Signs of Change

 

In Romans 8:18-23, St. Paul wrote about how all creation was subjected to futility, to frustration, not because it did anything wrong, but because God decreed it.  (See Genesis chapter 3 where the very ground was cursed because of humanity's sin. Sinful humanity could not be allowed to live on in an otherwise perfect creation.)  Paul talks of creation groaning as if in labor pains, waiting to be set free.

Over the past 2 years, I have finally gotten my favorite flower, black-eyed Susans, to grow here, though outside of its range.  This year, however, one of the plants is putting out some freakish flowers with multi fused heads.  Below are photos of one with three fused heads developing.  

open with some "normal" heads

These links will provide you other black-eyed Susan photos and a poem I wrote about black-eyed Susans a couple years ago.  

Black-Eyed Susan (poem)

Easter Week

 

See the land, her Easter keeping,
Rises as her Maker rose.
Seeds, so long in darkness sleeping,
Burst at last from winter snows.
Earth with heaven above rejoices;
Fields and gardens hail the spring;
Shaughs* and woodlands ring with voices,
While the wild birds build and sing.

You, to whom your Maker granted
Powers to those sweet birds unknown,
Use the craft by God implanted;
Use the reason not your own.
Here, while heaven and earth rejoices,
Each his Easter tribute bring-
Work of fingers, chant of voices,
Like the birds who build and sing.

--Charles Kingsley (1819-1875)

*archaic term for small woods, thicket

Ego Eimi

 

ἐγώ εἰμι

Jesus says: 

"I AM the world's Light             (John 8:12)

Who outshines eternal night."

"I AM the Good Shepherd        (John 10:14)

And the door for the sheep:      (John 10:7, 9)

The sheep hear My word

And within may safely sleep."

"I AM the Bread of Life;          (John 6)

The Way, the Truth and the Life;    (John 14:6)

The Resurrection and the Life."   (John 11:25)

"I AM the True Vine

And you are the branches--        (John 15: 1,5)

Without what is Mine,

You do only what man does."

εἰμι ἐγώ

Paul answers for all of us:

"Christ Jesus came into the world for sinners,

First of whom am I."      (I Timothy 1:15)

ἐγώ εἰμι

Jesus says:

"Before Abraham was, I AM."  (John 8:58)

"I AM" in Hebrew

The Right Mind

[see also Isaiah 52: 13-15]

Let this mind also be in you, which was in Christ Jesus:
Who, subsisting in the form of God
Did not [consider this] to be grasped; 
He did not esteem it to be equal with God.
But He emptied Himself into the form of a servant,
Having taken the likeness of humanity*
Having been made and having been found
In appearance as a human,
He humbled Himself, 
Having become obedient unto death,
Even death on the cross.

Therefore God has also highly exalted Him
And granted to Him 
The NAME above every name,**
So that at the NAME of JESUS,
Every knee should bow,
In heaven and earth and under the earth,
And every tongue should confess 
That KURIOS JESUS CHRISTOS
["that JESUS CHRIST is LORD"
                   or
"that THE LORD is JESUS CHRIST"]
To the glory of God the Father.
              --St. Paul, Philippians 2:5-13
                (translated c.m.b. April, 2018)

*Not a stab at gender inclusiveness, but more faithful to the Greek. ["Anthropos", humanity vs. "aner", a male man.]
**see Revelations 19:12

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.

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

Easter

[from The Temple]

Rise, heart, thy lord is risen. Sing his praise
Without delays,
Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise
With him may'st rise:
That, as his death calcined*  thee to dust,
His life may make thee gold, and, much more, just.

Awake, my lute, and struggle for thy part
With all thy art,
The cross taught all wood to resound his name
Who bore the same.
His stretched sinews** taught all strings what key
Is best to celebrate this most high day.

Consort, both heart and lute, and twist a song
Pleasant and long;
Or, since all music is but three parts*** vied
And multiplied
Oh let thy blessed Spirit bear a part,
And make up our defects with his sweet art.

******

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, & 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.******

--George Herbert, Welsh-Anglican Priest (1633)

*calcined:  Reduced to lime or other substance. (Oxford English Dictionary.) In this case reduced to our lowest commonest denominator, dust, of which we all are made. **stretched sinew:  Christ on the cross.  Crucifixion stretches the sinews & ligaments horribly.  Herbert, a lute player, compares this to the strings of a stringed instrument. *** three parts:  Most chords have only 3 different notes which are repeated, multiplied, at different octaves in different voices or instruments. Note on Form: Herbert’s poems sometimes take a double-poem organization with two separate stanza forms. Because he played the lute and was familiar with popular songs of his day, he may have adapted this two-part structure. He may even have intended the poems to be sung. ****straw:  "strew", scatter without plan *****Sunne/sunnes:  Old spelling for "Sun" ******The" Son" of God (Jesus) is the one and only Eternal "Sun".  (Cp. Malachi 4:2; the "Sun of Righteousness [Messiah] shall rise with healing in His wings.)

Flowers at Home

If this is how nature looks while it's "groaning"  (Romans 8; and we live in a desert, so we do see nature groan at its worst!), how much better will heaven be?

BACKYARD: Prickly pear cacti, African daisies, sunflower (another not blooming).

green bean plant (base of sunflower), pumpkin plant (foreground), marigolds (foreground)

OLD ROSE (bred for desert life):  Closer to "wild rose."

Related to fruit tree family (plum, apple, cherry, etc.)

Mountain Music

   [with photos from a recent western trip]

Grand Teton National Park*, Wyoming

I will lift up my eyes unto the hills
From whence comes my help.
My help comes from Yahweh
Who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121: 1-2)

Chapel of the Transfiguration (Episcopal)

Grand Teton National Park*

Great is Yahweh
And greatly to be praised
In the city of our God,
The mountain of His holiness.  (Psalm 48:1)

In whose Hand are the depths of the earth;
And the heights of the hills are His, also. (Psalm 95:4)

Thermal Pool.

Yellowstone National Park*, Wyoming

Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the hills shout together with joy.  (Psalm 98:8) 

Yellowstone River, Yellowstone N.P.*

[Jesus tells us]:
'"You are the light of the world.
A city which has been set upon a hill
cannot be hidden."  (Matthew 5:14)

Wasatch Mountains, as viewed from Bryce Canyon National Park*, Utah

All the things which happened upon mountains:  Moses was given the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai; Satan took Jesus to a really high mountain to show Him the kingdoms of the world and tempt Him with power;  being more isolated in Jesus's day, He often went there alone (or with a small group of three) to pray; He was "transfigured" (changed, shining bright with glory) on a mountain; the Sermon on the Mount was given in a natural mountain amphitheater; the night before His death, after celebrating Passover and the First Communion, Jesus and the disciples went out to the Mount of Olives; the place where Jesus died is called Mount Calvary; forty days after He rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven from a mountain.  Mountains join all creation (Revelation 5:13) in praising God.  Remembering Israel's flight from Egypt and entry into the Promise Land, the psalmist wrote:

The mountains skipped as rams,
The little hills as lambs.
What happened, O Sea, that you fled,
O Jordan, that you turned back?
You mountains skipped as rams,
You little hills as lambs. (Psalm 114: 4-6)

Wasatch Mountains, Utah,

with Grand Escalante National Monument* in front

I will lift up my eyes unto the hills
From whence comes my help.
My help comes from Yahweh
Who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121: 1-2)

    ---translations by C. Marie Byars

*This is the 100th birthday of America's National Park Service!  (A few individual parks were established even before this.)

Choreographed

Nature's singing me her song,
And around me is a dance:
      The sunlight on the water,
       The aspens' quaking leaves,
       The playful dragonflies,
        My own two happy feet.

 

My heart is filled with wild joy;
I know who wrote the song:
       He gave it melody
       And wove in harmony;
       He sets its steady rhythm
       And makes the whole world dance.

You hear the moments out-of-tune
When Nature's lost the harmony;
     But my Composer saved a better song
     To sing another place...
     Where melodies are never sad,
     And the only song is love.

                     
    ----C. Marie Byars; Ft. Jackson, SC; May, 1986
          [written with memories of the southwestern U.S. in mind]
 

Holy Saturday

 

 

O night that is brighter than day,
O night more dazzling than the sun,
O night more sparkling than fresh snow,
O night more brilliant than all our lamps!
O night that is sweeter than Paradise,...
O night delivered from darkness,
O night that dispels the sleep of sin,
O night that makes us keep vigil with the angels,
O night terrible for the demons,
O night desired by all the year,
O night that leads the bridal Church to her Spouse,
O night that is mother to those enlightened!
O night in which the Devil, sleeping, was despoiled,
O night in which the Heir brings the co-heirs to their heritage.

(Asterius of Pontus AD 341-400)

He hath abolished the old drouth

He hath abolished the old drou[g]ht,


And rivers run where all was dry**,
The field is sopp’d with merciful dew.
He hath put a new song in my mouth,
The words are old, the purport new*,
And taught my lips to quote this word

That I shall live, I shall not die,
But I shall when the shocks are stored
See the salvation of the Lord.
We meet together, you and I,    
Meet in one acre of one land,
And I will turn my looks to you,
And you shall meet me with reply,
We shall be sheaved with one band   

Van Gough

In harvest and in garnering,
When heavenly vales so thick shall stand
With corn*** that they shall laugh and sing.
---Gerard Manley Hopkins

* “the words are old, the purport new”  Psalm 118:17: “I shall not die, but live.” This is the “new song" Psalm 40:3. 

**Psalm, 65,  Running rivers and the fields sopping with water

***Biblical "corn" is actually "wheat"

It Is Well with My Soul

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Is_Well_with_My_Soul

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

 

 

Refrain:

It is well, (it is well),

With my soul, (with my soul)

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Refrain:

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

 

Refrain:

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live*:

If Jordan** above me shall roll,

No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life

Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

 

Refrain:

But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,

New life, not the grave, is our goal;

The trumpet of  angels; The voice of the Lord!

Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

 

Refrain:

 

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

The trumpet shall sound, and the Lord shall descend,

Even so, it is well with my soul. 

 

Refrain:                    

 

  ---Horatio Spafford (adapted)

*"For, to me, to live is Christ, but to die is great gain."  ---St. Paul, Phillipians 1:21

**The Jordan River in the Holy Land.  The main eastern boundary of the Holy Land, it has become a symbol of the river to cross over at death, to enter heaven.  It is also the river in which Jesus was baptized. 
 
The writing of this hymn has such a moving story behind it that I included the link above.  For a deeper meaning from this hymn, look into the following verses: 
 
“Praise the Lord, O my soul.”  --Psalm 146:1b

 

"God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.  

Therefore will not we fear,

Though the earth give way,

And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;  

Though its waters roar and are stirred up, Though the mountains shake with their surging."  -- David in Psalm 46:1-3

 

"Bless Yahweh, O my soul:

All that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless Yahweh, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits:

Who forgives all your iniquities;

Who heals all your diseases;

Who buys back[redeems] your life from destruction;

Who crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercies;

Who satisfies your mouth with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. 

Yahweh carries out righteousness and judgment For all that are oppressed." --David in Psalm 103: 1-6

 

" 'Rejoice in the Lord always'  and again I say, 'Rejoice.' Let your moderation be known to everyone. The Lord is near.  Don't worry about anything; but in every thing by prayer and earnest begging with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."  ---St. Paul in Philippians 4:4-7

 

"Peace I leave with you.  My peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives,  do give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. "  --Jesus in  John 14:27

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

The Blue Jay

(excerpts from a longer poem)


No brigadier throughout the year

So civic as the jay.

A neighbor and a warrior, too,

With shrill felicity.

The pillow of this daring head

Is pungent evergreens;

His larder--terse and militant--

Unknown, refreshing things.

Stellar & Blue Jay
(usually do not share range)

His character a tonic,

His future a dispute;

Unfair an immortality

That leaves this neighbor out.* 

      ---Emily Dickinson

*Romans 8 promises that all creation will be restored in heaven.  Others argue that animals won't go to heaven because they don't have immortal souls.  Hence the debate.       

Deer's Cry

(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)

Rest

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 Better Resurrection

[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