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.

An Easter Carol

               

                Spring bursts to-day,
For Christ is risen and all the earth's at play.

                Flash forth, thou Sun,
The rain is over and gone, its work is done.

                Winter is past,
Sweet Spring is come at last, is come at last.

                Bud, Fig and Vine,
Bud, Olive, fat with fruit and oil and wine*.

                Break forth this morn
In roses, thou but yesterday a Thorn**.

                Uplift thy head,
O pure white Lily through the Winter dead.

                Beside your dams
Leap and rejoice, you merry-making Lambs.

                All Herds and Flocks
Rejoice, all Beasts of thickets and of rocks.

                Sing, Creatures, sing,
Angels and Men and Birds and everything.

                All notes of Doves
Fill all our world: this is the time of loves.    

                                                  -Christina G. Rossetti (1830-1894)

  

*Habakkuk chapter 3
**Compares the flowerless rose, all thorns "just yesterday", to the contrast between Good Friday, when the Lord died, to the blossom of His resurrection on Easter.

Lakes & Rivers

We took a trip to the White Mountains in Arizona this fall.  Yes, this, too is Arizona.  (It's not all desert and the large, branching saguaro cacti.  BTW, AZ is the only state in the US where those cacti grow.)  Here are some photos of Big Lake in the White Mountains (near Greer) and the Little Colorado River near Springerville.   

There are other blog postings, as noted, with some of the autumnal plant life from this trip.

There is related Biblical poetry woven throughout the various postings.

Enjoy!  Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans reading this. Blessed fall season to the rest of my Northern Hemisphere friends reading this!

[Yahweh says]:

"I will open rivers on the bare heights

And springs within the valleys;

I will make the wilderness a pool of water

And dry lands springs of water."  Isaiah 41:18

Part "deux"

See, there is a river whose streams make glad the City of God, the dwelling places of the Most High.  Psalm 46:4

Then [the angel] showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the Throne of God and of the Lamb... On each side of the river was the Tree of Life... No longer will there be any curse... they [the people of God] will see His Face...  from Revelation chapter 22, a vision of heaven.

 

"The Desert Shall Blossom"

 In Isaiah 35:1, the Bible says:

"The wilderness and parched land will be glad:

And the desert-plain will rejoice and blossom."

    These passages originally spoke of a spiritual blossoming with Messiah's coming.  Secondarily, they hint at the perfection of the natural world in the recreation to come in heaven.

    We are seeing a somewhat more literal version of this in our own backyard this spring.  This is a mixture of area wildflowers and cultivars from elsewhere.  Enjoy! 

Common Poppy

Shirley Poppy?

Larkspur & California Poppy

 

 

 

 

 

 

African Daisies

Phlox & Wood Sorrel (one of many things called "shamrock")

Snap Dragons

Globe Mallow & Saltbrush

 

Prickly Pear

Drought Resistant Pine (Canary Island Pine?)

  

Black eye Susan with Bachelor's Button

 

 

Black-eye Susans are my favorite flower.  They are native to the Midwestern US.  After many years of trying, I got them (with God's help!) to come up here last year. The above photo was about to open when I first posted. Now it has, with more to come.  Below is a link to a poem I wrote about Black-eye Susans.

Black-Eyed Susan (poem) 

Lilies on My Table

 Flowers I bought to off-set the wicked heat and drought outdoors. Set on our bird themed tablecloth, a gift to ourselves for our last anniversary.  They opened over a couple of days, just as the store promised.

Add caption

[Joy & Peace in Believing]

(from the Olney hymns)

Sometimes a light surprises
     The Christian while he sings;
It is the Lord who rises
     With healing on His wings;*
When comforts are declining,
     He grants the soul again
A season of clear shining,
     To cheer it after rain.

In holy contemplation
     We sweetly then pursue
The theme of God's salvation,
     And find it ever new;
Set free from present sorrow,
     We cheerfully can say,
E'en let the unknown to-morrow
     Bring with it what it may!

It can bring with it nothing,
     But He will bear us through;
Who gives the lilies clothing,**
     Will clothe His people too;
Beneath the spreading heavens
     No creature but is fed;
And He who feeds the ravens
     Will give His children bread.

Though vine nor fig tree neither***
     Their wonted fruit shall bear,
Though all the field should wither,
     Nor flocks nor herds be there:
Yet God the same abiding,
     His praise shall tune my voice;
For, while in Him confiding,
     I cannot but rejoice.

--William Cowper [pronounced "Cooper"], 1779; part of Olney 

hymns, written alongside his friend, John Newton, author of 

"Amazing Grace" 

*Malchi 4:2--  the Sun of Righteousness [Christ] will rise with 

healing  in His wings. This idea is also found in a verse of "Hark 

the Herald Angels Sing"

**Matthew 6 & Luke 12--  Jesus told His followers that God

clothes the grasses in beautiful lilies that outshine wealthy King 

Solomon's best clothing.  He feeds the birds, specifically ravens, 

though they don't work and plan as the farmer does.  Jesus tells His 

followers that His Father will certainly take care of them, also, and 

that they shouldn't worry. 

***Habakkuk 3:17-19, a paraphrase.  If all else goes badly, rejoice. 

This is not idle, wishful thinking, nor pie in the sky optimism.  

Cowper suffered from crippling, pitch black depression at a time

before there were psychiatric medications. 

(Habakkuk is one of my favorite books of the Bible.) 

Nature is Never Spent (*)

"For all this, nature is never spent."*
As unto urban wastelands sent
Was this poetic English gent
Ourselves are now to parched lands lent,
Absorbing well what Hopkins meant.

I see no British Isles lush~
I look on desert city rush~
Adapting as that orange-breast thrush**
I find my own internal hush.  

"There lives the dearest freshness deep-down things,"*
As I admire our flowerings
And still the robin gamely sings.**

"For all this, nature is never spent."
On earth, this comes as form of rent
Until we dwell in Christ's new tent.***
--C. Marie Byars, 2020 (c) 
[during covid and unrest times, but not in direct response] 

*From Gerard Manley Hopkins', SJ, 1877 poem
God's Grandeur

**A robin is a type of thrush. Its wide range suggests it's adaptable.

***Tent/tabernacle/dwelling.  The Old Testament Tabernacle was a durable, highly ornate tent with a special purpose for worship. There, God's visible presence on earth could be found.  In John 1: 14, "The Word [Christ] became flesh and 'tabernacled' among us."  The Greek word for 'dwelling' means more literally 'tented.'

Black-Eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan~
The name doesn't fit:
Your eye's not an eye--
So much like brown velvet.

Susan~
The Hebrew Shoshanna
The name of the lily.
But you're the cousin
Of the sunflower and daisy.

Susan, oh Susan,
You old friend of mine,
What then was your name
When the Maker made time?

Yellow for joy~
Reminder of heaven*--
Multi flowers in brown**--
Keeper of secrets,
In simplicity renown.
     --Marie Byars, 2019 (c)


*Romans chapter 8:  all creation waits to be renewed when Christ returns. 
**The "center" in flowers in the composite family is a cluster of minute flowers. What are often called the petals are really "rays."

St. Paul, Minnesota; July, 2019

Botanical Gardens
Albuquerque, NM

Lake County (suburban Chicago), Illinois;
July, 2018

The ones which inspired this poem
Prescott, Arizona; August, 2019

My own, which came up a year later:

A field of Black-eyed Susans 
that became naturalized in Flagstaff, AZ
October, 2022:

Black-eyed Susans in south central Texas 
get a maroon hue near the center