Autumn Violets

 

Keep love for youth, and violets for the spring:
Or if these bloom when worn-out autumn grieves,
Let them lie hid in double shade of leaves,
Their own, and others dropped down withering;
For violets suit when home birds build and sing,
Not when the outbound bird a passage cleaves;
Not with dry stubble of mown harvest sheaves,

But when the green world buds to blossoming.
Keep violets for the spring, and love for youth,
Love that should dwell with beauty, mirth, and hope:
Or if a later sadder love be born,
Let this not look for grace beyond its scope,
But give itself, nor plead for answering truth—
A grateful Ruth tho' gleaning scanty corn*. 

  --Christina Rosetti; Macmillan's Magazine; NOV, 1868 

*Book of Ruth.  Landowners were required not to glean (gather grain crops) overly zealously; they were supposed to leave something behind for the poor.  Ruth, who moved from her home in Moab to Israel with her Israelite mother-in-law Naomi (after both were widowed), gleaned to support both of them.  The landowner eventually fell in love with her and married her; she became an ancestress of Christ.

Birds' Nests

 

"Temptations, of course, cannot be avoided.  But because we cannot keep birds from flying over our heads, there is no need that we should let them build a nest in our hair."  -- Martin Luther's Large Catechism,  "Explanation of the Sixth Petition" ("Lead us not into temptation.")

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)  

O God, Our Help in Ages Past*

 

1. O God, our help in ages past,
   Our hope for years to come,
   Our shelter from the stormy blast,
   And our eternal home.
2. Under the shadow of Thy throne
   Thy saints have dwelt secure;
   Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
   And our defense is sure.
3. Before the hills in order stood,
   Or earth received her frame,
   From everlasting Thou art God,
   To endless years the same.

   

   Colorado Rocky Mountains

4. Thy Word commands our flesh to dust,
   “Return, ye sons of men”:
   All nations rose from earth at first,
   And turn to earth again.
5. A thousand ages in Thy sight
   Are like an evening gone;
   Short as the watch that ends the night
   Before the rising sun.  

   

   Sierra Prieta Mountains, Arizona

6. The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
   With all their lives and cares,
   Are carried downwards by the flood,
   And lost in foll’wing years.
7. Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
   Bears all its sons away;
   They fly, forgotten, as a dream
   Dies at the op’ning day.
8. Like flow’ry fields the nations stand
   Pleased with the morning light;
   The flow’rs beneath the mower’s hand
   Lie with’ring ere ’tis night.
9. O God, our help in ages past,
   Our hope for years to come,
   Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
   And our eternal home.  --Isaac Watts, 1708 (pub. 1719)

*A hymnodic version of Psalm 90.  (This Psalm and hymn are often used in liturgical churches on New Year's Eve, due to the discussion of "time.")

Psalm 90: Original Translation

The Bright Morning Star

 This month, I'm making a departure to post something by David C. Brown, a "blog acquaintance" from the U.K.  He first posted it in July, 2016.  The link to his blog is below.

Thou art the Star of the morning;
Thou art the Bright Morning Star;*
Saints, in the midst of man's scorning
Welcome Thy light from afar:

Star of the morning,
O what a source of delight!
Soon Thou wilt have Thine assembly
Shining with heavenly light.  

Thou art the Star of the morning;
Thou art the Bright Morning Star;
Shining with heaven's adorning
Into the night where we are.
 
Star of the morning,
O what a source of delight!
Soon Thou wilt have Thine assembly
Shining with heavenly light. --David C. Brown, 2016

Sing it to  the hymn "Showers of Blessing"

*Christ as the Morning Star from the Book of Revelation.  (For more on this matter, see my posting, "Little Star, Might Star" from last month.)

The Bright Morning Star-- Grace Notes Blog

Signs of Change

 

In Romans 8:18-23, St. Paul wrote about how all creation was subjected to futility, to frustration, not because it did anything wrong, but because God decreed it.  (See Genesis chapter 3 where the very ground was cursed because of humanity's sin. Sinful humanity could not be allowed to live on in an otherwise perfect creation.)  Paul talks of creation groaning as if in labor pains, waiting to be set free.

Over the past 2 years, I have finally gotten my favorite flower, black-eyed Susans, to grow here, though outside of its range.  This year, however, one of the plants is putting out some freakish flowers with multi fused heads.  Below are photos of one with three fused heads developing.  

open with some "normal" heads

These links will provide you other black-eyed Susan photos and a poem I wrote about black-eyed Susans a couple years ago.  

Black-Eyed Susan (poem)

"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)