Now Thank We All Our God

                    

Now thank we all our God, 

With heart and hands and voices;

Who wondrous things has done, 

In whom this world rejoices. 

Who from our mothers' arms 

Has blessed us on our way 

With countless gifts of love, 

And still is ours today. 

1st Mother's Day

O may this bounteous God 

Through all our life be near us; 

With ever joyful hearts 

And blessed peace to cheer us;

And keep us still in grace 

And guide us when perplexed; 

And free us from all ills

In this world and the next. 

Composite image: as if my daughter and I are at the same youthful age in heaven

All praise and thanks to God 

The Father now be given; 

The Son, and Him Who reigns 

With Them in highest heaven: 

The one eternal God, 

Whom earth and heaven adore; 

For thus it was, is now

And shall be evermore. 

--Rev. Martin Rinkart, ~1636; translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1855

    Rev. Martin Rinkart was a German Lutheran pastor during the 30 Years War. The war was a series of conflicts between Roman Catholic and Protestants across Europe from 1618 to 1648.  The conflict raged across much of Europe but was particularly devastating in the German provinces.

     Pastor Rinkart wrote this hymn as the war was nearing its end.  He had been exposed to some of its tremendous horrors, including disease, which often grows out of warfare.  Still, he wrote this hopeful hymn.  It is based on Wisdom of ben Sirach 50:22-24, from the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha are books that are considered Scripture by Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox but not Lutherans and other Protestants.  Martin Luther had said these books were worth reading, though not canonical Scripture.  Yet Rinkart wrote his hymn based on one of these passages. 

     This is one of my all-time favorite hymns.  Sometimes it is nice to read hymns as poems.  This year, it is posted for Mother's Day, initially, because of the reference to "mothers' arms." 

The Destin Log: Story Behind the Song

Awake My Heart with Gladness

                                                             

Awake, my heart, with gladness, 

See what today is done; 

Now, after gloom and sadness, 

Comes forth the glorious Sun. 

My Savior there was laid 

Where our bed must be made 

When to the realms of light 

Our spirit wings its flight. 

The foe in triumph shouted 

When Christ lay in the tomb; 

But, lo, he now is routed, 

His boast is turned to gloom. 

For Christ again is free; 

In glorious victory He 

Who is strong to save 

Has triumphed o'er the grave. 

This is a sight that gladdens; 

What peace it doth impart! 

Now nothing ever saddens 

The joy within my heart. 

No gloom shall ever shake, 

No foe shall ever take, 

The hope which God's own Son 

In love for me hath won. 

Now hell, its prince, the devil 

Of all their powers are shorn; 

Now I am safe from evil, 

And sin I laugh to scorn. 

Grim Death with all his might 

Cannot my soul affright; 

He is a powerless form, 

Howe'er he rave and storm. 

The world against me rageth 

Its fury I disdain; 

Though bitter war it wageth 

Its work is all in vain. 

My heart from care is free, 

No trouble troubles me. 

Misfortune now is play 

And night is bright as day. 

Now I will cling forever 

To Christ, my Savior true; 

My Lord will leave me never, 

Whate'er He passeth through. 

He rends Death's iron chain, 

He breaks through sin and pain, 

He shatters hell's dark thrall, 

I follow Him through all. 

To halls of heavenly splendor 

With Him I penetrate; 

And trouble ne'er may hinder 

Nor make me hesitate. 

Let tempests rage at will, 

My Savior shields me still; 

He grants abiding peace 

And bids all tumult cease. 

He brings me to the portal 

That leads to bliss untold, 

Whereon this rhyme immortal 

Is found in script of gold: 

"Who there My cross hath shared* 

Finds here a crown prepared; 

Who there with Me hath died 

Shall here be glorified." 

--Paul Gerhardt 1648 ("Auf, auf, mein Herz, mit Freuden"); translated John Kelly, 1867

*Matthew 16:24-26 & Revelation 2:10

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.  

The Long View

 

"If I knew tomorrow were the end of the world,

I'd plant an apple tree today." 

(attributed to Martin Luther; 16th century German)  

Imagine

 

Imagine...

love that embraces the enemy

grace that preaches repentance

joy that strengthens during depression

peace that accompanies the conflicted

hope that enlivens the dying

Jesus gives this.  --Rev B.T. (c) 2021

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.

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Refreshing Rivers

These pictures are from the White River, a tributary to the Salt River in Arizona. The Salt River and another tributary, the Black River, form the boundary between two Apache Indian tribes in Arizona.

Scarlet Petnstemmon

A Grand Canyon

A spot where you can drive down to the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.  Not quite as "splendid" as in the National Park, but still beautiful.

At the confluence of Diamond Creek & the Colorado River, May 2019. 

Jesus, Refuge of the Weary

Jesus, Refuge of the weary,
Blest Redeemer Whom we love.
Fountain in life's desert dreary,
Savior from the world above.
Oh, how oft Thine eyes, offended
Gaze upon the sinner's fall;
Yet upon the cross extended,
You have born the pain of all.

Do we pass that cross unheeding,
Breathing no repentant vow,
Though we see Thee wounded, bleeding,
See Thy thorn encircled brow?
Yet Thy sinless death has brought us
Life eternal, peace, and rest;
Only what your grace has taught us
Calms the sinner’s deep distress.

Jesus, may our hearts be burning

With more fervent love for Thee;
May our eyes be ever turning
To Thy cross of agony
Till in glory, parted never
From the blessed Savior’s side,
Carved into our hearts forever,
Dwell the cross, the Crucified.

By Girolamo Savonarola; translated by Lady Jane Wilde, adapted

Girolamo Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar and preacher.  (In his zeal to reform the Roman Catholic Church, before Luther came along, he unfortunately destroyed some secular art in Italy.) He called for Christian renewal and expressed skepticism towards the culture of his day.

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

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)

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.)