Christ the Lord is Ris'n Today

Christ, the Lord, is risen today,
Sons of men and angels say.
Raise your joys and triumphs high!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply!

Love's redeeming work is done,
Fought the fight, the battle won:
Lo! the Sun's eclipse* is over;
Lo! He sets in blood no more.

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal.
Christ hath burst the gates of hell.
Death in vain forbids His rise,
Christ hath opened paradise.

Lives again our glorious King!
Where, O death, is now thy sting?
Once He died our souls to save;
Where thy victory, O grave?**

Soar we now where Christ hath led,
Following our exalted Head.
Made like Him, like Him we rise;
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies.

Hail, the Lord of earth and heaven.
Praise to Thee by both be given.
Thee we greet triumphant now.
Hail, the resurrection day.

King of glory, Soul of bliss,
Everlasting life is this:
Thee to know, Thy power to prove;
Thus to sing and thus to love.
---Charles Wesley, 1708

*Sun in the Sky AND the Son of God. Malachi 4:2; Messiah is the Sun of Righteousness. At Jesus's crucifixion, the Sun was darkened (Luke 23:45). Romans 8:19-21; all creation awaits its renewal & redemption along with our bodies at the end of time.
**St. Paul in I Corinthians 15:55, quoting Hosea 13:14

Glory Be to Jesus

(Lent reflection)

Glory be to Jesus, Who, in bitter pains,

Poured for me the lifeblood From His sacred veins!

Grace and life eternal In that blood I find;

Blest be His compassion, Infinitely kind.

Oft as earth exulting Sends its praise on high,

Angel hosts, rejoicing,Make their glad reply.

Lift we then our voices,Swell the mighty flood;

Louder still and louder Praise the precious blood!

---At­trib­ut­ed to S. Al­fon­so, 18th century; adatped c.m.b., 2012

Beautiful Mountains

Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque, New Mexico

Psalm 8

O Yahweh, our Lord,
How majestic is Your Name in all the earth!

When I consider your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The Moon and stars,
which You have set in place....

--- King David, from Psalm 8

(Crescent Moon, Venus [below left], Jupiter; February 25, 2012)

Love Divine

My lover is radiant and ruddy,
Outstanding among ten thousand [men].
His head is purest gold;
His hair is wavy, black as a raven.
His cheeks are like beds of spices,
[a garden] That produces fragrance.
His lips are lilies that drip with myrrh.
His arms are rods of gold,
Set with chrysolite.*
His chest is like polished ivory,
Set with sapphires.
His legs are pillars of marble,
Set on bases of pure gold...
His mouth is altogether sweet;
Everything about his is desirable.
This is my lover, This is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
---Song of Solomon** 5:10-11; 13-15a; 16

*A green semi-precious stone
**This book describes physical, human love between a couple but is also a picture of the intense love God has for His people.

Proof

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

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.

Photo still from "The Nativity Story" (c) 2006