A Harvest of Manliness

 (Boaz & Ruth) 

      This month, the blog has an essay again rather than a poem.  The idea of "harvest" in the early chapters of Ruth can lend itself to autumnal thoughts.

      For men, especially Christian men, worried about society losing its masculine edge and becoming too feminized, reviewing the story of Ruth & Boaz can channel such thoughts in helpful ways. 

"Boaz and Ruth" James Faed (Scottish), 1855

     What makes Boaz a good masculine role model? He supports Ruth with kindness and supportive strength 💪 without 💖 ❤️ taking away her agency.  She went out on a limb to visit at night.  He did not take advantage of her. He also provided cover so she wouldn't be shamed. 

     Andrew Tate (whom I hope not too many so-called Christians follow) is completely opposite to Boaz in this regard. Far too many of the leaders whom voters elevated to prominent US positions in November 2024, hoping they'd bring back a "masculine vibe", are completely incapable of Boaz's type of masculine energy. A lot of them will make up stuff about what happened with women, in fact, and make predatory behaviors the mark of being a man. 

      Testosterone doesn't require you to constantly fight, demean, dominate or belittle. The only 'fight' Boaz got into happened when the closer kinsman refused to marry Ruth. In my mind's eye, I see a bit of testosterone flare there, even as he uses the legal system of the day to make his point. 

      Some of the current so-called pro-masculine movements seem all about taking away women's agency. That doesn't seem truly strong to me-- it seems like fear clothed in a false front of strength. And that is the same pattern that makes bullies.

September Harvest

 

After the blizzards and after the drifts, 

after the snowbanks and temperature shifts... 

After the blossoms from light colored buds, 

after the rainstorms and after the floods... 

After the heat from the high summer sun, 

after the grain that is ripe for autumn... 

come September harvest.

The Veteran in a New Field; Winslow Homer, 1865

When old farmer Elmer is out on his field, 

reaping the harvest with plenteous yield, 

reminding me fully of lost, lonely souls, 

that we need to harvest from Satan's controls. 

To he who repents and to he who believes, 

to all who accept Him, to all of the sheaves... 

come September harvest. 

The harvest is plenty with laborers few 

but these are the souls that we need to get to. 

If we love our neighbors as we ourselves love - 

(you must know by now what I'm speaking of...) 

For though this big world is in stark opposition, 

we recommit fully for this great commission... 

come September harvest. 

 ---Louis Gander, 2012 

Gander Story Poems

 This poem won first place for the September 2012 poetry contest. This Christian poem may be used within Christian ministries for any non-profit purpose without requesting permission. Please remember to mention the author of this poem when using.

August

This was its promise, held to faithfully: 

The early morning sun came in this way 

Until the angle of its saffron* beam
Between the curtains and the sofa lay, 

And with its ochre** heat it spread across 

The village houses, and the nearby wood, 

Upon my bed and on my dampened pillow 

And to the corner where the bookcase stood. 

Then I recalled the reason why my pillow 

Had been so dampened by those tears that fell-

I'd dreamt I saw you coming one by one 

Across the wood to wish me your farewell. 

You came in ones and twos, a straggling crowd; 

Then suddenly someone mentioned a word: 

It was the sixth of August, by Old Style***, 

And the Transfiguration of Our Lord****. 

For from Mount Tabor**** usually this day 

There comes a light without a flame to shine, 

And autumn draws all eyes upon itself 

As clear and unmistaken as a sign.*****

But you came forward through the tiny, stripped, 

The pauperly and trembling alder grove, 

Into the graveyard's coppice, russet-red******, 

Which, like stamped gingerbread, lay there and glowed. 

 And with the silence of those high treetops 

Was neighbour only the imposing sky 

And in the echoed crowing of the cocks 

The distances and distances rang by: 

There in the churchyard underneath the trees, 

Like some surveyor from the government 

Death gazed on my pale face to estimate 

How large a grave would suit my measurement. 

All those who stood there could distinctly hear

A quiet voice emerge from where I lay: 

The voice was mine, my past; prophetic words 

That sounded now, unsullied by decay:

'Farewell, wonder of azure and of gold,

Surrounding the Transfiguration's power: 

Assuage now with a woman's last caress 

The bitterness of my predestined hour! 

'Farewell timeless expanse of passing years!

Farewell, woman who flung your challenge steeled 

Against the abyss of humiliations: 

For it is I who am your battlefield! 

'Farewell, you span of open wings outspread, 

The voluntary obstinacy of flight, 

O figure of the world revealed in speech, 

Creative genius, wonder-working might!'

--Boris Pasternak [author of Dr. Zhivago], 1890-1960

*saffron-- orangish yellow 

**ochre--  deep orange-y brown

***adjusted calendar:  Pope Gregory XIII adjusted the calendar in 1582.  Due to the way leap days had been inserted, there had been "seasonal creep."  About 11 days were taken out of the calendar, readjusting dates, and leap days were no longer inserted in years that are divisible by 100 (i.e. 1700), unless they are also divisible by 400 (i.e. 2000).  

   Protestant-dominated countries were slower to adopt the calendar. Great Britain and its colonies adopted the Gregorian Calendar in September of 1752.  You may have heard that Washington's birthday 'moved'?

   Eastern Orthodox countries were even slower to adopt the new calendar, which most did for purely civic, non-church purposes. Within Orthodox churches, the 'old calendar' is often still used.

****Feast of Transfiguration/Mt. Tabor.  Eastern Orthodox churches celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration on the 6th of August.  Lutherans used to use this date, also. Transfiguration is the event where Jesus shone forth brightly on a mountaintop.  Many Christian traditions suggested this was Mt. Tabor.

      Roman Catholics set the date as the last Sunday before Lent. This is when Lutherans now celebrate it. This makes sense, as the event was one of the final ones before Jesus travelled to Jerusalem to give His life for the world.

*****August giving way to autumn.  Not really a factor where I currently live but it is in many places.

******russet red coppice--  russet is a dark-brown color with reddish or even orange tinges; a coppice is an area where trees have been cut down to stumps, often to encourage the growth of other plants or trees

America the Definitely Beautiful

 

Happy 4th of July!  

Continental Divide in Colorado
from a few years ago

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

Biblical Winters

 

[Young Elihu to Job & company]

"God's voice thunders with marvelous things;

He does great things we cannot deeply know.

For to the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth,'

And to the shower of rain, Be mighty rain torrents'...

From the Breath of God ice is given,

     And the broad waters are frozen."  (Job 37:5, 6, 10)

Praise Yahweh from the earth:

Fire and hail, snow and clouds, 

Strong wind doing His will...

Let them praise the Name of Yahweh,

For His Name alone is exalted;

His splendor is above the earth and heavens. (Psalm 148: 7a, 8, 13)

He sends forth His command to the earth;

His word runs swiftly forth.

He dispenses snow as wool;

He scatters hoar-frost as ashes.

He hurls His hail as fragments--

Who can stand before His icy cold?

He sends forth His word and melts them;

He causes the wind to blow,

         and the waters flow.  (Psalm 147: 15-18)

[Yahweh says]

"For just as the rain comes down

     And the snow from the heavens

     And does not return there

     Without watering the earth,

Causing it to bring forth and sprout

     So that it yields seed to the sower

      And bread to the eater,

Thus is My Word which goes forth from My mouth:

It does not return to me void,

But does what I delighted

And advances those things for which I sent it."  (Isaiah 55: 10-11)

"Come, now, let us reason together.

Though your sins are like scarlet,

They shall be as white as snow;

Though they are red as crimson,

They shall be [white] like wool."  (Isaiah 1:18)

[King David leads us in saying]

"Cleanse me with hyssop* and I shall be clean;

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."  (Psalm 51:7)

(original translations c.m.b.)

*Ezov, the hyssop of the Bible-- a flowering herb in the mint family, which was used for cleansing. The plant was used to "sprinkle" liquids.  A hyssop stalk was used to life a sponge to Jesus' lips as He hung on the cross, to give Him something to wet His lips as He thirsted.

[Thee God I come from, to Thee go]

                                                           

Thee, God, I come from, to thee go,

 All day long I like fountain flow 

From thy hand out, swayed about 

Mote-like* in thy mighty glow.         

Hopkins in his early years

What I know of thee I bless, 

As acknowledging thy stress 

On my being and as seeing 

Something of thy holiness.     

Once I turned from thee and hid, 

Bound on what thou hadst forbid; 

Sow the wind I would; I sinned: 

I repent of what I did. 

Hopkins as a young priest

Bad I am**, but yet thy child.

Father, be thou reconciled. 

Spare thou me, since I see 

With thy might that thou art mild. 

I have life before me still 

And thy purpose to fulfil; 

Yea a debt to pay thee yet: 

Help me, sir, and so I will. 

Hopkins in later years

But thou bidst, and just thou art, 

Me shew mercy from my heart 

Towards my brother, every other 

Man my mate and counterpart.

--Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J., 1885

                                                                 

*speck-like

**should not be taken as a call to wallow in poor self-esteem; rather, this recognition of original sin helps us understand the lack of perfection in all of us and our need for God's forgiveness.  We all want to go off our own ways, and we are not naturally altruistic and loving towards others. 

Gerard Manley Hopkins: Poetry Foundation

Prayer Answered by Crosses

 

I ask’d the Lord, that I might grow

In faith, and love, and ev’ry grace,

Might more of his salvation know,

And seek more earnestly his face.

‘Twas he who taught me thus to pray,

And he, I trust has answer’d pray’r;

But it has been in such a way,

As almost drove me to despair.

I hop’d that in some favour’d hour,

At once he’d answer my request:

And by his love’s constraining pow’r,

Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this. he made me feel

The hidden evils of my heart;

And let the angry pow’rs of hell

Assault my soul in ev’ry part.

Yea more, with his own hand he seem’d

Intent to aggravate my woe;

Cross’d all the fair designs I schem’d,

Blasted my gourds*, and laid me low.

Lord, why is this, I trembling cry’d,

Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?

“‘Tis in this way,” the Lord reply’d,

“I answer pray’r for grace and faith.

“These inward trials I employ,

“From self and pride to set thee free;

“And break thy schemes of earthly joy,

“That thou mayst seek thy all in me.”

     --John Newton (1725-1807); author of "Amazing Grace" and many other poems & hymns  

*Book of Jonah:  God dried things up to prove a point to Jonah about Jonah's hardness of heart towards the Ninevites

The Lord Will Provide

Though troubles assail 

And dangers affright, 

Though friends should all fail 

And foes all unite; 

Yet one thing secures us, 

Whatever betide, 

The scripture assures us, 

The Lord will provide. 

The birds without barn 

Or storehouse are fed, 

From them let us learn 

To trust for our bread: 

His saints, what is fitting, 

Shall ne’er be denied, 

So long as ’tis written, 

The Lord will provide.

We may, like the ships, 

By tempest be tossed 

On perilous deeps, 

But cannot be lost. 

Though Satan enrages 

The wind and the tide, 

The promise engages, 

The Lord will provide. 

His call we obey 

Like Abram of old, 

Not knowing our way, 

But faith makes us bold; 

For though we are strangers 

We have a good Guide, 

And trust in all dangers, 

The Lord will provide. 

When Satan appears 

To stop up our path, 

And fill us with fears, 

We triumph by faith; 

He cannot take from us, 

Though oft he has tried, 

This heart–cheering promise, 

The Lord will provide. 

He tells us we’re weak, 

Our hope is in vain, 

The good that we seek 

We ne’er shall obtain, 

But when such suggestions 

Our spirits have plied, 

This answers all questions, 

The Lord will provide. 

No strength of our own, 

Or goodness we claim, 

Yet since we have known 

The Savior’s great name; 

In this our strong tower 

For safety we hide, 

The Lord is our power, 

The Lord will provide. 

When life sinks apace 

And death is in view, 

This word of his grace 

Shall comfort us through: 

No fearing or doubting 

With Christ on our side, 

We hope to die shouting, 

The Lord will provide.

 —John Newton (1725-1807) from Olney Hymns, 1779 [author of "Amazing Grace"]

Flag Waving

 

      This is the U.S. flag, being flown at McCormick Stillman Railroad Park near Phoenix, Arizona.  Next to "Old Glory" but not shown here is the French flag.  It is also here because a "Merci Car" is behind the railing.  (For more, click the link below.)

     Next year for Veteran's Day, my Witticism & Aphorisms Blog should be featuring the Arizona Merci Car (November 2025).  In the meantime, enjoy this flag for our American Fourth of July celebrations.  For other related posts of the past, click the "summer" link or the archived July links on web versions of this blog.

Merci Train Home Page

Merci Train Arizona

Merci Train Wikipedia Info

Trees

 

I think that I shall never see

A poem [as] lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is presst

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair; 

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

  ---Joyce Kilmer, 1915  

Poetry Foundation: Joyce Kilmer

[The fountain in its source]

The fountain in its source

No drought of summer fears;

The farther it pursues its course

The nobler it appears.

But shallow cisterns yield

A scanty short supply;

The morning sees them amply filled,

At evening they are dry.

    --Madame de la Mothe Guion (1648-1717), translated by William Cowper  (1731-1800)

     This poem is not "Christian", per se, but Cowper certainly was.  His work is featured on both of my blogs.  There are links to his amazing life story. Madame Guion was also a fervent Christian, seeking private devotional disciplines.   

     The poem gives an overall sense of a giving, active life being preferable.  The flowing, active fountain which freely gives of itself never has to "worry" about running dry.   The still cisterns, from which people come and take what they want, do have that "concern.

     Cowper ended up living in the vicinity of Olney, England. There he was friends and a joint hymn-writer with John Newton, author of "Amazing Grace."  Though Americans are much more familiar with Newton, Cowper has had more fame in the UK.  (As noted elsewhere, Cowper was the favorite poet of author Jane Austen.)

   

  

Olney still hosts the Cowper and Newton Museum.  On its premises are Cowper's Summer House.  After his death, a book was published about the place.  "Fans" showed up and wrote on its walls, some of which is still visible today.

"Light Shines out of Darkness" (Cowper; with biographical notes)

[Joy & Peace in Believing] (Cowper)

"The [Slave's] Complaint" (Cowper, plus biographical link; Witticisms & Aphorisms Blog)

"I Will Praise the Lord at All Times" (Cowper)

Quotable Cowper (with biographical link; Witticisms & Aphorisms Blog)

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

Here Between Ass & Oxen Mild

 

1. Here between ass and oxen* mild,

Sleep, sleep, sleep my little Child.

Thousand seraphim,

Thousand cherubim

Keeping watch above 

This Mighty God of Love. 

 

 

2.  Here within Mary's sweet embrace

Sleeps, sleeps, sleeps this Fruit of Grace. 

Thousand seraphim,

Thousand cherubim

Keeping watch above 

This Mighty God of Love.  

 

3. Here between rose and lily sweet**

Sleep, sleep, sleep, my Son petite.

Thousand seraphim,

Thousand cherubim

Keeping watch above 

This Mighty God of Love.

 

4.  Here between the shepherds wondering

Sleep, sleep, Jesus, newborn King.

Thousand seraphim,

Thousand cherubim

Keeping watch above 

This Mighty God of Love.  

 

  

5.  On this holy day which God chose well

Sleeps, sleeps, sleeps Emmanuel.

Thousand seraphim,

Thousand cherubim

Keeping watch above 

This Mighty God of Love.  

 

-- developed from the 13th century French carol, “Entre le bœuf et l’âne gris” ["Between the Ox & Grey Donkey"]; this version (c) C. Marie Byars, 2023

 

*The "ox and ass" portrayals go beyond assuming what might be in a stable. Medieval Roman Catholic churchmen and songwriters were adding their interpretation of Isaiah 1:3-- "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s feed trough [manger, crib], but Israel does not know; My people do not understand."

 

 A donkey may or may not have conveyed the pregnant Mary to Bethlehem. The Bible doesn't say.  An otherwise hale and hearty Mary may have walked the 90 mile journey.

 

What Child Is This   Also features ox and donkey.  

 

**The lily was a symbol of the Virgin Mary's purity.  (Though not used for old Christmas symbolism, it's a nice way to remember the story of Good Friday & Easter were already embedded into the Christmas account.)   The rose has variously been a symbol of Mary and of Jesus.  For both, it is a symbol of purity.  When used as a symbol of Jesus, it hearkens back to then Old Testament Rose of Sharon (which was actually a crocus in Hebrew, a small, early spring bulb flower!).  The Rose of Sharon was the one who pursued His beloved in the Song of Solomon.  

 

(There are various myths about winter roses and Mary's searching and struggles, also, which cropped up over the centuries.)

 

The Nativity in the photos is our own.  It is a composite of a couple different Italian sets.   We wait until closer to Epiphany (January 6) to put out the Wise Men.