Chief of Sinners, Though I Be

[For Valentine's Day &  Lent, 2013]

Chief of sinners though I be,
Jesus shed His blood for me*,
Died that I might live on high,
Lives that I might never die.
As the branch is to the Vine,
I am His and He is mine!

Oh, the height of Jesus' love,
Higher than the heav'ns above,
Deeper than the depths of sea,
Lasting as eternity,
Love that found me -- wondrous thought!
Found me when I sought him not...

Chief of sinners though I be,
Christ is all in all to me.
All my wants to him are known;
All my sorrows are His own.
Safe with him in earthly strife,
I await the heav'nly life.   ---William McComb (19th Century)

* "....Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief [foremost]."    ---St. Paul, from I Timothy 1:15 (NKJV)

I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light

I want to walk as a child of the Light,          
I want to follow Jesus.
God set the stars to give light to the world,
The Star of my life is Jesus.

Refrain:

In Him there is no darkness at all.
The night and the day are both alike.
The Lamb is the Light of the City of God.
Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.

---Kathleen Thomerson, 1970;  (c) 1975 by Celebration Music

Huron Carol

['Twas in the Moon of Wintertime]


'Twas in the moon of wintertime
When all the birds had fled,
That God the Lord of all the earth
Sent angel choirs instead.
Before their light the stars grew dim
And wond'ring hunters heard the hymn:

Jesus, your King, is born;
Jesus is born!
In excelsis gloria!

Within a lodge of broken bark,
The tender Babe was found
A ragged robe of rabbit skin
Enwrapped His beauty round
And as the hunter braves drew nigh,
The angel song rang loud and high:

Jesus, your King, is born;
Jesus is born!
In excelsis gloria!

O children of the forest free,
The angels' song is true.
The Holy Child of earth and heav'n
Is born today for you
Come kneel before the radiant Boy
Who brings you beauty, peace and joy:

Jesus, your King, is born;
Jesus is born! 

In excelsis gloria!   

---Jean de Brebeuf; 16th century; translated J.E. Middleton, 1926 (altered)

http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/twas_in_the_moon_of_wintertime.htm

[I bring an unaccustomed wine]

[published at this Thanksgiving time to remind us to share those things for which we are thankful]   

"The First Thanksgiving";  J.L.G. Ferris, early 20th century

I bring an unaccustomed wine

To lips long parching, next to mine,

And summon them to drink.

 

Crackling with fever, they essay;

I turn my brimming eyes away,

And come next hour to look.

 

The hands still hug the tardy glass;

The lips I would have cooled, alas!

Are so superfluous cold,

 

I would as soon attempt to warm

The bosoms where the frost has lain

Ages beneath the mould.*      

 

Some other thirsty there may be

To whom this would have pointed me

Had it remained to speak.

"The First Thanksgiving"; Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, 1914

 

 

 

 

 

And so I always bear the cup

If, haply, mine may be the drop

Some pilgrim thirst to slake,--

 

If, haply, any say to me,

"Unto the little, unto me," **

When I at last awake.

---Emily Dickinson

*She attempted to help someone who was in need & ill.  But the person still died.
**Matthew 25:35.  Jesus said that whenever one of the believers takes the trouble to feed and clothe someone who seems to be "least" among the believers, it is as if they have helped out Jesus Himself. And Jesus indicates that this will be recognized on the Last Day, when He returns.

Autumn

Fade tender lily,                      
Fade O crimson rose,
Fade every flower
Sweetest flower that blows.

Go chilly Autumn,
Come O Winter cold;
Let the green things die away
Into common mould.

Birth follows hard on death,
Life on withering:
Hasten, we shall come the sooner
Back to pleasant Spring.
---Christina Rossetti

Autumn Song

Know'st thou not at the fall of the leaf

How the heart feels a languid grief

Laid on it for a covering,

And how sleep seems a goodly thing

In Autumn at the fall of the leaf?

And how the swift beat of the brain

Falters because it is in vain,

In Autumn at the fall of the leaf

Knowest thou not? and how the chief

Of joys seems—not to suffer pain?

Know'st thou not at the fall of the leaf

How the soul feels like a dried sheaf

Bound up at length for harvesting,

And how death seems a comely thing

In Autumn at the fall of the leaf?

---Dante Gabriel Rosetti, 1840's                             

                                                                                      

Arcturus is his other name [untitled]*

Arcturus** is his other name,—
I ’d rather call him star!
It ’s so unkind of science
To go and interfere! ...

What once was heaven, is zenith now.
Where I proposed to go When time’s brief
masquerade was done*,
Is mapped, and charted too! .... 


Perhaps the kingdom of Heaven’s changed*!
I hope the children there
Won’t be new-fashioned when I come,
And laugh at me, and stare!

I hope the father in the skies*
Will lift his little girl,— 
Old-fashioned, naughty***, everything,—
Over the stile of pearl!   ---Emily Dickinson

*Dickinson is concerned (complaining?) about how science categorizes things she simply wants to "experience."  She expresses some tongue-in-cheek concern that heaven may be this way, also.
**"Arcturus" means "Guardian of the Bear"; it is between the Big Bear (Big Dipper) and Little Bear (Little Dipper Constellations.
***Acknowledges her personal sinfulness