]. Yahweh gives and He takes away; blessed be the Name of Yahweh." Job 1:21.

O Worship the King

2008-07-19T12:07:00.006-06:00

O worship the King, all glorious above;
O gratefully sing His power and His love*.
Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days:
Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.

O tell of His might, O sing of His grace*,
Whose robe is the light, Whose canopy space.
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.

The earth with its store of wonders untold,
Almighty, Thy power hath founded of old;
Established it fast by a changeless decree,
And round it hath cast, like a mantle, the sea.

Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail.
Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend*.

O measureless might! Unmeasurable love!
While angels delight to worship Thee above,
The humbler creation, though feeble their lays**,
With true adoration shall all sing Thy praise.

---Robert Grant, 1833; adapted Marie Byars, 2008

*All this comes from Jesus
**An old-fashioned word for poetic songs

If Only...

2008-07-06T23:35:00.008-06:00

[This prose is almost poetic.]

If only Adam hadn't sinned, humanity would have recognized God in all creatures and would have love and praised Him so that even in the smallest blossom they would have seen and pondered His power, grace, and wisdom. But who can fathom how from the barren earth God creates so many kinds of flowers of such lovely colors and sweet scent, as no painter or alchemist could make? Yet God can bring forth from the earth green, yellow, red, blue, brown, and every kind of color. All these things would have turned the mind of Adam and his kin to honor God and glorify and praise Him and to enjoy His creatures with gratitude. ---Martin Luther ("Table Talk" 4.198, Weimar)

But through sin and the fall we humans have become so weakened, so poisoned and corrupted in body, soul, eyes, ears and everywhere that our sense are not the 100th part as sharp as were Adam's before the fall. Our bodies are unclean, and all creatures have become subject to futility (Romans 8). The [16th century!] sun, moon, stars, clouds, air, earth and water are no longer so pure and beautiful and lovely as they were [before sin]. But on that [last] day, all things will be made new and will once more be beautiful, as St. Paul says, Romans 8: "Creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." ---Martin Luther (Weimar 44.231ff)

America the Beautiful

2008-07-02T14:49:00.007-06:00

(These sentiments are more noble---and certainly more Christian*---than modern America deserves. And, yet, pockets of America still live this out beautifully.)
O beautiful, for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace* on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood**, from sea to shining sea.

O beautiful, for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw*;
Confirm thy soul in self control**, thy liberty in law!

O beautiful, for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy* more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine**,
'Til all success be nobleness, and ev'ry gain divine**!

O beautiful, for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood**, from sea to shining sea!
--- Katharine Lee Bates, English professor at Wellesley College around 4 July, 1893
(on a trip from the east coast to Colorado Springs)

*While "Jesus" & being "saved from sin" are not clearly spelled out in this poem/song, they underlie these thoughts quire clearly
**The work of the Holy Spirit, who works in Christians to do better things and creates a true brotherhood

Change & the Comfort of the Resurrection

2008-07-01T11:28:00.014-06:00

(from the longer poem "That Nature is a Heraclitean (1) Fire and of the Comfort of the Resurrection.")

...Vastness blurs and time beats level. Enough! the Resurrection
A heart's clarion (2)! Away grief's grasping, joyless days, dejection.
Across my foundering deck (3) shone
A beacon, and eternal beam. Flesh fade, and mortal trash
Fall to the residuary worm; world's wildfire, leave but ash (1):
In a flash, at a trumpet crash (4)
I am all at once what Christ is, since He was what I am, and
this Jack(5), joke poor potsherd, patch(6), matchwood, immortal diamond
Is immortal diamond.(7)
---Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1888
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Manley_Hopkins

(1) Heraclitus [(c) 535-(c) 475 B.C.); Greek philosopher who taught that the basis of all existence was change or "fire." "Strife" changes fire into water, water into earth, and then the process reversed. Hopkins didn't truly believe this philosophy but used it to symbolize the change of the corrupted nature and of the corrupting body in the grave into something immortal & beautiful (Diamonds also come out of the earth & are processed by fire.)
(2) Clarion--a clear, trumpet-like, beckoning call
(3) Foundering deck: shipwreck as a symbol of death. (Again, the "water.")
(4) Trumpet: borrowed directly from II Corinthians 15:25.
(5) "Jack": common fellow; this name was well-used in England.
(6) Patch (archaic): fool, ninny; also, a detached piece, a make-shift fragment, such as the potsherd Job used to scrape his sores (Job 2:8)
(7) "Immortal Diamond": Hopkins, as a Roman Catholic, believed that people carried the "scintilla", the spark of original good, within themselves, even after Sin entered the world. As a Lutheran, I take the immortal diamond, already there alongside the corrupt things, to be the new person that is created in Christ when the person is saved. (The term "immortal diamond" has also been used as a title for Hopkins himself.)

New Adventures

2008-06-28T18:16:00.003-06:00

No new poetry right now. The family is moving to another state in the southwest. We're going someplace that is a little closer to our hearts---kinda quirky and offbeat and more historic & ethnic. We've been living in a wealthy white retirement "paradise" which has not been as much paradise to us! We hope to serve God better in a place that, at a deeper level, makes more "sense" to us!

Holy God, We Praise Your Name

2008-06-19T13:38:00.007-06:00

[a hymnodic paraphrase of the ancient chant, the Te Deum]

Holy God, we praise Your Name;
Lord of all, we bow before You!
All on earth Your scepter claim*,
All in Heaven above adore You;
Infinite Your vast domain,
Everlasting is Your reign.

Hark! the loud celestial hymn
Angel choirs above are raising,
Cherubim and seraphim,
In unceasing chorus praising;
Fill the heavens with sweet accord:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord.

Lo! the apostolic train
Join the sacred Name to hallow;
Prophets swell the loud refrain,
And the white robed martyrs** follow;
And from morn to set of sun,
Through the Church the song goes on.

You are King of glory, Christ:
Son of God, yet born of Mary;
For us sinners sacrificed,
Bringing us a sanctuary:
First to break the bars of death,
You have opened Heaven to faith.

Therefore do we pray You, Lord:
Help Your servants whom, redeeming
By Your precious blood out-poured,
You have saved from Satan’s scheming.
Give to them eternal rest
In the glory of the blest.

Spare Your people, Lord, we pray,
By a thousand snares surrounded:
Keep us from falling away,
Never let us be confounded.
See, I put my trust in You:
Guide my footsteps in all that I do.

Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit,
Three we name You;
While in essence only One,
Undivided God we claim You;
And adoring bend the knee,
While we own the mystery.
---Ignaz Franz (German), 1774; adapted Marie Byars, 2008

*more specifically, all of nature & all the saved acknowledge Him willingly now; someday, everyone will be made to acknowledge Him
**"martyrs": those who died as a result of their faith, giving a powerful Christian witness. ("Martyros" in Greek originally meant "witness.")

Vivaldi's "Summer"

2008-06-07T18:44:00.004-06:00

[This continues the series of sonnets Antonio Vivaldi wrote to accompany & explain each of his "Four Seasons" concertos.]

In a harsh season burned by the sun,
Man and flock languish,
And the pine tree is scorched;
The cuckoo unleashes its voice, and soon
We hear the songs of the turtle-dove and the goldfinch.

Sweet Zephyr* blows, but Boreas** suddenly
Opens a dispute with his neighbor;
And the shepherd laments his fate,
For he fears a fierce squall is coming.

His weary limbs are robbed of rest
By his fear of fierce thunder and lightning
And by the furious swarm of flies and blowflies.

Alas, his fears are only too real:
The sky fills with thunder and lightning,
And hailstorms hew off the heads of proud cornstalks.

*A sweet, gently warm west wind
**A cold, fierce north wind (in large, flat countries, the collision of these two can brew tornadoes)
[obviously, Vivaldi was not a big fan of summer]

Goin' Home

2008-05-31T13:40:00.002-06:00

(adapted from a Black Spiritual)

Goin' home, goin' home;
I'm a-goin' home.
Quiet-like, some still day:
I'm just goin' home.

It's not far, just close by,
Through an open door;
Work's all done, care laid by:
Going to fear no more.

Nothing's lost, all gain;
No more fret nor pain.
No more stumbling on the way
No more longing for the day:
Going to roam no more.

Morning star* lights the way;
Restless dream all done.
Shadows gone, break of day:
Real life just begun.

Goin' home, goin' home;
I'm just goin' home:
It's not far, just close by,
Through an open door.
I'm just going home.

* Jesus is called the "Morning Star" in Revelations 22:16 & elsewhere

(used by Anton Dvorak as the basis for the "Largo" in his New World Symphony)

The Starlight Night

2008-05-19T18:14:00.004-06:00

Look at the stars! look. look up at the skies!
O look at all the fire-folk sitting in the air!
The bright boroughs*, the circle-citadels* there!
Down in the dim woods the diamond delves**! the elves' eyes!
The grey lawns cold where gold, where quickgold*** lies!...
Ah, well! it is all a purchase, all is a prize.****
---from Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1877

*city images, as if the constellations were fortified cities
**the diamond-like stars dive down to the "land of elves"; (Hopkins nor I really believe in elves--it's just a fanciful & joyful flight of poetic symbolism)
***the light of the heavenly bodies is like "free gold" to anyone who takes the trouble to take it in, but it's gold in motion---it won't be there forever
****the prize comes from the purchase made by Jesus Christ; He died for your sins so all this, too, can be yours, along with the forgiveness and life you have in Him

A Luther Quote?

2008-05-13T10:01:00.012-06:00

In the late '80's, I first saw a nature-scene poster with a quote attributed to Martin Luther, "God writes His gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars." Now it's all over the Internet. But I cannot find the exact source within Luther's works, nor an attribution of source when it's quoted. One longer extraction placed it in the context that when you know Christ, know the incarnation, know His salvation for you, then you can see the gospel written in all things. This would make more sense from Luther. Is it possibly from the Weimar edition of "Table Talk", in some section not fully translated into English?

Some Lutheran theologians discount any talk of nature as: (1) an excuse not to go to church (2) a seeking after only a glorious, powerful God, not the God who had to die in weakness and shame upon the cross to save us from our sins, or (3) not having anything important to teach us in religious matters. These opinions are fair neither to Luther nor to the Bible, both of which extensively use object lessons & metaphors from the Bible to make their point. (Even if the quote above is not authentically Lutheran, Luther's thinking is so replete with mentions of nature---far more than music, beer, women, or many other things attributed to Luther.) If you're a Christian, you have the Bible (or portions of it) embedded within yourself when you're out in nature. So you will be able to learn these lessons. Nature now dimly reflects great glories of Eden which were lost when sin broke the created world and also what we can expect in the new creation, heaven. The latter half of Romans 8 which speaks of "all creation groaning" due to humanity's sin. There are Lutherans who really take that angle seriously, too, while taking in nature; that's another aspect of taking sin seriously!!!
If you're more of a "concrete" as opposed to "abstract" person, the frequent references to nature are faith-building because they are within God's word.
(For more, see earlier post, "The Dirty Floor")

Vapory Mists

2008-05-11T16:46:00.012-06:00

[HEH-vell heh-vah-LEEM; Hah-KOHL HAH-vell.]
Vapor of Vapor*; all is (vanishing) vapor
[Mah--yith-ROHK lah-ah-DAHM**]
What profit is it for a man
[B'kohl--eh-mah-LOH sh-yah'-ah-MOHL]
In all his labor which he does
[TACH-ath ha-SHEMM-esh.]
Under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 1: 2a-3)

*Often translated as "vanity of vanities"; the Hebrew really says "vapor" because, no matter how much you clutch at vapor, you cannot hold it
**"Adam", a man

Kind of "bleak" taken on its own! But the 12th chapter of Ecclesiastes reminds us we get all of our meaning by remembering our Creator in the days of our youth. And we know that in Jesus, we shall have begun and shall more perfectly live that life in heaven which knows of no vanity or uselessness or futility.

What a Waste!

2008-05-04T16:10:00.005-06:00

Our Solid Waste Problem

Already in the 1980s, National Geographic alerted readers that so-called bio-degradables don't really break down in landfills. They studied lettuce, for instance, that was nearly 20 years old and still not broken down. And there is much more in the way of thrown-out foodstuffs and yard waste. More recently, William L. Rathje of University of Arizona wrote in his book, Rubbish! the Archeology of Garbage,
"They [landfills] are not vast composters; rather, they are vast mummifiers." He went on to write, "Well-designed and well-mamaged landfills, in particular, seem to be far more apt to preserve their contents for posterity than to transform them into humus or mulch."
Solutions? Compost at home. If you can't create a compost heap, try mini-composting: place food waste on the ground right near plants & partially hidden by the foliage or between plants & slightly spaded into the soil. Use a mulching lawn mower. So far, the U.S. has been blessed with enough space not to worry about this, but the time will come.
Plus, coupling people's desire to become more "green" with the current recession means that maybe we can look at some jobs & technology in green fields. Maybe we could invent giant "rakes" to go in and occasionally turn over detritus in existing landfills so that the bio-degradables will compost. We Americans with our so-called "Yankee ingenuity" have been falling down on the job, so to speak, for some decades now. And we Christians have not followed our first pre-sin injunction to take care of this earth.

Spring

2008-04-30T17:07:00.009-06:00

Nothing is so beautiful as Spring
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush's eggs look little low heavens*, and thrush**
Through the echoing timber does so rise and wring
The ear, it strides like lightnings to hear him sing;
The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing limbs, too, have fair their fling.

What is all this juice and all this joy?
A strain of the earth's sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden---have, get before it cloy***
Innocent mind and Mayday**** in girl and boy,
Most, O Maid's Child*****,
Thy choice and worth the winning.
---Gerard Manley Hopkins, may 1877

*Eggs the color of the sky & reminders of it
**Thrush: the songbird, not the yeast-related infection (ha, ha!!)
***Cloy: to satiate, us. w/something pleasing. Basically, hurry to enjoy this fleeting reminder of Eden before it is spoiled, as the first Eden was by sin
****Mayday: May 1st. Celebrated in Europe with flowers & folk dances. (Happy Mayday! Also, Blessed Ascension. This year, the day commemorating Jesus's bodily Ascension through the clouds, after which we could no longer see Him physically, is also May 1st.)
*****Maid's Child: The Virgin's Son, Jesus. (Roman Catholics devote all of May to Mary.) This suggests that Jesus would choose the "innocent" boys & girls more than anyone else. Actually, no one's innocent & God loves all us rotten sinners just the same.

Birds in Scripture

2008-04-28T11:48:00.002-06:00

My soul longed, even yearned
For the courts of Yahweh.
My mind* and my flesh
Cry out to the Living God.
Even the songbird** has found a house,
And the swallow a nest for herself
Where she may lay her young---
Your altars, Oh Yahweh of Armies,
My King and my God! (Psalm 84:2-3)

(Yahweh says)
"I know every bird in the mountains,
And the wild beasts of the forest are Mine." (Ps. 50:11)

In Yahweh have I trusted:
How do you [plural: "y'all"] say to my soul,
"Flee as a bird to your [plural] mountain"?? (Ps. 11:1)

(O, Yahweh),
Keep me as the apple of Your eye:
In the shadow of Your wings hide me. (Ps. 17:8)

"As birds flying around,
Thus will Yahweh of Armies protect Jerusalem.
Defending, he will deliver.
He will 'pass over' and protect." (Isaiah 31:5)

Mighty Yahweh,
You have made yourself known in your Son, Jesus.
Through His crucifixion,
You have established for us a "New Passover"
Where You "pass over" the wrongs we do
And the failures to do right.

As Jesus said, make us to trust
The way the ravens do
"Which niether sow (grain) nor reap
Nor gather (food) into barns"
And are yet fed by our Heavenly Father.
(Matthew 6:25-27 & Luke 12:22-24)

We are worth so much more to You
And, yet, we fill up our lives
With things that are worthless.
Forgive us, love us, and keep working in us
To give us the simple trust of your little birds.

[original Bible translations & explanatory verses]

*Literally "heart", which ancient Hebrews considered the seat of the intellect.
**"Sparrow" in some translations

Flowers & Grasses in Scripture

2008-04-16T13:11:00.001-06:00

"'Man, born of woman,
is of few days, full of turmoil.
As a flower he springs forth
and fades away;
And as a fleeting shadow,
he does not last.'" (Job14:1-2)
"Man--his days are as grass;
As a flower of the field he thus flourishes." (Psalm 103:15)
"They are in the morning
as new grass which springs up.
In the morning it springs and grows;
in the evening it withers and dries out." (Ps. 90:5b-6)
"A voice says, 'Cry out!'
And I say, 'What shall I cry?'
[God replies],
'All flesh is green grass
and all its loveliness as the flower of the field.'
The grass withers, the flower fades
because the Spirit [or 'breath'] of Yahweh blows upon it.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the Word of God shall stand forever." (Isaiah 40:6-8)
[Messiah says]
"'I am the Crocus* of Sharon,
the Lily of the Valleys.'" (Song of Songs 2:1)
[Because of Messiah Jesus]:
"The wilderness and parched land will be glad;
And the desert-plain will rejoice and blossom;
Like the crocus it will bloom profusely
And rejoice greatly and shout for joy." (Isaiah 35:1-2a)
----original translations

*not really "rose of Sharon"---it's a crocus in Hebrew!!

Just Say "No"

2008-04-12T21:03:00.006-06:00

to Faux Environmentalism

Corn-based bio-fuel is not the right choice for lowering green-house gases: it actually makes the problem worse due to the agricultural energy expended to create this product. This practice also drives up food costs. The best choice in bio-fuel is algae based, although it will initially be more expensive to produce. Hybrid cars are not as earth-friendly as their makers promise, either. The making and disposing of those batteries creates toxic heavy metal areas. Better ideas? Why not make more progress on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) autos? That burns fairly cleanly. And work harder to make hydrogen cars a reality. Solar and wind cars might be an interesting idea, too, but they might not work in all climates, and the storage means for that type of energy could prove to be toxic, also, if not developed properly.

BTW: Even if you don't believe that there is human-driven global warming, it is beyond dispute that our waste products are not good for us. (NO organism can live in its own waste!) Pollution from factories & cars creates or furthers asthma and can eat away at classic building facades and statues in big cities. The process for bleaching all those nice white paper napkins & coffee filters creates serious carcinogens (such as what devastated Times Beach years ago) & so on. I keep hoping & praying that simple things like brown paper goods will catch on & become cheaper & more mainstream at the grocery. (After all, they're avoiding a step that costs money.)