On Christmas Night All Christians Sing*

On Christmas night all Christians sing
To hear the news the angels bring:
News of great joy, news of great mirth,
News of our merciful King’s birth.

Angels with joy sing in the air,
No music may with theirs compare;
While prisoners in their chains rejoice
To hear the echoes of that voice.

So how on earth can men be sad,
When Jesus comes to make us glad;
From sin and hell to set us free,
And buy for us our liberty?

When sin departs before His grace,
Then life and health come in its place;
Angels and men with joy may sing,
All to see our newborn King.

Then out of darkness we see light,
Which makes the angels sing this night
“Glory to God and peace to men
Now and forevermore. Amen.”

---A folk carol of rural England & Ireland, 
         *known in some versons as "The Sussex Carol"

Fall Gardener

These are evidence of my Labor Day (early September) planting.  Here, the growing seasons are different than what most people in the northern hemisphere expect. 

This is a "scatter garden", where there are not organized beds.  In fact, vegetable & flowers grow among "volunteer grasses", which serve as "nursery plants" while the others get going.

This is a bee haven, something our world needs. The bees even like the grass heads.  (We have to let it grow longer because of our other plants.  Then we have to literally whack it off with clippers. We can't mow because there's always some other interesting plant coming up in the midst.)

(For your other November & Thanksgiving Day enjoyment, please select the "autumn" or "seasons" tag in the sidebar.)

Green bean flowers

Carrot plants

Pumpkin & flower

Black-eye Susans or purple coneflowers sprouting

October in Northern Arizona

Creations

(October 31, 2017 is the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran/Protestant Reformation.  It is said that on this date, Dr. Martin Luther posted 95 Theses, statements of discussion, on a church door. At any rate, we do know that these 95 Theses, first written in Latin, were quickly distributed among the populace in German.  Luther wrote a lot of hymns. This one, while not as well-known as "A Might Fortress", makes suitable poetry on a nature-lover's, creation-oriented page.) 


We all believe in one true God,
Who created earth and heaven,
The Father, who to us in love
Hath the right of children given.
He both soul and body feedeth,
All we need He doth provide us;
He through snares and perils leadeth,
Watching that no harm betide us.
He careth for us day and night,
All things are governed by His might.

We all believe in Jesus Christ,
His own Son, our Lord, possessing
An equal Godhead, throne, and might,
Source of every grace and blessing.
Born of Mary, virgin mother,
By the power of the Spirit,
Made true man, our elder Brother,
That the lost might life inherit;
Was crucified for sinful men
And raised by God to life again.

Luther's Rose*

We all confess the Holy Ghost,
Who sweet grace and comfort giveth
And with the Father and the Son
In eternal glory liveth;
Who the Church, His own creation,
Keeps in unity of spirit.
Here forgiveness and salvation
Daily come through Jesus' merit.
All flesh shall rise, and we shall be
In bliss with God eternally. Amen.

--by Martin Luther, 1525

A Secular Take on Luther & Viral Trends
*Luther's Rose Explained

Fountain of Life

These pictures are from Fossil Creek in Northern Arizona.  The waterfall and pool make me think of "Cauldron Pool" in The Last Battle, Book 7 of "The Chronicles of Narnia."

(An original translation of Psalm 36 is below.)

from Psalm 36

Your love, O Yahweh, reaches to the heavens,
Your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God,
Your judgements are like the great deep.
You, O Yahweh, preserve both people and animals.
How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
Humanity's children take refuge in the shadow of Your wings...
You give them drink from Your river of delights.
For with You is the fountain of life;
    in Your light we see light.

Oh, continue Your love to those who know You,
Your righteousness to the upright in heart.

(BTW, here is a picture of an interesting rock type I've never seen before:  thin sheets of granite "frozen" in lava!  All over the place at Fossil Creek, but no one who'd visited ever told me about this.)

North Rim Grand Canyon

[July 2017 vacation]

Some things are poetry without words!

Angel's Window, on of the few places to see the Colorado River from the North Rim.  

(Look closely through the window on the close-up.)

There is also the escaped buffalo herd from a failed cattle-buffalo crossing experiment over 100 years ago.  (They have some cattle DNA.)

October 2010 South Rim Visit

"In His hand are the depths of the earth;

The peaks of the mountains are His also." (Psalm 95:4)

"...He who was seated on the throne said,

'See, I am making all things new...

  To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.'

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more,

neither shall there be mourning,

nor crying, nor pain anymore,

for the former things have passed away.”

(Revelation 21:5,6b,4)

Natural Wonders of America

The U.S. Flag featured at some of our public lands for the Fourth of July

(uncredited internet photos)

Flag Raising:  Old Faithful

Yellowstone National Park, WY

Ft. Union National Monument, NM

Southern Swamps

USS Arizona Memorial, HI

Grand Teton National Park, WY

Avenue of Flags

Mount Rushmore National Monument, SD

Storms moving in...

Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Zion National Park, UT

Washington Monument, Washington, D.C.

Niagara Falls, NY

Devil's Tower National Monument, WY

Sagamore Hill Nat'l Historic Site

Long Island, NY

Sierra Nevada Mountains, CA

Half Dome at Yosemite Nat'l Park. CA 

Folding the Flag

at Ft. McHenry National Monument, MD

(where "The Star-Spangled Banner" was written)

More Backyard Blooms

GIANT Maroon & Yellow Sunflower

Over 6' Tall

Watermelon Blossoms

Intertwined with Squash and Loofa Vines

California Poppies