(An adaptation of the hymn "As With Gladness Men of Old")
As the Wise Men from of old
Did the guiding star* behold
As with joy they hailed its light,
Leading onward, beaming bright:
So, most gracious Lord, may we
Evermore be led to Thee.
As with joyful steps they sped
To Thy lowly cradle bed;
There to bend the knee before
Thee, Whom heaven and earth adore;
So may we with willing feet
Ever seek Thy mercy seat.
As they offered gifts most rare
At Thy cradle, rude and bare;
So may we with holy joy,
Pure and free from sin's alloy**,
All our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to Thee, our heavenly King.
Holy Jesus, every day
Keep us in the narrow way;
And, when earthly things are past,
Bring our ransomed souls at last
Where they need no star to guide,
Where no clouds Thy glory hide.
In the heavenly country bright,
Need they no created light:
Thou its light, its joy, its crown,
Thou its Sun*** which goes not down;
There forever may we sing
Alleluias to our King!
---William Chatterton Dix, 1860
*Numbers 24:17; it was prophesied that a Star would rise out of the Israelites, referring both to the actual star & to Messiah Jesus
**An alloy is something mixed in which diluted purity. Dix prays that we can offer our gifts to Christ with the greatest of purity, an admirable hope, but a condition we will not see perfectly in this lifetime.
***Messiah Jesus was to be the "Sun of Righteousness" who would rise "with healing in His wings." (Cf. the words of "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.)
Saturday, January 3, 2009
To Bethlehem With Gladness
Monday, December 29, 2008
Help of the Ages
An original translation from Psalm 90 for New Year's
(1) A Prayer of Moses, Man of God:
Lord (Adonai), You are a Safe-Haven;
YOU are ours from generation to generation.
(2) Before the mountains were given birth
Or You brought forth the earth and the world---
From everlasting to everlasting
You are God.
(3) You return humanity unto dust
When You say, "Return, sons of Adam [man]."
(4) For a thousand years in Your eyes
Are as a day just passed
Or as a watch served in the night.
(5) You flush them away in sleep
And they are in the morning
As new green grass passed away---
(6)In the morning,
It springs up as new grass;
In the evening,
it is withered and dried out.
(10a) The days which we are given--
In them is seventy years;
Or if there is strength,
Eighty years.
(12) Teach us our days thus to reckon
So that we may obtain a heart of wisdom.
Lord (Adonai), You are a Safe-Haven;
YOU are ours from generation to generation.
(2) Before the mountains were given birth
Or You brought forth the earth and the world---
From everlasting to everlasting
You are God.
(3) You return humanity unto dust
When You say, "Return, sons of Adam [man]."
(4) For a thousand years in Your eyes
Are as a day just passed
Or as a watch served in the night.
(5) You flush them away in sleep
And they are in the morning
As new green grass passed away---
(6)In the morning,
It springs up as new grass;
In the evening,
it is withered and dried out.
(10a) The days which we are given--
In them is seventy years;
Or if there is strength,
Eighty years.
(12) Teach us our days thus to reckon
So that we may obtain a heart of wisdom.
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Saturday, December 6, 2008
Once in Royal David's City
Once in royal David's city
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her Baby
In a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child.
He came down to earth from heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all;
And His shelter was a stable,
And His cradle was a stall.
With the poor, the scorned, the lowly,
Lived on earth our Savior holy.
And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own redeeming love;
For that Child who seemed so helpless
Is our Lord in heaven above;
And he leads His children
Onto the place where He is gone.
---Cecil Frances Alexander,1848
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her Baby
In a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child.
He came down to earth from heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all;
And His shelter was a stable,
And His cradle was a stall.
With the poor, the scorned, the lowly,
Lived on earth our Savior holy.
And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own redeeming love;
For that Child who seemed so helpless
Is our Lord in heaven above;
And he leads His children
Onto the place where He is gone.
---Cecil Frances Alexander,1848
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Friday, October 31, 2008
KEE L'Oh-LAHM CHas-DOE
As I went for a walk
On legs that are able,
I praise You,
For I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
I revel in leaves
And a family picnic table.
Your works are wonderful,
How rightly I realize this! (Ps. 139:14)
...His lovingkindness lasts to eternity.
High above arches the pale blue dome
On which billowy white clouds have been hung;
He causes the clouds to rise
From the ends of the earth...
I breath in autumn
With clear, healthy lungs.
And brings out the wind
From within His storehouses. (Ps. 135:7)
...His lovingkindness lasts to eternity.
Fuzzy brown squirrels
Are storing up food...
The eyes of all look unto You,
For You give them their food in the right season.
And I munch an apple~
Sensing all that is good.
You open up Your Hand
And satisfy the wants of all living things. (Ps. 145:15-16)
...His lovingkindness lasts to eternity.
My health is restored
As only He could;
Who forgives all my sins
And heals my diseases;
My strength is as birds' wings
Going south as they should.
He satisfies my desires with good things
So that my strength is renewed like the eagle's. (Ps. 103: 3, 5)
...His lovingkindness lasts to eternity.
Tiny purple asters and once-lush green grass
Now ready for fall are dying away.
Man ~ his days are as grass,
He flourishes as a flower of the field;
Autumn reminds me that I, too, shall die
To live again in a glorious new day.
The wind blows over it and it is not,
And its own place remembers it no more. (Ps. 103:15-16)
...His lovingkindness lasts to eternity.
The cold nips my nose
As I kick about leaves...
He spreads His snow as soft wool
And scatters the frost as if ashes;
Thinking about winter
With drifts to my knees.
He hurls down His ice like pebbles~
Who can stand before His cold? (Ps. 147:16-17)
...His lovingkindness lasts to eternity.
I trust in my Father
Who looks out for me;
Create in me a clean heart, O, God
And renew an upright spirit within me.
He takes away my sins,
And I'll praise Him eternally.
O, my Lord, open up my lips
So that my mouth might declare Your praise. (Ps. 51:10,15)
Deep inside, I let out a sigh,
For You, O, Jesus, are always close by.
Because I know You,
I sense You all around me
And on a day like today,
I'm just "happy to be."
Praise Yahweh!
Give thanks unto Yahweh,
For He is good;
For His lovingkindness
Lasts to eternity. (Ps. 136:1)
---(c) C. Marie Byars, 1984; Winfield, KS
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Monday, October 13, 2008
Farewell
[for the upcoming observances of "All Hallows' Eve" & All Saints' Day]
Tie the strings to my life, my Lord,
Then I am ready to go!
Just a look at the horses---
Rapid! That will do!
Put me in on the firmest side,
So I shall never fall;
For we must ride to the Judgment,
And it's partly down hill.
But never I mind the bridges,
And never I mind the sea;
Held fast in everlasting race*
By my own choice and thee.
Good-bye to the life I used to live,
and the world I used to know;
And kiss the hills for me, just once;
Now I am ready to go!
----Emily Dickinson
*It's really God who chooses us. (John 15:16)
Tie the strings to my life, my Lord,
Then I am ready to go!
Just a look at the horses---
Rapid! That will do!
Put me in on the firmest side,
So I shall never fall;
For we must ride to the Judgment,
And it's partly down hill.
But never I mind the bridges,
And never I mind the sea;
Held fast in everlasting race*
By my own choice and thee.
Good-bye to the life I used to live,
and the world I used to know;
And kiss the hills for me, just once;
Now I am ready to go!
----Emily Dickinson
*It's really God who chooses us. (John 15:16)
Labels:
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Sunday, August 24, 2008
Vivaldi's Autumn
[This is the "Autumn" sonnet that Antonio Vivaldi wrote to accompany the "Autumn" Concerto of his "Four Seasons" Cycle. The other three seasons are in earlier posts.]
ALLEGRO
The countryman celebrates with dance and song
The sweet pleasure of a good harvest,
[The "drunkard"; LENTO]
And many, fired by the liquor of Bacchus,
[Allegro assai; adagio molto]
End their enjoyment by falling asleep.
Everyone is made to abandon singing and dancing
By the temperate air, which gives pleasure,
And by the season, which invites so many
To enjoy the sweetness of sleep.
ALLEGRO
The huntsmen come out at the crack of dawn
[The fleeing prey; LEGATO]
With their horns, guns and hounds;
The quarry flees and they track it:
Already terrified and tired out by the great noise
Of the guns and hounds, the wounded beast
Makes a feeble effort to flee but dies in agony.
----Antonio Vivaldi
ALLEGRO
The countryman celebrates with dance and song
The sweet pleasure of a good harvest,
[The "drunkard"; LENTO]
And many, fired by the liquor of Bacchus,
[Allegro assai; adagio molto]
End their enjoyment by falling asleep.
Everyone is made to abandon singing and dancing
By the temperate air, which gives pleasure,
And by the season, which invites so many
To enjoy the sweetness of sleep.
ALLEGRO
The huntsmen come out at the crack of dawn
[The fleeing prey; LEGATO]
With their horns, guns and hounds;
The quarry flees and they track it:
Already terrified and tired out by the great noise
Of the guns and hounds, the wounded beast
Makes a feeble effort to flee but dies in agony.
----Antonio Vivaldi
Saturday, August 16, 2008
The Call of the Desert
Ah. . .
I can laugh,
And my echo laughs back with me.
I can run,
And only the wind runs with me.
I can leap,
And I can land gracefully.
I see beauty:
A beauty I always see.
I am alone,
For I came to be free.
The earth speaks,
And I hear, for it's a part of me.
Who am I
That God should open my eyes to see
The deep beauty
Of what imperfect earth can be?
The thorns poke,
But even they cannot stop me;
For I laugh,
And You, O, LORD, laugh back with me.
---C. Marie Byars, 1985; New Mexico
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