From Old Narnia to New Narnia

[technically prose;  a reflection on the passage of time and of all things as this year draws to a close]

     "So," said Peter, "Night falls on Narnia.  [Narnia is destroyed; comes to an end.]  What, Lucy!  You're not crying?  With Aslan ahead and all of us here?"
     "Don't try to stop me, Peter, " said Lucy.  "I am sure Aslan would not.  I am sure it is not wrong to mourn for Narnia.  Think of all that lies dead and frozen behind that door."
     "Yes, and I did hope,"  said Jill, "that it might go on forever.  I knew our world couldn't.  I did think Narnia might."...

     "Peter, " said Lucy, "where is this, do you suppose?"
     "I don't know," said the High King.  "It reminds me of somewhere, but I can't give it a name.  Could it be somewhere we once stayed for a holiday when we were very, very small?"
     "It would have to have been a jolly good holiday," said Eustace.  "I bet there isn't a country like this anywhere in our world.  Look at the colours.  You couldn't get a blue like the blue on those mountains in our world."...
    "If you ask me, " said Edmund, "It's like somewhere in the Narnian world.  Look  at those mountains ahead... Surely they're rather like the mountains we used to see from Narnia, the ones up Westward beyond the Waterfall?"
     "Yes, so they are, "  said Peter.  "Only these are bigger."
      [They compare some of the other Narnian mountains to what they are seeing.]
     "And yet they're not like," said Lucy.  "They're different.  They have more colours on them and they look further away than I remembered and they're more...more...oh, I don't know..."
     "More like the real thing," said the Lord Digory softly...
     "Kings and Queens, " [Farsight the Eagle] cried, "we have all been blind.  We are only beginning to see where we are.  from up there I have seen it all---Ettinsmuir, Beaversdam, the Great River, and Cair Paravel still shining on the edge of the Eastern Sea.  Narnia is not dead.  This is Narnia."....
     "The Eagle is right, " said the Lord Digory.  "Listen Peter.  When Aslan said you could never go back to Narnia, he meant the Narnia you were thinking of.  But that was not the real Narnia.  That had a beginning and an end.  It was only a shadow or a copy of the real Narnia, which has always been here and always will be here...  You need not mourn over Narnia, Lucy.  All of the old Narnia that mattered, all the dear creatures, have been drawn into the real Narnia..."

     It is as hard to explain how this sunlit land was different from the old Narnia, as it would be to tell you how the fruits of that country taste...The new one was a deeper country: every rock and flower and blade of grass looked as if it meant more.  I can't describe it any better than that...
     It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling.... "I have come home at last!  This is my real country.  I belong here.  This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now.  the reason why we loved the old Narnia is that is sometimes looked a little like this..."

     The light ahead was growing stronger.. And then she forgot everything else, because Aslan [the Great Lion] was coming, leaping down from cliff to cliff like a living cataract of power and beauty...Then Aslan turned to them [after talking to other creatures] and said:
     "You do not yet look so happy as I meant you to be."
     Lucy said, "We're so afraid of being sent away, Aslan.  And you have sent us back into our own world so often.
    "No fear of that," said Aslan.  "Have you not guessed?"
   Their hearts leaped, and a wild hope rose within them.
    [Aslan explains that they died in their own world.   That they and the  Pevensie parents have come out of the "Shadow-Lands" and will stay in the New Narnia forever.]
     And as He spoke, He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them...now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which on one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."

--C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle.  (c) 1956

Journey of the Magi

A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.
And the camels galled, sorefooted,
   refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling and running away,
  and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out,
   and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty
   and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees* on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away
in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for
pieces of silver**,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information,
  and so we continued
And arriving at evening,
not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was
(you might say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt.
I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different;
   this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us,
   like Death, our death***.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old
   dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.


---T.S. Eliot, 1927  (c) by owner

* A foreshadowing of the three crosses, Jesus's and the two thieves
**Judas betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver; the soldiers gambling for his cloak
**Christ came to suffer death for our sins.  Death was haunting even the birth.

The Golden Morning [Sun]

(apropos for Thanksgiving, though originally German)

The golden morning,
Joy her adorning,
On us is gleaming,
Rays brightly beaming,
With her beloved heart-quickening light.
My head and members
Lay deep in their slumbers,
But now awaking,
All sleep from me shaking,
Gazing on heav’n, I rejoice at the sight.

Mine eye’s beholding
God’s work unfolding,
Made for His glory,
Telling the story
Of all His power so mighty and great
And where the Father
His faithful shall gather
In peace, whenever
Earth’s ties they shall sever,
Leaving this mortal and perishing state.

Come ye with singing,
Our Maker bringing
Each good and blessing
We are possessing:
All be to God as an offering brought,
The best oblation
Our heart’s adoration.
Songs meet and thankful
Are incense and cattle
With which His pleasure most fitly is sought.


Evening and morning,
Sunset and dawning,
Wealth, peace, and gladness,
Comfort in sadness:
These are Thy works; all the glory be Thine!
Times without number,
Awake or in slumber,
Thine eye observes us,
From danger preserves us,
Causing Thy mercy upon us to shine.


Though all decayeth,
God ever stayeth,Nor doth He waver,
He changeth never,
His Word and will have unchangeable ground.
His grace and favor
Are steadfast forever,
In our hearts healing 
Death’s pangs that we’re feeling,
Keeping us now and eternally sound.


Father, O hear me,
Pardon and spare me;
Calm all my terrors,
Blot out mine errors
That by Thine eyes they may no more be scanned.
Order my goings,
Direct all my doings;
As it may please Thee,
Retain or release me;
All I commit to Thy fatherly hand.

The good and healthful,
The harmful, unhelpful,
Thou my Physician,
Who know’st my condition,
Hast ne’er more chastened than any should be.
Griefs, though heart-rending,
All have their ending;
Though seas be roaring
And winds outpouring,
Thereafter shines the dear sun’s blessèd face.

Fullness of pleasure
And glorious leisure
Then will be given
To me there in heaven,
Where all my thoughts are directing their gaze.

--Paul Gerhardt, 1666.  Translation, composite.  (adapted)

Lord of All Hopefulness

[Happy Labor Day!]

 

 Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,
Whose trust, ever child-like, no cares can destroy,
Be there at our waking, and give us, we pray,
Your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day.

 Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith,
Whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe,
Be there at our labors, and give us, we pray,
Your strength in our hearts, Lord, at the noon of the day.

Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace,
Your hands swift to welcome, your arms to embrace,
Be there at our homing, and give us, we pray,
Your love in our hearts, Lord, at the eve of the day.

Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm,
Whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm,
Be there at our sleeping, and give us, we pray,
Your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day.

 

---"Jan Struther"  (Joyce Maxtone Graham)* , 1931

*This authoress of many Anglican hymns was, actually, agnostic, although she regularly attended church.  We shall take her work in the fullest Christian sense.

Song of the Three Young Men

 

Blessed are You, O Lord God of our fathers: and to be praised and exalted above all for ever.

And blessed is Your glorious and holy Name: and to be praised and exalted above all for ever.

Blessed are You in the Temple of Your holy glory: and to be praised and glorified above all for ever.

Blessed are You who looks upon the depths, and sits upon the Cherubim [fiery angels; statues of these were atop the Ark of the Covenant in the Jewish Temple]: and to be praised and exalted above all for ever.

Blessed are You on the glorious Throne of Your kingdom: and to be praised and glorified above all for ever.

Blessed are You in the vaults of heaven: and above all to be praised and glorified for ever.

O all you works of the Lord, bless  the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you heavens, bless  the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O all you waters above the heavens, bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O all you powers of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you Sun and Moon, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you stars of heaven, bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O every shower and dew, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O all you winds, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you fire and heat, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you dews and storms of snow, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you nights and days, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you light and darkness, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you ice and cold, bless  the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you frost and snow, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you lightning and clouds, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O let the earth bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you mountains and little hills, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O all you things that grow on the earth, bless  the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you fountains, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you seas and rivers, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you whales and all that move in the waters, bless  the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O all you birds of the air, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O all you beasts and cattle, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever...

O you servants of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you spirits and souls of the righteous, bless ye the Lord, praise and exalt Him above all for ever.

O you holy and humble men of heart, bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever...

O give thanks unto the Lord, because He is gracious: for His loving-kindness lasts forever.

 

--the alleged song of the men who sang while in the fiery furnace.  From an apocryphal section inserted after Daniel 3:23.

Come Unto Me, You Weary

“Come unto Me, you weary,
And I will give you rest.”*
O blessèd voice of Jesus,
Which comes to hearts oppressed!
It tells of consolation,
Of pardon, grace and peace,
Of joy that has no ending,
Of love which cannot cease.
 
 "Come unto me, you wanderers, 
And I will give your light."
O loving voice of Jesus, 
Which comes to cheer the night!
Our hearts were filled with sadness, 
When we had lost our way;
But He has brought us gladness 
And songs at break of day.

"And anyone who comes forth, 
I will not cast him out."
O patient love of Jesus, 
Which drives away our doubt,
Which, though we be unworthy 
Of love so great and free,
Invites us very sinners 
To come as we may be!

--William C. Dix, ~1867; adapted c.m.b., 2014

Dix wrote of this hymn:

I was ill and de­pressed at the time, and it was al­most to idle away the hours that I wrote the hymn. I had been ill for ma­ny weeks and felt weary and faint, and the hymn real­ly ex­press­es the lan­guid­ness of bo­dy from which I was suf­fer­ing at the time. Soon af­ter its com­po­si­tion I re­cov­ered, and I al­ways look back to that hymn as the turn­ing point in my ill­ness.

*"[Jesus said]' 'Come unto Me, all you who are weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.'"  (Matthew 11:28-30)
 

Song (Two Doves Upon The Selfsame Branch)

Two doves upon the selfsame branch,
  Two lilies on a single stem,
Two butterflies upon one flower:--
  O happy they who look on them.

Who look upon them hand in hand
  Flushed in the rosy summer light;
Who look upon them hand in hand
  And never give a thought to night.

--- Christina Rossetti  (1830 - 1894)  

(Although this poem is not specifically Christian, the poetess was)

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)

Jesus, and Could It Ever Be?

[based on Mark 8:38. Regarding being ashamed of Jesus before others now.*]

Jesus! and could it ever be
A mortal man ashamed of Thee?
Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise,
Whose glories shine through endless days?   

Ashamed of Jesus? Sooner far
Let evening blush to own a star.
He sheds the beams of light divine
O'er this benighted soul of mine.  

Ashamed of Jesus? Just as soon
Let midnight be ashamed of noon.
'Tis midnight with my soul till He,
Bright Morning Star, bids darkness flee.  

Ashamed of Jesus, that dear Friend
On whom my hopes of heaven depend?
No; when I blush, be this my shame,
That I forgot His precious Name.  

Ashamed of Jesus? Yes, I might
When I've no guilt in Yahweh's sight:
No tear to wipe, no joy to crave,
No fears to quell, no soul to save.  

Till then--nor is the boasting vain--
Till then I boast a Savior slain.
And oh, may this my glory be:
That Christ is not ashamed of me!

--Author: Joseph Grigg, 1765; Adapted Benjamin Francis, 1787; cmb, 2013

*from Mark 8:31, 34-38: "[Jesus] began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the [religious leaders].  And that He must be killed and after three days rise again.  He called the crowd and said, 'If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For what does it profit a person to gain the whole world & lose his own soul?   What will a person give in exchange for his own soul?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this unfaithful and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes back in His Father's glory with the holy angels.'" 

The Greatest Love

 

 

Christ of St. John of the Cross
 --Salvador Dali, 1951

 

Me and Baby Jesus

(A Houston Christmas)

A Way in a manger,
No hat for my head,
The little lord Jesus
At least had a bed.

The street lights above
Dim the stars in the sky....
Can He see me down here
As I close my eyes?   
  

"Hark" the corner carolers sing
And Army bellers with baskets ring.
Sirens sounding break the night,
Wholly, wholly, wholly fright.

Be near me lord Jesus
I beg you, I pray.
Don't ever leave me,
Or at least til it's day.

Bless me Father for I have sinned.
Come Lord Jesus, Be our Guest,
Quickly, Amen!

No crying He makes
Tho He took All our pain.
He's the Joy in my world,
A warm heart in cold rain.

        






Dogs bark, and babies wake,
Here I lay for Heaven's sake.
From Heaven He came,
To Heaven He'll take -
Me, and Baby Jesus. 

--Carolyn Crandell Koch (c)2013

Author's commentary:   I was inspired to write this while at church I sat and sang, yet I thought about the men on the corner looking for work, or the homeless. I felt in contrast yet I also felt hope, as I know Jesus came down to save us from our lowest points of grief, pain, sin, and ultimately death.

Angels We Have Heard on High

Angels we have heard on high,
Sweetly singing o'er the plains.
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains:
"Gloria in excelsis Deo." *

Come to Bethlehem and see
Him whose birth the angels sing.
Come, adore on bended knee

Christ the Lord the Newborn King:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. *

---Anonymous French Carol


*Glory to God in the highest

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

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

Psalm 8

O Yahweh, our Lord,
How majestic is Your Name in all the earth!

When I consider your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The Moon and stars,
which You have set in place....

--- King David, from Psalm 8

(Crescent Moon, Venus [below left], Jupiter; February 25, 2012)

Calm on the Listening Ear of Night

1. Calm on the listening ear of night

Come heaven's melodious strains,

Where wild Judea stretch'ed far

Her silver mantled plains.

2. Celestial choirs from courts above

Shed sacred glories there;

And angels, with their sparkling lyres,

Make music on the air.

3. The answering hills of Palestine

Send back the glad reply;

And greet, from all their holy heights, The Dayspring* from on high.

4. O'er the blue depths of Galilee**

There comes a holier calm,

And Sharon*** waves, in solemn praise,

Her silent groves of palm.

5. "Glory to God!" the sounding skies

Loud with their anthems ring,

"Peace to the earth, good will to men,

From heaven's eternal King!"

6. Light on thy hills, Jerusalem!

The Savior now is born:

More bright on Bethlehem's joyous plains

Breaks the first Christmas morn.

---Edmund Hamilton Sears, 1834 (abridged)

*Dayspring: a poetic expression of "The Rising Sun", specifically the Messiah come to earth. From Luke 1:78, the Song of Zechariah at the birth of his son, John the Baptist. John was born to prepare the way of Jesus, the Messiah.

**The Sea of Galilee, up in the northern region of the Holy Land.

***Plain of Sharon: a lush coastal plain in Israel, between Joppa to the south & Mt. Carmel to the north.

Photo still from "The Nativity Story" (c) 2006

God of Our Fathers

(posted for the 10th Anniversary of 9-11)


God of our fathers, whose almighty hand
Leads forth in beauty all the starry band
Of shining worlds in splendor through the skies
Our grateful songs before Thy throne arise.

Thy love divine hath led us in the past,
In this free land by Thee our lot is cast,
Be Thou our Ruler, Guardian, Guide and Stay,
Thy Word our law, Thy paths our chosen way.

From war’s alarms, from deadly pestilence,
Be Thy strong arm our ever sure defense;
Thy true religion in our hearts increase,
Thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace.

Refresh Thy people on their toilsome way,
Lead us from night to never ending day;
Fill all our lives with love and grace divine,
And glory, laud, and praise be ever Thine.
-----Daniel C. Warren, 1876 (for our nation's centennial)
(this hymn, while written by a Christian, granted, does not have the saving grace of Christ spelled out in its text)

Joseph the Faithful Carpenter

 (March 19th Commemorates Joseph, Stepfather of Jesus)


Joseph, the Faithful Carpenter
Ponders the news he keeps concealed
His bride-to-be is found with child—
A father’s name is not revealed.

As Joseph slumbers fitfully
An angel enters Joseph’s dream
To tell him that this comes from God
And things are not as they may seem:

“O, Joseph, banish all your fears
And take Young Mary as your wife
And be a father to God’s child
Who comes to share in human life.”

Good Joseph, born of David’s line
(Which matters not in days of Rome)
Bequeaths a human royalty
And gives the Boy a godly home.

A jealous Herod fears this King,
So Joseph takes them speedily
To Egypt, where again he works,
To care for his small family.

An angel tells that Herod’s dead,
So Joseph brings them all back home;
He brings them to quaint Nazareth
And raises God’s Son as his own.        

---C. Marie Byars, (c) 1999

  

       

Moonless darkness stands between

Moonless darkness stands between. 

Past, the Past, no more be seen! 

But the Bethlehem-star may lead me 

To the sight of Him Who freed me 

From the self that I have been. 

Make me pure, Lord: Thou art holy; 

Make me meek, Lord: Thou wert lowly; 

Now beginning, and alway: 

Now begin, on Christmas day.

---Gerard Manley Hopkins