Stars of the Morning

--St. Michael's & All Angels Day will be celebrated September 29th

Stars of the morning, so gloriously bright, 
Filled with celestial splendor and light, 

These that, where night never followeth day, 

Raise the Thrice Holy* song ever alway. 

These are Thy servants, these are Thine own, 

God of the Armies, the nearest Thy throne; 

These are Thy messengers, these dost Thou send, 

Help of the helpless ones, us to defend. 

"Who like the Lord?" thunders Michael the chief; 

God sends us others to protect us from grief; 

Through Mary at Nazareth, God promised peace, 

As Gabriel, the light of God, announced the release. 

Then, when the earth was first poised in mid space, 

Then, when the planets first sped on their race, 

Then, when were ended the six days’ employ, 

Then all the sons of God shouted for joy. 

Fidelis Schabet, public domain

Still let them guard us; still let them fight,

Lord of angelic hosts, battling for right; 

Till, where their anthems they ceaselessly pour, 

We with the angels may bow and adore. 

 --Joseph the Hymnographer (Φωστηρες της ουσιας, 810[?]-886[?]); translated by John M. Neale, 1862; adapted by c.m.b., 2024  

*Song to the Trinity: Father, Son & Holy Spirit

Joseph the Hymnographer

John Mason Neale

 

Poetry in Motion

 

       Squirrel monkeys move with energy (and seeming joy) through life.  Full-grown monkeys are small enough; the babies are really tiny.  These creatures are my favorite zoo animal, capturing my attention even more than the big, grand and striking animals.  (Generally, I like most zoo exhibits.)  

       These photos are from the Wildlife World Zoo in Phoenix, AZ and the Frank Buck Zoo in Gainesville, TX.  Both of these are private zoos. These seem to more commonly house squirrel monkeys in modern times; it seems the bigger, public zoos often don't bother with these charming little creatures, which are native to the tropical forests of Cental and South America.

       What must things have been like, interacting with monkeys in the Garden of Eden?  What will our interactions with animals be like in heaven? 

Squirrel Monkeys: Oakland Zoo

Lamb of God

 "Look, the Lamb of God,

Who takes away the sin of the world!"  

      (John 1:29b, 36b)

So said John the Baptist,

The voice of one who calls out. (Isaiah 40:3)

He is the Lamb of God,

Not the Ram of God.

"Your Lamb must be unblemished,

A one-year-old male..."  

     (Exodus 12:5a; Leviticus l4:10; Ezekiel 46:13)

Most things are cleaned with blood:

Without the shedding of blood,

There is no forgiveness.  (Hebrews 9:22)

Make One still young the offering,

The last of such bloody suffering; (Daniel 9:27)

Yet His soul shall rise to see

The spiritual children He brought to be.  (Isaiah 53:10)

The Ancient Lamb not very old;

With blood worth more than even gold:

It sets the human captives free

From sin's eternal misery.  (I Peter 1:19; Exodus, etc)

How much more will the Blood of Christ,--

He who offered Himself to God

Through the Eternal Spirit

As an unblemished sacrifice--

Cleanse our consciences from dead works

To serve the Living God?  (Hebrews 9:14)

As a lamb to the slaughter He was led;

And as a sheep before her shearers is silent,

So He did not open His mouth.  (Isaiah 53:7b)

"And I, 

If I be lifted up from the earth,

I will draw all people to myself."  (John 12:32) 

So taught the Lamb

Before His time had come.

"The Son of Man 

Must suffer many things.

He must be killed,

And on the third day raised to life."

  (Luke 9:21, 43, 18:31; Mark 9:32; Matthew 17:23)

Myriads of myriads, 

Thousands of thousands,

Angels and elders 

All saying with a loud voice,

"Worthy is the Lamb,

Who was slaughtered,

To receive power and wealth and wisdom

And might and honor and glory and blessing!"  

     (Revelation 5:12)  

For the Lamb,

The One in the center of the throne,

Will shepherd them.

And He will lead them 

To Living Fountains of Waters.  (Revelation 7:17a)

                 --translations & short verse c.m.b. (c) 2024

Perfect Love

     This is another year that Valentine's Day falls on Ash Wednesday.  A real reminder of the sacrificial love of all the Saint Valentines.  (See also my other blog for some Valentine's thoughts)

For All the Saints

All Saints Day is November 1st.  It is a day to remember those who have departed the world before us and are in Christ's presence forever.  

My favorite departed saint to remember is my maternal grandmother, whose photos you will find scattered throughout.  In Lutheran thinking (following how the Bible uses the term), all Christians are "saints" because Christ has made us holy by saving us. We don't live it out perfectly (sadly, we often don't live it out well at all), but Christ is the Perfect One, the Holy One who makes us that way in God's eyes. 

For all the saints 

Who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith 

Before the world confessed;
Thy name, O Jesus, 

Be forever blest.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Thou wast their Rock, 

Their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain 

In the well-fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, 

Their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O blest communion, 

Fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, 

They in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, 

For all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

But then there breaks 

A still more glorious day:
The saints triumphant 

Rise in bright array;
The King of Glory 

Passes on His way.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

From earth's wide bounds, 

From ocean's farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl 

Streams in the countless host,
in praise of Father, 

Son, and Holy Ghost.
Alleluia, Alleluia!  --William Walsham How, 1864

W.W. How was born in 1823 in England and died in 1897 in Ireland.  He was an Anglican priest who rose to be a bishop.  

A Mighty Fortress

 

     October 31st is Reformation Day for Lutherans*.  In honor of this, here is the best known hymn by Martin Luther for you to read as a poem.  It is based on Psalm 46 and was written around 1529.  Some people think Luther wrote it in remembrance of his friend Leonhard Kaiser, who was martyred due to the Reformation.   

     The translation from German included here is closer to the original German, a little less like the modern hymn.   It is based somewhat on literal translations and somewhat on the known translations, with adaptations by this blogger.

     The picture included is the Luther's Rose**, designed by him.  It is rich in symbolism.  

1) A mighty Fortress is our God,

A good Defense and Weapon.

He helps us free from every need.   

That has us now o'ertaken.

The old evil enemy

Works still more earnestly.

His pow'r and ploys are great;

His armor is cruel hate:

On earth is not his likeness.

2) With our own strength is nothing done,

Else quick our loss effected.

But for us fights the suitable One, 

Whom God Himself elected. 

You ask who is He who came?

Christ Jesus is His name,

Of heav'nly hosts the Lord, 

God's only Son adored:

The battlefield He must hold.

3)  Though all  the world with devils were filled

All threat'ning to devour us,

We would not fear, for God has willed

They cannot overpow'r us.

The prince of worldly power,

Howe'er he might glower,

We will not be budged:

Since he's already judged,

One little word can bring him down.

4) The Word they still shall let remain

And not be thankful for it.

He is with us according to plan

With His good gifts and Spirit.

Were they to take our life,

Goods, honor, child and wife,

Let them go away.

They still will have no sway:

The Kingdom shall remain for us.

     ---Martin Luther, c. 1529; translation by various; adapted c.m.b., 2023

*Reformation Day, October 31st.  Centuries before this, the Roman Catholic church had taken over the Druid observance of Samhain. The Druids believed the barrier between the worlds of dead and living was "thinnest" at midnight on October 31st. The Church repurposed November 1st as All Saints' Day. October 31st became known as "All Hallows' Eve" in English. Luther chose the day before All Saints Day, by tradition, to post his 95 Theses (statements) in German on a church door, calling for a debate among church leaders and scholars. These were translated and sparked the Protestant Reformation.

**Luther's Rose:  this was first sketched by Luther around 1516 to 1520 and fully designed at the request of Johann Friedrich, Elector of Saxony. The black cross represents Jesus' sacrifice, the blackness symbolizing our sin. The red heart symbolizes our faith; Luther said that because of our sin, the heart ought to be black, yet, due to Christ, the heart is not utterly destroyed.  The heart is on a white rose, to show that faith gives joy, comfort and peace:  white is the color of angels and spirits.  The sky blue field symbolizes joy and that faith is the beginning of future heavenly joy.  The gold ring symbolizes precious eternity, which has no beginning and end.  

This rendering has the triple phrase often used by Lutherans, sometimes written in Latin: sola fide, sola gratia, sola Scriptura.  A fourth could be added:  solus Christus, Christ alone.

Waterfall

      These photos are from a hike into Zapata Falls in south central Colorado last year.  The waterfalls are in the Sangre de Cristo ("Blood of Christ") Range within the Rocky Mountains.  (For more on our trip there, see the post from October, 2020.)

      Some fresh translations from Psalm 42 add to the reflections.

7) Deep calls unto deep

At the noise of Your waterfalls; 

And all your waves and billows

Over me have passed.

8) In the daytime will Yahweh command His lovingkindness,

And in the night will his song be with me--

   a prayer to the God of my life...

11) Why, O my soul, are you cast down,

And why are you disquieted within me? 

Have hope in God,

For yet shall I praise Him,

The salvation of my expression [literally 'face']

And my God.    --Sons of Korah  

Notice how the falls spill from rocks high above.  Hikers are not allowed in that area.

    For fans of the Chronicles of Narnia, which are Christian allegories, waterfalls are in many stories.  C.S. Lewis' upbringing in parts of Ireland contributed to his depictions of Narnia.  I like occasionally mentioning Narnia in this blog because Lewis does such an amazing job describing the landscape.  It is part of the great joy of going to Narnia. The Hollywood productions (as Hollywood will do) focus so much on the great breathtaking near escapes that the amount of time just absorbing natural wonders is lost.

     Lewis does mentions a number of waterfalls throughout The Chronicles of Narnia. The most well-known is in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, where the Beavers take the Pevensie children along the ravine below a waterfall in order to avoid being caught by the White Witch.  She traveled by sled and couldn't follow them down the narrow space. 

    The Great Waterfall is at the furthest western limit of Narnia.  Falling over spectacular cliffs into Cauldron Pool, it becomes the source of the Great River. 

    In the last book. The Last Battle, the trickster ape, Shift, lives near these falls.  He finds a lion skin in Cauldron Pool and tricks his foolish donkey friend, Puzzle, into wearing it and pretending to be Aslan, the Great Lion (the metaphor for Jesus).  This great hoax brings down Narnia.  

    At the end of Narnia, as the move into ever greater, more beautiful eternal Narnias, Aslan's dearest go UP the great waterfall, in a way they never could have done in their previous lives.  (Imagine climbing those!)  I could not find any artist renditions of the beloved going up the Narnian falls, so I will leave you with these final Zapata Falls photos.  My husband took these.  If you look close, you can see me in blue shirt with the giant straw hat, which I refer to as my "ugly potato farmer's hat."  (This is not to imply that potato farmers are ugly, only that my hat is.)  It has warded off skin cancer, though!  And then he took one of me closer up, getting the photos you saw above.  What a day it would have been if we COULD have ascended the falls!

Autumn Glory

 
     Here are some photos from around northern Arizona this October.  Northern Arizona looks a lot different than some of you who have never visited this state might expect. This is going to be a bigger post, photographically.  It will also have a couple different 'takes' on autumn interspersed.

    There is also much more "human activity" in some of these pictures than what I typically include.  Some of this couldn't be helped in order to "get the shot."  But it's a reminder that, despite how radical environmentalists frame things, our world is a human-natural world cooperation.  To even enjoy it involves a human imposition. 

     After the flood, God gave Noah a rainbow.  Christians think of this mostly as a promise that God would not destroy the earth again by a flood.  There is also a promise that seasons will follow each other in order until the end of time:

"Through all the days of the earth,

Seedtime and Harvst,

Cold and Heat,

Summer and Winter, 

Day and Night 

Will not take rest [cease, pause, have a 'Sabbath']."  (Genesis 8:22)

San Francisco Peaks

Trees 🌳:

Arizona Walnut

"Quaking" Aspen, a type of poplar;

usually the leaves go golden, 

but soil conditions allow some as this

to go reddish

Locust, pea family

A Non-Native Maple 🍁

A Native, Western Maple 🍁

Basswood/Linden (?)

     When you're young, you often just admire Fall for the beautiful change of colors.  As time passes, you are more likely to have the haunting sense of 'death' arrive.  The leaves are actually dying.  While the deciduous trees aren't dying, their dormant state looks dead.  Even perceptive children will pick up on this, as in this poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, an English Jesuit priest:

Spring and Fall

to a young child

Márgarét, áre you gríeving

Over Goldengrove unleaving?

Leáves like the things of man, you

With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?

Ah! ás the heart grows older

It will come to such sights colder

By and by, nor spare a sigh

Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal* lie;

And yet you wíll weep and know why.

Now no matter, child, the name:

Sórrow’s spríngs áre the same.

Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed

What heart heard of, ghost guessed:

It ís the blight man was born for,

It is Margaret you mourn for. (1880)   

*Leafmeal, akin to "piecemeal"; term coined by Hopkins  

The Bible gives us hope in this, though.  Job, who was plagued by disaster and lived thousands of years before Christ was born, said in faith:

"For I know that my Redeemer lives,

And at the last [day], He shall stand upon the earth.

And after my skin is destroyed-- this,

And in my flesh shall I see God,

Whom I shall see for myself,

And my eyes shall behold,

And not a stranger. *

My heart yearns within me!"  (Job 19:25-27)

*this is more accurate to the Hebrew.  Martin Luther made a similar choice, translating it into German, using the word Fremder, "stranger."

Mountain🌄Hike 🚶‍♀️ 🚶‍♂️:

solitary aspen leaf 🍂

Aspens Interspersed with Blue Spruce and Douglas-Fir🌲

Conifer Seedling with Aspen Leaf

Rain 🌧🌦🌨off in the Distance

Sweeping Vista

The Pinnacle Humphreys Peak 🗻

"Aspen Corner"

part way down the mountain 

Flowers 🌸🏵🌼💐 :

I was frankly surprised to see this many flowers still blooming, especially the 'last' lupine and all the black-eyed Susans, especially considering how cool it was already getting. 

Purple False-Clover

pea family

White False-Clover and Yellow Clover

(why one is a true clover and the other is not seems some botanist's whim)

Yarrow 

Golden Aster 

composite (sunflower) 🌼 family

Native Snapdragon 

Cliff Rose 🌹

rose family (along with many common fruits

such as 🍎apple, plum, cherry 🍒,  peach 🍑)

[alongside purple coneflower]

Purple Aster

 composite family; sometimes called Michaelmas Daisy,

due to blooming around St. Michael's and All Angels Day, 29 September 

Maroon & Gold Mexican Hats, composite family

Yellow Mexican Hats

(purple asters among both types of Mexican Hats)

White Asters or Fleabane

Wooly Mullein (Lamb's Ear)

Lupine, much like Texas Bluebonnet

pea family (note pods below)

Purple Coneflower, non-native; composite family

Indian Blanket Flower (Firewheel), Composite Family

only somewhat native to this area;

more common on the southern parts of the Great Prarie;

there are several subspecies with slight color variations

My Favorite: Black-Eyed Susans

composite family

native to the Midwest, from Wisconsin to Texas

They have been seeded and naturalized to this one field in Flagstaff, AZ.Though I like living in the West, these are still a big favorite with me.

with ponderosa pines

with Indian blankets scattered in

A poem of mine on these flowers from August 2019

Black-Eyed Susan