Source (book): "Teach Us to Number Our Days"
By David Roper, Pastor, and regular and popular writer for Our Daily Bread.
PHOTO: Whether you are a Baby Boomer or beyond, God can redeem your past and give you a purposeful future.
Fifty is the new forty! Sixty is the new fifty! People are living longer and healthier lives - and in the process, many strive desperately to stave off "middle age" let alone "maturity" or "old age." And yet the truth is that we are all getting older.
In Teach Us to Number Our Days, David Roper writes with understanding about the challenges of middle age and beyond, showing how God wastes nothing in our lives, not even our sins. He assures us that as we "come of age", we are not winding down, but taking the next sure step into a full and useful life. As we do, we can become ever more useful to God and to others.
"So enjoy!" he says. "Enjoy your journey to maturity as you gain perspective on the past and hope for the future. Make the most of every moment in life."
David Roper served as a pastor for many years. Now, he and his wife, Carolyn, offer encouragement and counsel to pastoral couples through Idaho Mountain Ministries. David is the author of thirteen books, including Every Day Is a New Shade of Blue, A Burden Shared, and Seeing God, and is a regular and popular writer for Our Daily Bread.
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)
Picture posted by Carousell
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From "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Copyright © 2008 by David Roper, ISBN 978-981-11-7184-0, "Introduction: Books, Note Cards, Memos, Shreds and Shards", Page 9-11.
Introduction: Books, Note Cards, Memos, Shreds and Shards
Books, note cards, memos, shreds and shards of some fresh excavated pile or file; an hour on this, an hour on that - T. M. Moore
Some years ago I came across William Penn's classic work, Some Fruits of Retirement. He wrote in his introduction: "He [Penn] has now had some Time he could call his own; a Property he was never so much Master of before." Having retired from public life, Penn now had more time to report his thoughts on his final years.
Although I'm not retired, my schedule is relaxed these days, and I have more time to call my own - time for reading, reflection, and prayer. These essays are, in part, the fruit of that "retirement."
This collection is eclectic (broad) in nature, based on things I've seen, experienced, read, or thought about in recent years. They're made up of "memos, shreds and shards" drawn from my journals, letters, e-mails, and a host of jottings that I've sent out to a few friends from time to time.
I write from the perspective of an older person, having crossed the biblical boundary of "three-score and ten years" (seventy) five years ago. Through more or less "hale and hearty" (healthy), as they say of old timers, I know I'm living on borrowed time. With English poet William Cowper, I want to "close life wisely and not waste my own." I suppose that's why I now feel compelled to pass on these scraps of writing, accompanied by Israel's old-timer's prayer: "Do not forsake me, O God, when I'm old and gray, until I declare your power to the next generation, your might to those who are to come." (Psalm 71:18) [401]
Yet this is not a book about aging, per se, though I do cover many of the concerns that inhere (exist essentially in) as we grow older. More than anything else, it's about my own journey toward maturity. In that sense, though in my dotage (declining years), I'm still "coming of age."
As I read through these chapters again, in preparation for writing this introduction, it also occurred to me that almost all of them have something to do with the goodness of God. That's to be expected, I suppose, for through the years I truly have "tasted the kindness of the Lord." (1 Peter 2:3 NASB) [402]
Our culture is constantly telling us, in one way or another, that youth is the time of "wine and roses," but I must disagree. Despite the troubles of old age, and they are many, I must say, like the wedding guests at Cana (The gospel account of Jesus using his divine power to turn water into wine, at the marriage in Cana), that my Lord has saved the best wine for the last. He has touched these final years of my life with delightful sweetness, fragrance, and bouquet. A Robert Browning writes, "Let me attest (serve as clear evidence) . . . I have lived, seen God's hand through a lifetime, and all was for the best!"
David Roper
Boise, Idaho
Hopefully some of the information, reflection and discussion obtained from the internet and the book by David Roper, "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Chapter 1 - 40 can be useful. Some of them are listed in the following.
Fifty is the new forty! Sixty is the new fifty! People are living longer and healthier lives - and in the process, many strive desperately to stave off "middle age" let alone "maturity" or "old age." And yet the truth is that we are all getting older.
In Teach Us to Number Our Days, David Roper writes with understanding about the challenges of middle age and beyond, showing how God wastes nothing in our lives, not even our sins. He assures us that as we "come of age", we are not winding down, but taking the next sure step into a full and useful life. As we do, we can become ever more useful to God and to others.
"So enjoy!" he says. "Enjoy your journey to maturity as you gain perspective on the past and hope for the future. Make the most of every moment in life."
David Roper served as a pastor for many years. Now, he and his wife, Carolyn, offer encouragement and counsel to pastoral couples through Idaho Mountain Ministries. David is the author of thirteen books, including Every Day Is a New Shade of Blue, A Burden Shared, and Seeing God, and is a regular and popular writer for Our Daily Bread.
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)
Picture posted by Carousell
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNOkdenpq69kPGFa3h2V0qx3zUSbTmqXNEyW5vvMs1b3tkE1jdNzkTGzuK2kHTZNKfu_WZXS5XuPL7qAXqBt-vGJxN0JBEGe4L-szYOK7pa0cjg-L8SarfhyphenhyphenK6-MbSv_uz1D2_VIVV2HY/s795/1594903214_882cea21_progressive_11.png
https://media.karousell.com/media/photos/products/2020/7/16/teach_us_to_number_our_days_da_1594903214_882cea21_progressive.jpg
https://www.carousell.sg/p/teach-us-to-number-our-days-david-roper-1021210485/
From "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Copyright © 2008 by David Roper, ISBN 978-981-11-7184-0, "Introduction: Books, Note Cards, Memos, Shreds and Shards", Page 9-11.
Introduction: Books, Note Cards, Memos, Shreds and Shards
Books, note cards, memos, shreds and shards of some fresh excavated pile or file; an hour on this, an hour on that - T. M. Moore
Some years ago I came across William Penn's classic work, Some Fruits of Retirement. He wrote in his introduction: "He [Penn] has now had some Time he could call his own; a Property he was never so much Master of before." Having retired from public life, Penn now had more time to report his thoughts on his final years.
Although I'm not retired, my schedule is relaxed these days, and I have more time to call my own - time for reading, reflection, and prayer. These essays are, in part, the fruit of that "retirement."
This collection is eclectic (broad) in nature, based on things I've seen, experienced, read, or thought about in recent years. They're made up of "memos, shreds and shards" drawn from my journals, letters, e-mails, and a host of jottings that I've sent out to a few friends from time to time.
I write from the perspective of an older person, having crossed the biblical boundary of "three-score and ten years" (seventy) five years ago. Through more or less "hale and hearty" (healthy), as they say of old timers, I know I'm living on borrowed time. With English poet William Cowper, I want to "close life wisely and not waste my own." I suppose that's why I now feel compelled to pass on these scraps of writing, accompanied by Israel's old-timer's prayer: "Do not forsake me, O God, when I'm old and gray, until I declare your power to the next generation, your might to those who are to come." (Psalm 71:18) [401]
Yet this is not a book about aging, per se, though I do cover many of the concerns that inhere (exist essentially in) as we grow older. More than anything else, it's about my own journey toward maturity. In that sense, though in my dotage (declining years), I'm still "coming of age."
As I read through these chapters again, in preparation for writing this introduction, it also occurred to me that almost all of them have something to do with the goodness of God. That's to be expected, I suppose, for through the years I truly have "tasted the kindness of the Lord." (1 Peter 2:3 NASB) [402]
Our culture is constantly telling us, in one way or another, that youth is the time of "wine and roses," but I must disagree. Despite the troubles of old age, and they are many, I must say, like the wedding guests at Cana (The gospel account of Jesus using his divine power to turn water into wine, at the marriage in Cana), that my Lord has saved the best wine for the last. He has touched these final years of my life with delightful sweetness, fragrance, and bouquet. A Robert Browning writes, "Let me attest (serve as clear evidence) . . . I have lived, seen God's hand through a lifetime, and all was for the best!"
David Roper
Boise, Idaho
Hopefully some of the information, reflection and discussion obtained from the internet and the book by David Roper, "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Chapter 1 - 40 can be useful. Some of them are listed in the following.
Chapter 1 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Forgetfulness, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-forgetfulness.html [1]
Chapter 2 - Reflection - Number Our Days - How Does Your Garden Grow?, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-how-does.html [2]
Chapter 3 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Mixed Up in My Head, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-mixed-up-in.html [3]
Chapter 4 - Reflection - Number Our Days - My Staff, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-my-staff.html [4]
Chapter 5 - Reflection - Number Our Days - It's About Time, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-its-about.html [5]
Chapter 6 - Reflection - Number Our Days - No Need for Regret, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-no-need-for.html [6]
Chapter 7 - Reflection - Number Our Days - In This Place, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-in-this-place.html [7]
Chapter 8 - Reflection - Number Our Days - A Little Bird Told Me, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-little-bird.html [8]
Chapter 9 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Bird Song, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-bird-song.html [9]
Chapter 10 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Counting the Days, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-counting-days.html [10]
Chapter 11 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Sauntering, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-sauntering.html [11]
Chapter 12 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Dangerous Crossings, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-dangerous.html [12]
Chapter 13 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Deformed, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/07/reflection-number-our-days-deformed.html [13]
Chapter 14 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Dressed for Success, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/07/reflection-number-our-days-dressed-for.html [14]
Chapter 15 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Is This All the Thanks I Get?, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/07/reflection-number-our-days-is-this-all.html [15]
Chapter 16 - Reflection - Number Our Days - "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory", https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/07/reflection-number-our-days-mine-eyes.html [16]
Chapter 17 - Reflection - Number Our Days - The Grander Curves of Character, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/07/reflection-number-our-days-grander.html [17]
Chapter 18 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Going and Not Knowing,
Chapter 19 - Reflection - Number Our Days - From the Ground Up, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/08/reflection-number-our-days-from-ground.html [19]
Chapter 20 - Reflection - Number Our Days - The Hand on the Helve,
Chapter 21 - Reflection - Number Our Days - What I Make of It,
Chapter 22 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Handicapped,
Chapter 23 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Paying Attention,
Chapter 24 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Habitual Tenderness,
Chapter 25 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Weariness,
Chapter 26 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Stuff,
Chapter 27 - Reflection - Number Our Days - A River Runs through Us,
Chapter 28 - Reflection - Number Our Days - The Sound of Silence,
Chapter 29 - Reflection - Number Our Days - The Good, the Better, the Best, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/09/reflection-number-our-days-good-better.html [29]
Chapter 30 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Fresh Starts,
Chapter 31 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Rat!,
Chapter 32 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Things I Do Not Know,
Chapter 33 - Reflection - Number Our Days - The Hill Difficulty,
Chapter 34 - Reflection - Number Our Days - A Ruin! A Ruin! A Ruin!,
Chapter 35 - Reflection - Number Our Days - The Discipline of Distress,
Chapter 36 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Nothing to Lose,
Chapter 37 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Seize the Day!,
Chapter 38 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Sing a Song,
Chapter 39 - Reflection - Number Our Days - A Painful Grace,
Chapter 40 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Pressing On,
Chapter 1 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Forgetfulness, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-forgetfulness.html [1]
PHOTO: If, on
leaving the company, a young man cannot remember where he has left his
hat, it is nothing. But when an old man forgets, everyone says, "Ah his memory is going." - Dr. Samuel Johnson
Lately I find myself forgetting ordinary things on a regular basis. My misfortune manifests itself in a fading recollection of where I left my car keys, my reading glasses, my sunglasses, my hat.
I even forget my best thoughts, which seen to come and go at random; I have little control over them these days. Plato said our minds are like aviaries and our thoughts are like birds. It's an apt metaphor for me. I reach for one thought and frighten it away, then grasp at another that quickly flits away from my mind - unless I write it down.
There are other things I've forgotten, but right now I can't remember what they are.
There's an upside to forgetting, however. There are things I want to forget, not the least of which are the things in the past that I could have, should have, done. John Greenleaf Whittier said, "Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'I might have been.'" Indeed.
I think of relationships I might have nurtured, projects I should have finished, decisions that were better unmade. And certainly my past behavior has been regrettable. An old acquaintance recently characterized me as "a mean kid" in my youth. It saddens me to think that he remembers me that way. I think of all the things I've "done, and been; the shame / Of motives late revealed, and the awareness / Of things ill done and done to others' harm." I wish I could forget them.
Further, I want to forget the wrongs I've received in my lifetime. It's easy to brood over them and become bitter and resentful, like Charles Dickens's sad, eccentric Miss Havisham, who was jilted at the altar and stopped all the clocks in her house at the hour of her disappointment. Her bitterness was frozen in time. I don't want mine to be.
All of us, I'm sure, have been wronged in some way or another at various times; friends and enemies have dishonored and grieved us. We cling to bitterness over our childhood and remember old wounds from a parent's hand.
Some rise above it and leave it behind. I once asked a cruelly abused friend how he dealt with his grievances. "I've got a good forgetter," he replied. I wish I could get one too.
All of which encourages me to recall the patriarch Joseph. He, too, had much to forget. He was "a mean kid" too, flaunting his most-favored status, wearing it on his sleeve, so to speak.
Lately I find myself forgetting ordinary things on a regular basis. My misfortune manifests itself in a fading recollection of where I left my car keys, my reading glasses, my sunglasses, my hat.
I even forget my best thoughts, which seen to come and go at random; I have little control over them these days. Plato said our minds are like aviaries and our thoughts are like birds. It's an apt metaphor for me. I reach for one thought and frighten it away, then grasp at another that quickly flits away from my mind - unless I write it down.
There are other things I've forgotten, but right now I can't remember what they are.
There's an upside to forgetting, however. There are things I want to forget, not the least of which are the things in the past that I could have, should have, done. John Greenleaf Whittier said, "Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'I might have been.'" Indeed.
I think of relationships I might have nurtured, projects I should have finished, decisions that were better unmade. And certainly my past behavior has been regrettable. An old acquaintance recently characterized me as "a mean kid" in my youth. It saddens me to think that he remembers me that way. I think of all the things I've "done, and been; the shame / Of motives late revealed, and the awareness / Of things ill done and done to others' harm." I wish I could forget them.
Further, I want to forget the wrongs I've received in my lifetime. It's easy to brood over them and become bitter and resentful, like Charles Dickens's sad, eccentric Miss Havisham, who was jilted at the altar and stopped all the clocks in her house at the hour of her disappointment. Her bitterness was frozen in time. I don't want mine to be.
All of us, I'm sure, have been wronged in some way or another at various times; friends and enemies have dishonored and grieved us. We cling to bitterness over our childhood and remember old wounds from a parent's hand.
Some rise above it and leave it behind. I once asked a cruelly abused friend how he dealt with his grievances. "I've got a good forgetter," he replied. I wish I could get one too.
All of which encourages me to recall the patriarch Joseph. He, too, had much to forget. He was "a mean kid" too, flaunting his most-favored status, wearing it on his sleeve, so to speak.
Joseph further alienated himself from his family by endlessly relating his dreams - dreams that were true, as it turned out, but which, when repeated over and over, augmented the resentment of his brothers. They "hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said." (Genesis 37:8) Israel's wise men would have called him a peti - a young fool.
In his youth, a series of calamitous events cascaded down on Joseph's head, like bricks tumbling out of a dump truck, one after another. He was snatched from his dotting father by his brothers, cast into a pit, and passed on to a band of Bedouins who in turn sold him into slavery in Egypt.
In Egypt his life continued to be a series of tragic indignities. He was tempted by a determined seductress who, when spurned, accused him of raping her. He was summarily tried, convicted, imprisoned, and left to languish in isolation for a dozen years or more, forgotten by family and friends.
Yet in the end Joseph's bitterness was transformed into forgiveness and love. He named his firstborn son Manasseh (Hebrew for "caused to forget") for, he said, "God has made me forget all my trouble." (Genesis 41:51)
How did God cause him to forget? Did he work some magic on Joseph that erased his memory?
No, God taught him to look at his past in a redemptive way: Joseph came to see that God's ways were "perfect." (Psalm 18:30)
Two texts underscore that perception: "You sold me," Joseph said to his brothers, "but God sent me here to preserve life." And again, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis 45:5; 50:20)
Two texts underscore that perception: "You sold me," Joseph said to his brothers, "but God sent me here to preserve life." And again, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis 45:5; 50:20)
Joseph remembered well what his brothers had done: they had sold him into slavery. That
injustice and cruelty he could never forget. But behind the bitter
experiences of the past he saw the providence of God. This is the
mystery of sovereignty: God works through evil to accomplish His will. "He permits evil," Augustine of Hippo said, "to transform it into good."
The past cannot be changed, but it can be redeemed. It cannot be forgotten per se (for some things will never be forgotten), but it can be swallowed up in God's sovereign purposes and left behind.
The past cannot be changed, but it can be redeemed. It cannot be forgotten per se (for some things will never be forgotten), but it can be swallowed up in God's sovereign purposes and left behind.
How can we forget the bitterness of our past?
By
seeing God's providence in every event of our lives, even in our
mistakes and in other's malice. The God of love and wisdom has taken the
worst that we have done and is turning it into eternal good. We may not
see or know that good until we step into eternity itself, but it is
certain - as certain as the lovingkindness of God.
Photo by Iuliia Malivanchuk - on top of a mountainPicture posted by Depositphotos
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https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-forgetfulness.html
PHOTO: I think of all the things I've "done, and been; the shame / Of motives late revealed, and the awareness / Of things ill done and done to others' harm." I wish I could forget them.Further, I want to forget the wrongs I've received in my lifetime. It's easy to brood over them and become bitter and resentful. I don't want mine to be frozen in time.
Picture posted by 123RF
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https://it.123rf.com/photo_58134547_rapeseed-field-with-yellow-flowers-naked-red-haired-girl-standing-with-her-back.html
PHOTO: "Dear Lord, we learn that You permits evil to transform it into good.
Teach us to look at our past in a redemptive way. Injustice and cruelty could never be forgotten. But behind the bitter experiences of the past help us to see Your providence. This is the mystery of Your sovereignty: You work through evil to accomplish Your will.
We pray for Your help to forget the bitterness of our past by seeing Your providence in every event of our lives, even in our mistakes and in other's malice. Help us not to let our bitterness get frozen in time. We pray we can forget them.
Your love and wisdom have taken the worst that we have done and is turning it into eternal good. We may not see or know that good until we step into eternity itself, but it is certain - as certain as Your lovingkindness.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Nhà Hàng Già Bản on 04 August 2020
https://scontent.fsin9-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/116430745_1369041899964052_7138466298836565980_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=AbZvDEr1AMgAX8aVdXP&_nc_ht=scontent.fsin9-2.fna&oh=64a5cff153d38fffbf09f7715db9bb6a&oe=60B7C2D6Teach us to look at our past in a redemptive way. Injustice and cruelty could never be forgotten. But behind the bitter experiences of the past help us to see Your providence. This is the mystery of Your sovereignty: You work through evil to accomplish Your will.
We pray for Your help to forget the bitterness of our past by seeing Your providence in every event of our lives, even in our mistakes and in other's malice. Help us not to let our bitterness get frozen in time. We pray we can forget them.
Your love and wisdom have taken the worst that we have done and is turning it into eternal good. We may not see or know that good until we step into eternity itself, but it is certain - as certain as Your lovingkindness.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Nhà Hàng Già Bản on 04 August 2020
https://www.facebook.com/nhahanggiabansapa/photos/pcb.1369044106630498/1369041896630719
Chapter 2 - Reflection - Number Our Days - How Does Your Garden Grow?, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-how-does.html [2]
PHOTO: All Beauty Speaks of Thee. - Edward Grubb
I received a letter from an old friend some months ago in which she wrote of her daughter and some things they share in common:
Both of us are loners, enjoying the quiet, thoughtful places in our days . . . both of us [enjoy] devouring words and color, deep friendships, worshiping our Lord, appreciating His gifts . . . and we both like children's stories and outrageous laughter. Her garden is her delight, and it speaks of every part of her character. The first time she really sensed God's presence, many years ago, was in her garden. A memorable time!
As for me, I never cared for gardening when I was younger; it looked too much like work, and I already had too much work to do. Lately, however, I've taken to gardening, though the joke around our place is that flowers come to our house to die. I'm an old man but a very young gardener.
I must say, however, despite my inexperience and ineptitude (lack of skill or ability), that gardening has become my delight. I too sense God's presence in my garden in ways I cannot explain. "To me the meanest flower that blows can give thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." Why this sentiment? What is this beauty I see?
Why this sentiment? What is this beauty I see?
"Beautiful things are those which please when seen," Thomas Aquinas said, but his answer has never quite satisfied me. It merely evokes another question: why are some things pleasing when seen? Explanations elude me. Beauty is intuitive, instinctive, I think. but inexplicable (unexplainable). I don't know what beauty is, but I know it when I see it, and I think you do too.
Beauty, however, as pleasing as it is, does not exist for itself. In fact, beauty for the sake of beauty diminishes beauty, as art for the sake of art diminishes art. We've all had the experience of seeing or possessing something exquisitely beautiful and finding sooner or later that it has lost its appeal. We no longer see it as a beautiful thing. Indeed, we no longer see it at all.
No, beauty looks beyond itself. It points to something richer and better; it "leads and lends to further sweetness, / Fuller, higher, deeper than its own."
Philosopher
and poet Samuel Coleridge made the same point in an essay in which he
recalled the reaction of two tourists admiring a waterfall. One thought
it was "pretty"; the other considered it "sublime (awesome)" - so awe-inspiringly beautiful that it evoked reverence. Coleridge thought the latter sentiment preferable. When one sees authentic beauty, the only appropriate response is to kneel.
Lately, however, my eyes have been opened to a deeper beauty than I see in my garden. It's the loveliness of old friends whose goodness can only be described as beautiful. Where goodness flourishes so does beauty, and there's nothing quite so lovely as one whom God has made strong, radiant, and beautiful. Folks like that make me long for the goodness that can produce such loveliness and for the One who is its source. It tells me how beautiful He must be who first thought of beauty and by His word brought it into being.
Early Greek writers understood this correlation between goodness and beauty and coined a word for it: kalokagathon, a contraction of three words - kalos (beautiful), kai (and) and agathon (good). Kalolagathon doesn't appear in the New Testament, but was often used by early Christian writers. Ignatius of Antioch, a first-century believer, wrote,
None of these things escapes your notice, if you are maturing in faith and love towards Jesus Christ. For these are the beginning and end of life: faith is the beginning, and love is the end, and the two, when they exist in unity, are Godlike. Everything else that contributes to moral beauty (kalokagathian) follows from them.
This notion of goodness as moral beauty intrigues (fascinates) me as I age, for mortal beauty is like a flower that, for all its loveliness, soon withers away. We've amazed, as we look in the mirror, how rapidly whatever portion of "good looks" we once enjoyed has faded away. The beauty of holiness, on the other hand, is "unfading." (1 Peter 3:4)
How can we have this amaranthine (everlasting) beauty?
"Faith is the beginning," Ignatius said. Goodness and saintly character is the work of God, the product of humble dependence on Him. We must ask for it every day.
"The Lord takes pleasure in His people," Israel's psalmist said, "He will beautify the humble." (Psalm 149:4)
Picture posted by Jodi Sky Rogers
Lately, however, my eyes have been opened to a deeper beauty than I see in my garden. It's the loveliness of old friends whose goodness can only be described as beautiful. Where goodness flourishes so does beauty, and there's nothing quite so lovely as one whom God has made strong, radiant, and beautiful. Folks like that make me long for the goodness that can produce such loveliness and for the One who is its source. It tells me how beautiful He must be who first thought of beauty and by His word brought it into being.
Early Greek writers understood this correlation between goodness and beauty and coined a word for it: kalokagathon, a contraction of three words - kalos (beautiful), kai (and) and agathon (good). Kalolagathon doesn't appear in the New Testament, but was often used by early Christian writers. Ignatius of Antioch, a first-century believer, wrote,
None of these things escapes your notice, if you are maturing in faith and love towards Jesus Christ. For these are the beginning and end of life: faith is the beginning, and love is the end, and the two, when they exist in unity, are Godlike. Everything else that contributes to moral beauty (kalokagathian) follows from them.
This notion of goodness as moral beauty intrigues (fascinates) me as I age, for mortal beauty is like a flower that, for all its loveliness, soon withers away. We've amazed, as we look in the mirror, how rapidly whatever portion of "good looks" we once enjoyed has faded away. The beauty of holiness, on the other hand, is "unfading." (1 Peter 3:4)
How can we have this amaranthine (everlasting) beauty?
"Faith is the beginning," Ignatius said. Goodness and saintly character is the work of God, the product of humble dependence on Him. We must ask for it every day.
"The Lord takes pleasure in His people," Israel's psalmist said, "He will beautify the humble." (Psalm 149:4)
Picture posted by Jodi Sky Rogers
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwrhz8UsYrmFcqce3BusICokfvOLos8X7s6izW7_q053QjpGRVJxxb4U_xmXpUbvU-nrjzV6ygNVCBeBoygMbUM2JZUhjmSFD-T0jNK_-6SzQHoX830KbWcLZQgmcA8q24YnPm-GvY2kI/s2048/adobestock_44062182.jpeg
https://jodiskyrogersdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/adobestock_44062182.jpeg
https://jodiskyrogers.com/2019/05/16/horticulture-therapy-a-gentle-healing-path-through-subfertility-and-loss/
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/03/20-year-battle-with-alcohol-addiction.html
https://jodiskyrogersdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/adobestock_44062182.jpeg
https://jodiskyrogers.com/2019/05/16/horticulture-therapy-a-gentle-healing-path-through-subfertility-and-loss/
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/03/20-year-battle-with-alcohol-addiction.html
PHOTO: Beauty looks beyond itself. It points to something richer and better; it "leads and lends to further sweetness, / Fuller, higher, deeper than its own."Picture saved by Craig Tucker to Girls
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https://www.pinterest.com/pin/710231803721962498/
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn that we can sense God's presence in our garden in ways
we cannot explain. And ‘the meanest flower that blows can give thoughts
that do often lie too deep for tears.’Lord, we ask ourselves what is this beauty we see, and learn that beautiful things are those which please when seen. But this does not explain why some things are pleasing when seen. Beauty is intuitive, instinctive, but inexplicable. We don't know what beauty is, but we know it when we see it.
Lord, we learn too, beauty however pleasing, does not exist for itself. We've all had the experience of seeing or possessing something exquisitely beautiful and finding sooner or later that it has lost its appeal. We no longer see it as a beautiful thing. Indeed, we no longer see it at all.
We learn that beauty looks beyond itself. It points to something richer and better; it ‘leads and lends to further sweetness, / Fuller, higher, deeper than its own.’ When something is so awe-inspiringly beautiful, it evoked reverence. When one sees authentic beauty, the only appropriate response is to kneel.
There is the loveliness of old friends whose goodness can only be described as beautiful. Where goodness flourishes so does beauty, and there's nothing quite so lovely as one whom God has made strong, radiant, and beautiful. People like that make us long for the goodness that can produce such loveliness and for the One who is its source. It tells us how beautiful He must be who first thought of beauty and by His word brought it into being.
We learn that none of these things escapes our notice, if we are maturing in faith and love towards Jesus Christ. For these are the beginning and end of life: faith is the beginning, and love is the end, and the two, when they exist in unity, are Godlike. Everything else that contributes to moral beauty (kalokagathian) follows from them.
Moral beauty intrigues us. Although mortal beauty is like a flower that, for all its loveliness, soon withers away. The beauty of holiness, on the other hand, is ‘unfading.’
We pray for this amaranthine beauty. Help us to start by having faith in You. We ask for our humble dependence on You, as You produce goodness and saintly character in us. May the Lord take pleasure in us, His people. And beautify us, the humble.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Deepak Jain, Artstation
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Chapter 3 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Mixed Up in My Head, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-mixed-up-in.html [3]
PHOTO: Just a line to say I'm living,
That I'm not among the dead,
Though I'm getting more forgetful
And mixed up in my head.
I got used to my arthritis
To my dentures I'm resigned.
I can manage my bifocals (lens),
But my, I miss my mind!
- Author Unknown
One of the hard facts of aging is the loss of mental acuity (sharpness): I find now that my arguments are less compelling, my thoughts are less cogent (convincing), my memory is less clear. Little by little I'm losing my wits - a thought that disconcerts (embarrass) me, for as my physical abilities decline, all that remains is my mind.
I find encouragement, however, in the realization that the loss of my mental faculties, like everything else that I'm losing, can lead me to more of God, an idea George MacDonald elaborates in his Diary of an Old Soul:
Well may this body poorer, feebler grow!
It is undressing for its last sweet bed;
But why should the soul, which death shall never know,
Authority, and power, and memory shed?
It is so that love with absolute faith would wed;
God takes the inmost garments off his child,
To have him in his arms, naked and undefiled.
As we take leave of our senses we're left with God alone - which, after all, is His final intention for you and for me. His eternal aim is to bring us to the place where all that we have and all that we desire is God. There, and only there, will we find the satisfaction we've been seeking all our lives. As friend of mine once put it: "I had no idea what I was missing until all I had left was God."
There's another truth that fills what's left of my mind with joy and thanksgiving, and it's the realization that the deepest knowledge of God is not the fruit of intelligence, but of obedience. Deep wisdom is the outgrowth of compliance: Those who "perfect holiness in the fear of God" have a degree of clarity and understanding that others do not have. John Calvin is often cited in this regard: "All knowledge of God is born of obedience."
In this world we know and then we do. But God turns our theory of knowledge upside down. In His world we do and then we know. Every act of obedience quickens our sensitivity to God. It awakens our sense of His presence and deepens our capacity to comprehend the truth He has given us to know. Even the desire to obey opens our eyes to see more of God than we could otherwise see. "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority," Jesus said. (John 7:17 NKJV)
The corollary (consequence) to this principle is that those who are unwilling to do God's will have no knowledge of His ways. Blindness, error, and ignorance follow them throughout their lives. Ignorance and heresy, thus, are not a matter of the intellect, but of the heart. "They [the unbelieving] are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts." (Ephesians 4:18)
Bad behavior blinds men and women to the truth so that they "believe the lie." (2 Thessalonians 2:11) They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. They are deluded because they have "delighted in wickedness." (2 Thessalonians 2:12) Heresy, then, is not a matter of confusion, but of morality. Heretics, Paul notes, are not merely self-deceived; they are "depraved." (2 Timothy 3:8)
C. S. Lewis states the principle this way: "what you see and what you hear depends a good deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are." (Matthew 5:8)
Put another way, it's the pure in heart who see God.
The soul's dark cottage, batter'd and decay'd,
Lets in new light through chinks that Time has made;
Stronger by weakness, wiser, men become
As they draw near their eternal home.
- Edmund Waller (1606-1687)
Image by Pete Linforth on Pixabay
Picture posted by P.G. Barnett on 13 May 2020
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbR05Fhf2rbUqIefYaBhpktqdFvFTmpAl2lOSRZmfN3OM1TEbrSN5jst_5P12jLWGF7C1DAeMxRpdBbDEBh_6LebeG-tewyxKbD-mpgcDp8eX4VmRbgd3x13Bngg96UcUIHMPri_1rA3k/s1920/1+4MrMjuDEUwjM0LWgu0jh_g_1.png
https://miro.medium.com/max/1920/1*4MrMjuDEUwjM0LWgu0jh_g.jpeg
https://medium.com/dark-sides-of-the-truth/teach-me-how-to-live-a258f96631f9
That I'm not among the dead,
Though I'm getting more forgetful
And mixed up in my head.
I got used to my arthritis
To my dentures I'm resigned.
I can manage my bifocals (lens),
But my, I miss my mind!
- Author Unknown
One of the hard facts of aging is the loss of mental acuity (sharpness): I find now that my arguments are less compelling, my thoughts are less cogent (convincing), my memory is less clear. Little by little I'm losing my wits - a thought that disconcerts (embarrass) me, for as my physical abilities decline, all that remains is my mind.
I find encouragement, however, in the realization that the loss of my mental faculties, like everything else that I'm losing, can lead me to more of God, an idea George MacDonald elaborates in his Diary of an Old Soul:
Well may this body poorer, feebler grow!
It is undressing for its last sweet bed;
But why should the soul, which death shall never know,
Authority, and power, and memory shed?
It is so that love with absolute faith would wed;
God takes the inmost garments off his child,
To have him in his arms, naked and undefiled.
As we take leave of our senses we're left with God alone - which, after all, is His final intention for you and for me. His eternal aim is to bring us to the place where all that we have and all that we desire is God. There, and only there, will we find the satisfaction we've been seeking all our lives. As friend of mine once put it: "I had no idea what I was missing until all I had left was God."
There's another truth that fills what's left of my mind with joy and thanksgiving, and it's the realization that the deepest knowledge of God is not the fruit of intelligence, but of obedience. Deep wisdom is the outgrowth of compliance: Those who "perfect holiness in the fear of God" have a degree of clarity and understanding that others do not have. John Calvin is often cited in this regard: "All knowledge of God is born of obedience."
In this world we know and then we do. But God turns our theory of knowledge upside down. In His world we do and then we know. Every act of obedience quickens our sensitivity to God. It awakens our sense of His presence and deepens our capacity to comprehend the truth He has given us to know. Even the desire to obey opens our eyes to see more of God than we could otherwise see. "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority," Jesus said. (John 7:17 NKJV)
The corollary (consequence) to this principle is that those who are unwilling to do God's will have no knowledge of His ways. Blindness, error, and ignorance follow them throughout their lives. Ignorance and heresy, thus, are not a matter of the intellect, but of the heart. "They [the unbelieving] are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts." (Ephesians 4:18)
Bad behavior blinds men and women to the truth so that they "believe the lie." (2 Thessalonians 2:11) They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. They are deluded because they have "delighted in wickedness." (2 Thessalonians 2:12) Heresy, then, is not a matter of confusion, but of morality. Heretics, Paul notes, are not merely self-deceived; they are "depraved." (2 Timothy 3:8)
C. S. Lewis states the principle this way: "what you see and what you hear depends a good deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are." (Matthew 5:8)
Put another way, it's the pure in heart who see God.
The soul's dark cottage, batter'd and decay'd,
Lets in new light through chinks that Time has made;
Stronger by weakness, wiser, men become
As they draw near their eternal home.
- Edmund Waller (1606-1687)
Image by Pete Linforth on Pixabay
Picture posted by P.G. Barnett on 13 May 2020
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbR05Fhf2rbUqIefYaBhpktqdFvFTmpAl2lOSRZmfN3OM1TEbrSN5jst_5P12jLWGF7C1DAeMxRpdBbDEBh_6LebeG-tewyxKbD-mpgcDp8eX4VmRbgd3x13Bngg96UcUIHMPri_1rA3k/s1920/1+4MrMjuDEUwjM0LWgu0jh_g_1.png
https://miro.medium.com/max/1920/1*4MrMjuDEUwjM0LWgu0jh_g.jpeg
https://medium.com/dark-sides-of-the-truth/teach-me-how-to-live-a258f96631f9
PHOTO: Just a line to say I'm living,
That I'm not among the dead,
Though I'm getting more forgetful
And mixed up in my head.
Picture posted by Edhrec - Chandra Nalaar Ablaze
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3lySwjoL28BgMhT5pJkWClAaY0EfqOaWehD2Y7Vo-PSxvAlIHW7iB-HZ-sjEaP6qWpDpdI4Gp-VVASsDSFTN1DDC4r6iXMO3i_7pJTAldfT_kBwgx-_I8KzWFMhEdk9dD8GdAQ_O6T7o/s1000/mixedupinmyhead.jpeg
That I'm not among the dead,
Though I'm getting more forgetful
And mixed up in my head.
Picture posted by Edhrec - Chandra Nalaar Ablaze
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3lySwjoL28BgMhT5pJkWClAaY0EfqOaWehD2Y7Vo-PSxvAlIHW7iB-HZ-sjEaP6qWpDpdI4Gp-VVASsDSFTN1DDC4r6iXMO3i_7pJTAldfT_kBwgx-_I8KzWFMhEdk9dD8GdAQ_O6T7o/s1000/mixedupinmyhead.jpeg
https://edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/image.jpeg - (mixedupinmyhead.jpeg)
https://edhrec.com/cards/chandra-ablaze 
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn that the hard facts of aging is the loss of physical
abilities, and our minds. In the realization that the loss of our mental
faculties, like everything else that we’re losing, can lead us to more
of God.
Amidst our bodies deteriorating, that love with absolute faith would have God taking us in his arms, naked and undefiled. As we take leave of our senses we're left with God alone, which is His final intention for us.
Amidst our bodies deteriorating, that love with absolute faith would have God taking us in his arms, naked and undefiled. As we take leave of our senses we're left with God alone, which is His final intention for us.
His eternal aim is to bring us to the place where all that we have and all that we desire is God. Only there will we find the satisfaction we've been seeking all our lives. We had no idea what we were missing until all we had left was God.
Lord, there's another truth that fills what's left of our mind with joy and thanksgiving, and it's the realization that the deepest knowledge of God is not the fruit of intelligence, but of obedience. Obedience leads to deep wisdom. Those who ‘perfect holiness in the fear of God’ have a degree of clarity and understanding that others do not have. All knowledge of God is born of obedience.’
Lord, we pray that our every act of obedience quickens our sensitivity to God. Let it awakens our sense of His presence and deepens our capacity to comprehend the truth He has given us to know. We pray too, that even the desire to obey opens our eyes to see more of God than we could otherwise see.
As ignorance and heresy are not a matter of the intellect, but of the heart. We pray that we are not darkened in our understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in us due to the hardening of our hearts.
Lord, help us not to blinds us to the truth, and ‘believe the lie.’ We don’t want to perish because we refuse to love the truth and so be saved. Help us not to be deluded because we have ‘delighted in wickedness.’ We pray for Your help to uphold our morality and not be ‘depraved.’
Lord, grant us a pure heart so that we can see God.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
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PHOTO: I'm growing fonder of my staff;
I'm growing dimmer in the eyes;
I'm growing fainter in my laugh;
I'm growing deeper in my sighs;
I'm growing careless of my dress;
I'm growing frugal of my gold;
I'm growing wise; I'm growing - yes -
I'm growing old.
- John Godfrey Saxe
There's an antique rack in the entrance to our home in which we keep the canes and walking sticks of several generations of our family. My favourite is a slender staff with a gold-plated knob, engraved with the initials "DHR." It belonged to Carolyn's great-grandfather, whose name was Daniel Henry Rankin. Curiously, my initials are the same.
My study houses another stick collection: my father's peeled, apple-wood walking stick and an ancient, gnarled (knobbly, rough, and twisted), blackthorn shillelagh (blackthorn wooden walking stick) among others.
Outside in a barrel in our garage there's an assortment of cross-country ski poles, wading wands, and trekking sticks I've gathered over the years. One of these days, I'll probably trade them all in for handrails and a walker.
I think of old Jacob, worshiping and "leaning on his staff." (Hebrews 11:21) Like Jacob, I too am crippled, broken-down, and ruined. I'll always need something or someone to lean on.
These days, when I set out on an enterprise that seems daunting (intimidating) for me at my age, I take this staff along with me: "The Lord will go before [me]." (Isaiah 52:12)
When I see my friends struggling with sin and guilt, I hold up this rod: May they "have power . . . to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge." (Ephesians 3:18-19)
When there seems to be no time for reflection and quiet waiting and I think I must act now, I remember this stay: "Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)
I'm growing dimmer in the eyes;
I'm growing fainter in my laugh;
I'm growing deeper in my sighs;
I'm growing careless of my dress;
I'm growing frugal of my gold;
I'm growing wise; I'm growing - yes -
I'm growing old.
- John Godfrey Saxe
There's an antique rack in the entrance to our home in which we keep the canes and walking sticks of several generations of our family. My favourite is a slender staff with a gold-plated knob, engraved with the initials "DHR." It belonged to Carolyn's great-grandfather, whose name was Daniel Henry Rankin. Curiously, my initials are the same.
My study houses another stick collection: my father's peeled, apple-wood walking stick and an ancient, gnarled (knobbly, rough, and twisted), blackthorn shillelagh (blackthorn wooden walking stick) among others.
Outside in a barrel in our garage there's an assortment of cross-country ski poles, wading wands, and trekking sticks I've gathered over the years. One of these days, I'll probably trade them all in for handrails and a walker.
I think of old Jacob, worshiping and "leaning on his staff." (Hebrews 11:21) Like Jacob, I too am crippled, broken-down, and ruined. I'll always need something or someone to lean on.
These days, when I set out on an enterprise that seems daunting (intimidating) for me at my age, I take this staff along with me: "The Lord will go before [me]." (Isaiah 52:12)
When I see my friends struggling with sin and guilt, I hold up this rod: May they "have power . . . to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge." (Ephesians 3:18-19)
When there seems to be no time for reflection and quiet waiting and I think I must act now, I remember this stay: "Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)
When I note that my legs and heart have grown weaker and I can no longer wade swift streams, climb steep trails, and surmount other difficulties, I strengthen my inner person with this thought: God will not cast me away when I am old; He will not forsake me when my strength now is in "quietness and confidence." (Isaiah 32:17)
When I think of death and its certainty, I remember God's faithfulness throughout my years: He has supported me with His right hand; He has guided me with His counsel; and "afterward [he] will take me into glory." (Psalm 73:24)
These truths and others are "the very staff of my age, my very prop."
Old Jacob, weary and worn-out - once strong, but now humbled and utterly dependent on God - worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. Like Jacob, I'm growing old and fond of my staff. I aim to keep it close at hand.
Lord
With a crooked stick for a cane
I'm limping home.
Mocked and maligned
Stooped and stupid
Soiled and shabby
I limp toward You.
- Ruth Harms Calkin
An afterthought . . .
I re-read John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress the other day and came across this passage: "After this, Mr. Ready-to-halt called for his fellow-pilgrims, and told them, saying, I am sent for, and God shall surely visit you also. So he desired Mr. Valiant to make his will. And because he had nothing to bequeath (leave) to them that should survive him but his crutches, and his good wishes, therefore thus he said: These crutches I bequeath to my son that shall tread in my steps, with a hundred warm wishes that he may prove better than I have been."
My staff and crutches I bequeath to our three sons.
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https://www.deviantart.com/paveltomashevskiy/art/Old-man-453898797
PHOTO: LordWith a crooked stick for a cane
I'm limping home.
Mocked and maligned
Stooped and stupid
Soiled and shabby
I limp toward You.
- Ruth Harms Calkin
Picture posted by Faith Bible Ministries Blog ~ An Online Study of the Bible
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Q9okgxYz2S9CN8M60JlwZP5nX22s_tVJlN718tiAKTHstbDCrv4Fg5fCdTZtGATGh3cPorRaeU94dmY4Fo9Rd_NhLroToiV4Yuezu65f741GuECoNT4xhnYw9cHjCDigtSthYSkcbHA/s625/stairway-21.jpg
https://faithbibleministries.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/stairway-21.jpg
https://faithbibleministriesblog.com/2018/08/17/how-does-a-believer-be-strong-in-the-lord-2/
https://faithbibleministries.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/stairway-21.jpg
https://faithbibleministriesblog.com/2018/08/17/how-does-a-believer-be-strong-in-the-lord-2/
PHOTO: "Dear Lord, we pray to have someone to lean on when we are crippled, broken-down, and ruined.
Lord, provide us the “staff” which symbolised You going before us when things seems daunting, especially at our old age. As we struggle with our sins and guilt, help us to realise ‘how wide, long, high, and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge’.
Help us to remember in time of confusion, when we have no time for reflection and quiet waiting, that we need to ‘Be still, and know that I am God’.
Lord, when we note that our legs and heart have grown weaker and we can no longer wade swift streams, climb steep trails, and surmount other difficulties, we strengthen our inner person with this thought: God will not cast us away when we are old; He will not forsake us when our strength now is in ‘quietness and confidence’.
When we think of death and its certainty, help us to remember God's faithfulness throughout our years: He has supported us with His right hand; He has guided us with His counsel; and ‘afterward [he] will take us into glory’. May we realise that these truths and others are ‘the very staff of our age, our very support’.
We once were strong, but now weary and worn-out, humbled and utterly dependent on God. We worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
Lord, With a crooked stick for a cane, I'm limping home. Mocked and maligned, stooped and stupid, soiled and shabby, I limp toward You.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Gotika
gif file generated by Animated Images Effects Generator at http://www.webestools.com/animated-images-effect-generator-effects-gif-images-picture-blog-gif-fx-images-animated-effect.html
Lord, provide us the “staff” which symbolised You going before us when things seems daunting, especially at our old age. As we struggle with our sins and guilt, help us to realise ‘how wide, long, high, and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge’.
Help us to remember in time of confusion, when we have no time for reflection and quiet waiting, that we need to ‘Be still, and know that I am God’.
Lord, when we note that our legs and heart have grown weaker and we can no longer wade swift streams, climb steep trails, and surmount other difficulties, we strengthen our inner person with this thought: God will not cast us away when we are old; He will not forsake us when our strength now is in ‘quietness and confidence’.
When we think of death and its certainty, help us to remember God's faithfulness throughout our years: He has supported us with His right hand; He has guided us with His counsel; and ‘afterward [he] will take us into glory’. May we realise that these truths and others are ‘the very staff of our age, our very support’.
We once were strong, but now weary and worn-out, humbled and utterly dependent on God. We worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
Lord, With a crooked stick for a cane, I'm limping home. Mocked and maligned, stooped and stupid, soiled and shabby, I limp toward You.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Gotika
gif file generated by Animated Images Effects Generator at http://www.webestools.com/animated-images-effect-generator-effects-gif-images-picture-blog-gif-fx-images-animated-effect.html
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https://www.pinterest.es/pin/436286282650908265/
Chapter 5 - Reflection - Number Our Days - It's About Time, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-its-about.html [5]
PHOTO: High notions of oneself are annihilated (destroyed)
by a glance in the mirror.
- Nobel Poet Czeslaw Milosz
A Botox cosmetic ad appears on our television screen every once in a while, that features a stunningly beautiful young model who smiles at her audience and murmurs, "It's about time." Exactly!
Time is the enemy. We invest in vitamin supplements, serums, tightening concentrates, firming creams, cellulite removers - a plethora (an excessive) of pills and potions - in an effort to stave off (delay) the effects of free-radical damage and try to live, or at least look alive, as long as possible. We battle every age spot, blemish, and bulge, but nothing works very well, or for very long. The hours fill our brow with lines and wrinkles, William Shakespeare lamented. Time overwhelms us. We look our age, and it's not a pretty sight to see.
Which is exactly the point: time takes our "good looks" away. Jeremy Taylor, writing in the seventeenth century, put his finger on the issue. "First, age takes those parts that serve for ornamentation." Thus, "every day calls for a reparation (repair) of that portion which death fed on all night." Each morning we have to repair the damage that was done the night before. As an old friend of mine says: "A little powder, a little paint, makes a girl seem what she ain't."
And don't think for a minute that men are immune to this compulsion. We too are appalled by what we see in the mirror, and each morning must give ourselves to restoration. But no matter what, the trend is downward. It's about time.
We, however, are not about time. The God of all grace has called us to eternal glory! (1 Peter 5:10) In the end, our bodies will be rescued from the tyranny of change and decay, and we will share in the glory that belongs to us as the children of God! When Christ is revealed, we will be revealed in everlasting splendor. (Colossians 3:4) If we could but see ourselves today as we shall be then, we would be left speechless in awe and wonder. (I must add, however, that then, we'll not be self-conscious at all, but consumed with admiration for the beauty that we see in others.)
In the meantime, though the outward person is perishing, we can invest in inward loveliness. The more we center on inner beauty, the less preoccupied we'll be with that external glory that is inexorably (unavoidably) fading away.
Here's the thing: What I hold in my mind will, in time, show up in my face, for as George MacDonald once pointed out, the face is "the surface of the mind." If I cling to bitterness and resentment, if I tenaciously (persistently) hold a grudge, if I fail to forgive, my countenance (face) will begin to reflect those angry moods. My mother used to tell me that a mad look might someday freeze on my face. She was wiser than she knew.
But in the same way, a generous and charitable heart, one filled with grace and forgiveness, will find its way to the surface - for goodness cannot be hidden - and show itself in kind eyes and a face that is gentle and wise.
So my task is not to try to fix my face and make it good (that would be hypocrisy), but to set about killing the ugly things that come out of my heart - "so ugly that they make the very face over them ugly also" (George MacDonald).
Yet I know my heart - how hard it is, how disinclined to change. No one but God can drive its sullen self-centeredness away. So I must ask Him by His power to fulfill every desire for goodness. Then, someday, my face may reflect the holiness He has put into my heart.
I have a friend, a Catholic priest, who served as Mother Teresa's translator when she was here in the United States to address the United Nations. I was in his study one day and spied a picture of the two of them standing together on the streets of New York. I marveled again at her ancient, wrinkled, leathered, lined face, utterly unadorned. Wisdom has softened her face; character had drawn its lines. Gazing at those marks of courage and kindness, I thought: Is there anyone more homely - or more beautiful?
Here was the beauty of holiness. May it be ours as well.
Picture posted by imdb - Imogene Coca and Joe E. Ross in It's About Time (1966)by a glance in the mirror.
- Nobel Poet Czeslaw Milosz
A Botox cosmetic ad appears on our television screen every once in a while, that features a stunningly beautiful young model who smiles at her audience and murmurs, "It's about time." Exactly!
Time is the enemy. We invest in vitamin supplements, serums, tightening concentrates, firming creams, cellulite removers - a plethora (an excessive) of pills and potions - in an effort to stave off (delay) the effects of free-radical damage and try to live, or at least look alive, as long as possible. We battle every age spot, blemish, and bulge, but nothing works very well, or for very long. The hours fill our brow with lines and wrinkles, William Shakespeare lamented. Time overwhelms us. We look our age, and it's not a pretty sight to see.
Which is exactly the point: time takes our "good looks" away. Jeremy Taylor, writing in the seventeenth century, put his finger on the issue. "First, age takes those parts that serve for ornamentation." Thus, "every day calls for a reparation (repair) of that portion which death fed on all night." Each morning we have to repair the damage that was done the night before. As an old friend of mine says: "A little powder, a little paint, makes a girl seem what she ain't."
And don't think for a minute that men are immune to this compulsion. We too are appalled by what we see in the mirror, and each morning must give ourselves to restoration. But no matter what, the trend is downward. It's about time.
We, however, are not about time. The God of all grace has called us to eternal glory! (1 Peter 5:10) In the end, our bodies will be rescued from the tyranny of change and decay, and we will share in the glory that belongs to us as the children of God! When Christ is revealed, we will be revealed in everlasting splendor. (Colossians 3:4) If we could but see ourselves today as we shall be then, we would be left speechless in awe and wonder. (I must add, however, that then, we'll not be self-conscious at all, but consumed with admiration for the beauty that we see in others.)
In the meantime, though the outward person is perishing, we can invest in inward loveliness. The more we center on inner beauty, the less preoccupied we'll be with that external glory that is inexorably (unavoidably) fading away.
Here's the thing: What I hold in my mind will, in time, show up in my face, for as George MacDonald once pointed out, the face is "the surface of the mind." If I cling to bitterness and resentment, if I tenaciously (persistently) hold a grudge, if I fail to forgive, my countenance (face) will begin to reflect those angry moods. My mother used to tell me that a mad look might someday freeze on my face. She was wiser than she knew.
But in the same way, a generous and charitable heart, one filled with grace and forgiveness, will find its way to the surface - for goodness cannot be hidden - and show itself in kind eyes and a face that is gentle and wise.
So my task is not to try to fix my face and make it good (that would be hypocrisy), but to set about killing the ugly things that come out of my heart - "so ugly that they make the very face over them ugly also" (George MacDonald).
Yet I know my heart - how hard it is, how disinclined to change. No one but God can drive its sullen self-centeredness away. So I must ask Him by His power to fulfill every desire for goodness. Then, someday, my face may reflect the holiness He has put into my heart.
I have a friend, a Catholic priest, who served as Mother Teresa's translator when she was here in the United States to address the United Nations. I was in his study one day and spied a picture of the two of them standing together on the streets of New York. I marveled again at her ancient, wrinkled, leathered, lined face, utterly unadorned. Wisdom has softened her face; character had drawn its lines. Gazing at those marks of courage and kindness, I thought: Is there anyone more homely - or more beautiful?
Here was the beauty of holiness. May it be ours as well.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8YkWilCy1WEcYC1S43Nf5ohijF1nDaLJ_KOxvJcGfK7K6ZpKxU_nYki7V0xlcuuTEu9DAfeeOjYMhOVc__A0gV-cnFRzzut4bE60pg-JZZz3QZ5l1JtpUoxgOByerssxD0Tj4glSKleE/s1307/MV5BOWUwMmI4MDMtYjYwYi00MzdiLWFiZGItMmRlM2M1N2M4OWE0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE2NzA0Ng%2540%2540._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg
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https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0059997/mediaviewer/rm3272662529/
PHOTO:
And don't think for a minute that men are immune to this compulsion. We
too are appalled by what we see in the mirror, and each morning must
give ourselves to restoration. But no matter what, the trend is
downward. It's about time.Uploaded by Ayla
Picture posted by Gehenna1986_BTS@Gehenna1986B - BTS fanarts - Kim Seokjin
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPVmjMEtwPxIwBEUhHvd73sXou3hCKBKjrEfwwoDo9ngzO2tcc9hv5bKd1jgFHZDv8Bl1YYveghekBWuoDn_SVmp-kpXK69FrBXZvV86pBy2DoYuBgIBzUe1bzfw7NkSV-7J69IpN7Pgo/s1633/2af2390812075733d265429bdd26b593_11.png
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2a/f2/39/2af2390812075733d265429bdd26b593.jpg
https://br.pinterest.com/pin/779122804266964418/
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, time takes our ‘good looks’ away and we tried to repair the
damage but nothing works very well, or for very long. No matter what,
the trend is downward. It's about time.Lord, we learn that we are not about time. You will call us to eternal glory. In the end, our bodies will be rescued from the tyranny of change and decay, and we will share in the glory that belongs to us as the children of God. When Christ is revealed, we will be revealed in everlasting splendour.
We learn that If we could but see ourselves today as we shall be then, we would be left speechless in awe and wonder. But then, we'll not be self-conscious at all, but consumed with admiration for the beauty that we see in others.
We pray that in the meantime, though the outward person is perishing, we can invest in inward loveliness. Help us to center on inner beauty, and less preoccupied with that external glory that is unavoidably fading away.
Lord, help us not to cling on to bitterness and resentment, hold a grudge, fail to forgive, and let our face to reflect those angry moods. These may someday freeze on our face. Help us instead, to have a generous and charitable heart, one filled with grace and forgiveness. Then it will find its way to the surface - for goodness cannot be hidden - and show itself in kind eyes and a face that is gentle and wise.
However, Lord, do not let us try to fix our face and make it good because that would be hypocrisy, but to set about killing the ugly things that come out of our heart. But we know our heart, how hard it is, how disinclined to change. No one but You can drive its sullen self-centeredness away.
Lord, we ask for Your power to fulfill every desire for goodness. Then, someday, our face may reflect the holiness You has put into our heart.
May the wisdom soften our face, and our character draw its lines. So that gazing at those marks of courage and kindness, everybody will be homely and more beautiful.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Randy Brewer
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbtdQnUeHfkGd-KPilveqZm6lUGFPOp0VNn_YKz_NwPygywDfg5CBVKGVVEx2vCzr78umxYHUxzQW-Xn2iXYrN6f__Wk1tsmd3EmxZWh4lBRZtmcPxjfZ0M1ljoWjMBe4CO8xCko4qnSE/s1100/hands-offering-a-plaited-heart.jpg
https://www.brewerdirect.com/finding-my-voice/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/hands-offering-a-plaited-heart.jpg
https://www.brewerdirect.com/finding-my-voice/3-amazing-benefits-of-being-generous/
Chapter 6 - Reflection - Number Our Days - No Need for Regret, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-no-need-for.html [6]
PHOTO: In the rash lustihead (obsolete) of my young powers,
I shook the pillaring hours,
And pulled my life upon me. Grimed with smears,
I stand amidst the dust o' the mounded years -
My mangled youth lies dead beneath the heap.
- Francis Thompson, "The Hound Of Heaven"
Some folks try to romanticize youth, but I don't remember it that way. "Carefree youth" is an oxymoron (contradictory terms) to me.
My adolescence was a perfectly miserable time - years when I tore down family traditions and my inhibitions and prostituted the strength and vigor of youth on myself. I was an "angel-like spright with black sinne," John Donne would say, and lived with my fair share of guilt and self-reproach. Thus I pray with David, "Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways." (Psalm 25:7)
"If only I could live my life over again," we say, "I would do better." Not likely. A fresh start for any of us would amount to almost nothing without the experience necessary to make the right adjustments. "The light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern (rear of a boat), which shines only on the waves behind us," Samuel Coleridge said. Lacking the knowledge and understanding we've gained through the years, we'd make the same mistakes again.
I came across a poem by poet Hezekiah Butterworth one day that frightened me a good deal:
I walked through the woodland meadows,
Where sweet the thrushes sing;
And I found on a bed of mosses
A bird with a broken wing.
I healed its wound, and each morning
It sang its old sweet strain;
But the bird with a broken pinion
Never soared as high again.
I found a young life broken
By sin's seductive art
And touched with a Christlike pity,
I took him to my heart.
He lived with a noble purpose,
And struggled not in vain;
But the life that sin had stricken
Never soared as high again.
I said to myself, "Is it true? Have my sins irreparably stricken and crippled me? Can I never soar as high again?"
Indeed we can - all of us - for God does not remember the sins of our youth. Love has paid the price, and thus our most outrageous and oft-repeated sins have been forgiven according to God's mercy and grace. We cannot drift beyond His love and care. Beyond the bad news of our failure is the good news of grace - the stupendous (amazing) free gift of God.
Grace means that God forgives us, no matter what we have done, are doing, or will ever do again. It means that our sins are gone forever - replaced by Love.
Our Lord gives us this assurance: "Whoever comes to me I will never drive away." (John 6:37) He freely pardons; He abundantly forgives. (Isaiah 55:7; Psalm 130:3-4) We will be welcomed, no matter what we have done, if only we will come to Him.
Grace also means that God has given us the resources to make a new beginning. The question is not, "Can I make it? Am I able? Can I overcome my habitual sin?" The question is, "Is He able? Can He transform me?" He says He can, though it may take a while. Love perfects that which it begins. He will not forsake the work of His hands. (Psalm 138:8)
We must start with God's part, with the calm assurance that grace for the next act of obedience is already there. We don't have to worry about tomorrow, or this afternoon; we can move forward without fear or frustration knowing that the next step will take care of itself. That's the comfort we need to give to ourselves.
Furthermore, we must know that God's love will continue to cover our sins, no matter what we do. God is never disappointed - nor is He surprised - by human failure, for it is inevitable. "It is a consoling idea," wrote Danish Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, "that we are always in the wrong."
Long ago God made provision for our evil. Before we were born, before we did anything good or bad, Jesus paid for all our sins - those that were, those that are, and those that shall be. Now, despite false starts and failures, God is at work conforming some small part of us to His likeness, making us His portrait, His reproduction. His work of fine art. We can be confident of this: "He who began a good work in [us] will carry it on to completion." (Philippians 1:6)
God is never in a hurry, but He does mean business. He will finish the work as soon as He can.
"But" we say, "I have wasted so much of my life. Can I still be of use?" God wastes nothing, not even our sins. When acknowledged, they humble us and make us more merciful to others in their weakness. We can become more approachable, more useful to God and to others. Indeed, each loss has its own compensation.
And there is more: sin can make us more appreciative of God's forgiveness and can lead us to a deeper, more extravagant (excessive) love for Him than we could otherwise attain. Once we know how much we've been forgiven, we love Him all the more. (Luke 7:47) Thus "broken pinions" heal fully and we can fly.
Another poet has amended Butterworth's lines:
The soul that comes to Jesus
Is cleansed from every stain;
And by grace that is freely given,
We can soar higher again.
Picture saved by Bernadette Lemarchand to Animation
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8tywejsHG5yaUHzptJjAfLkHfgmL1k4j5apG_hbfgjA4wbasgIswUixO-4Jre5mXGoVkxQod7-CjFdnn3bV5kSl8cEpFT8CaC6E___8Q93iWF0sJTBHCn2qj8GbHPJNTdvgqqp5JlItw/s895/920b375142c7fe1b04c32bbcedb65c0b_1.png
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/92/0b/37/920b375142c7fe1b04c32bbcedb65c0b.jpg
https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/648307308843379657/
I shook the pillaring hours,
And pulled my life upon me. Grimed with smears,
I stand amidst the dust o' the mounded years -
My mangled youth lies dead beneath the heap.
- Francis Thompson, "The Hound Of Heaven"
Some folks try to romanticize youth, but I don't remember it that way. "Carefree youth" is an oxymoron (contradictory terms) to me.
My adolescence was a perfectly miserable time - years when I tore down family traditions and my inhibitions and prostituted the strength and vigor of youth on myself. I was an "angel-like spright with black sinne," John Donne would say, and lived with my fair share of guilt and self-reproach. Thus I pray with David, "Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways." (Psalm 25:7)
"If only I could live my life over again," we say, "I would do better." Not likely. A fresh start for any of us would amount to almost nothing without the experience necessary to make the right adjustments. "The light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern (rear of a boat), which shines only on the waves behind us," Samuel Coleridge said. Lacking the knowledge and understanding we've gained through the years, we'd make the same mistakes again.
I came across a poem by poet Hezekiah Butterworth one day that frightened me a good deal:
I walked through the woodland meadows,
Where sweet the thrushes sing;
And I found on a bed of mosses
A bird with a broken wing.
I healed its wound, and each morning
It sang its old sweet strain;
But the bird with a broken pinion
Never soared as high again.
I found a young life broken
By sin's seductive art
And touched with a Christlike pity,
I took him to my heart.
He lived with a noble purpose,
And struggled not in vain;
But the life that sin had stricken
Never soared as high again.
I said to myself, "Is it true? Have my sins irreparably stricken and crippled me? Can I never soar as high again?"
Indeed we can - all of us - for God does not remember the sins of our youth. Love has paid the price, and thus our most outrageous and oft-repeated sins have been forgiven according to God's mercy and grace. We cannot drift beyond His love and care. Beyond the bad news of our failure is the good news of grace - the stupendous (amazing) free gift of God.
Grace means that God forgives us, no matter what we have done, are doing, or will ever do again. It means that our sins are gone forever - replaced by Love.
Our Lord gives us this assurance: "Whoever comes to me I will never drive away." (John 6:37) He freely pardons; He abundantly forgives. (Isaiah 55:7; Psalm 130:3-4) We will be welcomed, no matter what we have done, if only we will come to Him.
Grace also means that God has given us the resources to make a new beginning. The question is not, "Can I make it? Am I able? Can I overcome my habitual sin?" The question is, "Is He able? Can He transform me?" He says He can, though it may take a while. Love perfects that which it begins. He will not forsake the work of His hands. (Psalm 138:8)
We must start with God's part, with the calm assurance that grace for the next act of obedience is already there. We don't have to worry about tomorrow, or this afternoon; we can move forward without fear or frustration knowing that the next step will take care of itself. That's the comfort we need to give to ourselves.
Furthermore, we must know that God's love will continue to cover our sins, no matter what we do. God is never disappointed - nor is He surprised - by human failure, for it is inevitable. "It is a consoling idea," wrote Danish Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, "that we are always in the wrong."
Long ago God made provision for our evil. Before we were born, before we did anything good or bad, Jesus paid for all our sins - those that were, those that are, and those that shall be. Now, despite false starts and failures, God is at work conforming some small part of us to His likeness, making us His portrait, His reproduction. His work of fine art. We can be confident of this: "He who began a good work in [us] will carry it on to completion." (Philippians 1:6)
God is never in a hurry, but He does mean business. He will finish the work as soon as He can.
"But" we say, "I have wasted so much of my life. Can I still be of use?" God wastes nothing, not even our sins. When acknowledged, they humble us and make us more merciful to others in their weakness. We can become more approachable, more useful to God and to others. Indeed, each loss has its own compensation.
And there is more: sin can make us more appreciative of God's forgiveness and can lead us to a deeper, more extravagant (excessive) love for Him than we could otherwise attain. Once we know how much we've been forgiven, we love Him all the more. (Luke 7:47) Thus "broken pinions" heal fully and we can fly.
Another poet has amended Butterworth's lines:
The soul that comes to Jesus
Is cleansed from every stain;
And by grace that is freely given,
We can soar higher again.
Picture saved by Bernadette Lemarchand to Animation
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PHOTO:
Grace means that God forgives us, no matter what we have done, are
doing, or will ever do again. It means that our sins are gone forever -
replaced by Love.Our Lord gives us this assurance: "Whoever comes to me I will never drive away." (John 6:37) He freely pardons; He abundantly forgives. (Isaiah 55:7; Psalm 130:3-4) We will be welcomed, no matter what we have done, if only we will come to Him.
Picture saved by ellian rock to Red Hairs
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https://www.pinterest.com/pin/618611698788937493/
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we lived with our fair share of guilt and self-reproach. We pray
with David, ‘Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways.’We may think that if only we could live my life over again, we would do better. We learn that this is not likely because a fresh start for any of us would amount to almost nothing without the experience necessary to make the right adjustments. Lacking the knowledge and understanding we've gained through the years, we'd make the same mistakes again.
All of us sinned, but because of Your grace we are not irreparably stricken and crippled, unable to soar as high again. Lord, thank You for not remembering the sins of our youth. Your love has paid the price, and thus our most outrageous and oft-repeated sins have been forgiven according to Your mercy and grace. We cannot drift beyond Your love and care. Beyond the bad news of our failure is the good news of grace - Your stupendous free gif.
Grace means that You forgives us, no matter what we have done, are doing, or will ever do again. It means that our sins are gone forever - replaced by Love. You give us this assurance that whoever comes to You, You will never drive away. You freely pardon and abundantly forgives. We will be welcomed, no matter what we have done, if only we will come to You.
Lord, we also learn that grace also means that You has given us the resources to make a new beginning. Love perfects that which it begins. You will not forsake the work of Your hands. We pray that we start with Your part, with the calm assurance that grace for the next act of obedience is already there. We don't have to worry about tomorrow, or this afternoon; we can move forward without fear or frustration knowing that the next step will take care of itself. That's the comfort we need to give to ourselves.
We learn that Your love will continue to cover our sins, no matter what we do. You are never disappointed - nor are You surprised - by human failure, for it is inevitable. Long ago You made provision for our evil. Before we were born, before we did anything good or bad, Jesus paid for all our sins - those that were, those that are, and those that shall be. Despite false starts and failures, You are at work conforming some small part of us to Your likeness, making us Your portrait, Your reproduction. Your work of fine art. We can be confident of this because You who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion.
Lord, we learn that You waste nothing, not even our sins. When acknowledged, they humble us and make us more merciful to others in their weakness. We can become more approachable, more useful to You and to others. Indeed, each loss has its own compensation.
And there is more: sin can make us more appreciative of Your forgiveness and can lead us to a deeper, more extravagant love for You than we could otherwise attain. Once we know how much we've been forgiven, we love You all the more.
May our ‘broken pinions’ heal fully and we can soar higher again.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Stella63 on 11 December 2009
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Chapter 7 - Reflection - Number Our Days - In This Place, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-in-this-place.html [7]
PHOTO: Being born is the front end of our troubles. - Mister RogersAs a young man I was led to believe that the end of life would be easier than its beginning, but as I've aged I've come to the conclusion that some of the hardest tests are farther along.
Take Abraham, for example. After enduring a lifetime of difficulty, the old patriarch finally retired to a life of ease and affluence near the wells of Beersheba. He and Sarah enjoyed good old age with Isaac, their love and laughter. They were in their "golden years."
One night Abraham put his head on his pillow, thanked God for His goodness, and went to sleep, only to be jolted awake in the middle of the night by a voice beckoning him. "Abraham!"
"Here I am," Abraham replied.
"Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." (Genesis 22:1-2).
Isaac was the son of Abraham's old age, the promised child through whom God pledged to make him great. Abraham knew that the gods of the Chaldeans and Canaanites demanded human sacrifice. Was his God now demanding this of him? (Leviticus 18:21; 20:2; Deuteronomy 12:31; 18:10). Why?
Indeed, we ask when life is sweet and then turns bitter, "Why?"
Did Abraham tell Sarah? I don't know. The ancient rabbis thought so, and said that Sarah held Isaac all that night, and that the ordeal contributed to her death. (Genesis 23:1-2). But, for myself, I think Abraham told no one. This was a matter he had to work out with God alone.
Early the next morning Abraham packed up and started his terrible journey to Mount Moriah. There, the two - Abraham and his son - began their ascent to "the place" that God had revealed. (Genesis 22:3-19).
Isaac turned to his father and spoke: "Father, the fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham replied, "God himself will provide." With these words he rested his case.
You know the story: "Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He . . . took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son." Thus "Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide," a saying that has been preserved to this day as a proverb and a promise: "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided."
So, what of Abraham's stern "test"? What does it mean for me?
It comes to this: Can I endure the loss of anything I deem essential to life and believe that "in this place" of death and grief my God can and will provide?
I think of this as I stare in stark unbelief at what God is asking some of my friends to endure: critical illness, crippling infirmity (fragility), isolation and dislocation, the inability to use the talents and abilities with which they hoped to serve God to the end of their days. "Is this what He is asking of me?" my heart cries out.
Yet I know that there is love and logic in all God will ask of me. My losses - whatever they may be - are to the end that He may use me in a greater way to bring glory to His name and salvation to the world. Thus God swore to Abraham: "Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
Now, God said to Abraham, the fruitfulness of your life will be manifested.
When you and I come to "the place" where we offer up all that we are and have to God - even the best gifts He has given us - then we will become a blessing to everyone we touch. This is the record of all whose lives have counted for God.
Is this not what Jesus meant when He promised, "Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it"? (Matthew 10:39)
An afterthought . . .
I cannot leave this story without mentioning that David purchased Moriah from Aravnah the Canaanite to mark the place where Abraham offered up Isaac. It was there that Solomon built the temple. Moriah is not a single peak, but an elongated ridge that begins at the junction of the Kidron and Hinnom Valleys and rises to its summit just northwest of the present Damascus Gate. There is sound archeological evidence to suppose that Jesus was crucified there on the summit, "on that place." And I fail to see how anyone reading about old Abraham, leading his dear son up the flanks of Mount Moriah, binding him to the altar while his heart breaks within him, can fail to miss the parallel with God leading His own Son to that same mountain centuries later "to the place of the Skull" (John 19:17). There He made the provision upon which all other provisions are based.
Did Abraham know? Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when He said, "Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad" (John 8:56).
Picture posted by Vecteezy
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PHOTO:
Did Abraham know? Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when He said,
"Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was
glad" (John 8:56).Picture posted by Seventh-Day Adventists
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PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, as a young man we are led to believe that the end of life would
be easier than its beginning, but as we've aged we've come to the
conclusion that some of the hardest tests are farther along.Abraham, after enduring a lifetime of difficulty, finally retired to a life of ease and affluence near the wells of Beersheba. He and Sarah enjoyed good old age with Isaac, their love and laughter. They were in their ‘golden years.’
However, when life is sweet, it then turns bitter. God demanded him to offer his only son as a burnt offering on Mount Moriah. When Abraham was about to slay Isaac, an angel stopped him. Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. God has provide the lamb for the burnt offering.
That was Abraham's stern ‘test’. Lord, we learn to ask ourselves whether we can endure the loss of anything we deem essential to life and believe that ‘in this place’ of death and grief our God can and will provide.
We think of this as we stare in stark unbelief at what God is asking some of our friends to endure: critical illness, crippling infirmity, isolation and dislocation, the inability to use the talents and abilities with which they hoped to serve God to the end of their days. Our heart cry out: ‘Is this what He is asking of me?’
Lord, we pray that we know that there is love and logic in all God will ask of us. Our losses - whatever they may be - are to the end that He may use us in a greater way to bring glory to His name and salvation to the world.
Lord, help us, when we come to ‘the place’ we can offer up all that we are and have to God - even the best gifts He has given us.
Then like Abraham, we will become a blessing to everyone we touch.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Bigstock
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Chapter 8 - Reflection - Number Our Days - A Little Bird Told Me, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-little-bird.html [8]
PHOTO: Said the robin to the sparrow,
"I would really like to know,
Why these anxious human beings.
Rush about and worry so?"
Said the sparrow to the robin,
"Oh, I think that it must be,
That they have no Heavenly Father,
Such as cares for you and me."
- Unknown
The silence of our summer evening was broken by the loud, persistent, and frantic "Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!" of mother robin. Not just any robin, mind you. This is our Robin, with four newly hatched young in her well-tended nest, which she has carefully crafted and anchored securely in one of the tall junipers (evergreen shrub) against our back fence.
As she sounded the alarm, Papa and I both popped up and hustled outside in our sleep togs (clothes) to see what had so ruffled Robin's feathers. Sure enough, we had an intruder. Through the gathering darkness, in the far corner of our backyard, we could see the threatening shape. There she crouched: The Cat!
Robin went on one dive bombing mission after another, swooping as close to the enemy as she dared and loudly scolding with each attack. But to no avail. This tried and tested method, which worked with lesser foes like the squirrels, was useless now. Cat stood her ground, seeming to be seeking the right moment to advance on the weak and vulnerable baby birds.
Then out of the night came Papa, wildly waving his arms, lurching and leaping forward like something out of Jurassic Park and bellowing, "Scat! Shoo! Get out of here!"
Cat held her position as long as she could. Then realizing the new troops were too much for her, she did the smart thing and hastily retreated back over the fence into the safety of her own yard.
With all the precious treasure of the nest secure once again, Robin calmed down and peace returned to our neighborhood. And just before I drifted off to sleep I wondered about what Robin might be thinking of the whole affair.
If Robin could talk, how would she relate what happened? Would she even be aware of where help had really come from? Did she know that Someone powerful who cared for her and her concerns had heard her cries for help and had rushed to her aid?
The next morning at the birdbath would she say something like this to the birds of her feather as they flocked together: "Boy, I really had a scare last night. It was getting dark, and I made one last trip out to dig worms for the little ones. Just as I flew back toward home I noticed something was not right. Then I saw it. A big furry creature sneaking steadily toward my babies. Disaster on the move. Oh, I could see it coming!
"With my heart in my throat I knew I had to do something. Everything depended on me. I remembered all the articles I had read on assertiveness training and self-defense. I remembered reading The Little Engine That Could. I was terrified, but I reached way down inside myself to pull up the right stuff and started to go at that creature. I tried to intimidate the thing with loud, shrill sounds as I flew and fluttered in as close as I dared, then circled and flew back for another attack. For a while I was losing ground and the creature kept in coming. I was frantic and weak, but I kept up my harangue (rant). And then the strangest thing happened. Suddenly, the creature turned and jumped away in the other direction. It took me a minute to calm down and realize that the danger was gone. I guess I really am something and have what it takes to take care of any situation. I noticed my People standing near the corner of their house. I guess they were pretty impressed with me too."
Or would Robin greet her friends in the morning with a tale like this: "Boy I really had a scare last night. It was getting dark, and I made one last trip out to dig worms for the little ones. Just as I flew back toward home I noticed something was not right. Then I saw it. A big furry creature sneaking steadily toward my babies. Disaster on the move. Oh, I could see it coming!
"With my heart in my throat I knew I had to do something. I tried to intimidate the thing with loud, shrill sounds as I flew and fluttered in as close as I dared, then circled and flew back for another attack. But I could see I was losing ground. I was no match for this enemy. Then I remembered Someone who owned the bush where I had my nest. I knew He had smiled at me and was delighted with my new family. I knew He was big - much bigger than the creature named Disaster. So I did the right thing. I cried for help. And do you know what? He answered my cry and He rushed to help me. He knew just what to do and how best to protect me. I am really glad I recognized I needed help and called. Now I know even more that He cares for me and is there for me. He doesn't expect me to always know what to do and to always be strong. I want to remember to give credit where credit is due and to say; 'Thanks, I needed that!' Last night I had a big scare but I also learned a big lesson."
Dear Grands,
This little bird taught me a big lesson too. From her I learned to call out for help to my heavenly Father when I feel weak and am facing something big and scary. I hope you will each do the same. Our God will come rushing to help because He delights in you even more that Papa delights in Robin.
With lots of love,
Nana
P.S. Have Mom or Dad read you Psalm 18:1-19 to see how this worked for someone else a long time ago.
Picture posted by Julieanne-Katherine on 04 August 2012 - A Little Birdie Told Me"I would really like to know,
Why these anxious human beings.
Rush about and worry so?"
Said the sparrow to the robin,
"Oh, I think that it must be,
That they have no Heavenly Father,
Such as cares for you and me."
- Unknown
The silence of our summer evening was broken by the loud, persistent, and frantic "Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!" of mother robin. Not just any robin, mind you. This is our Robin, with four newly hatched young in her well-tended nest, which she has carefully crafted and anchored securely in one of the tall junipers (evergreen shrub) against our back fence.
As she sounded the alarm, Papa and I both popped up and hustled outside in our sleep togs (clothes) to see what had so ruffled Robin's feathers. Sure enough, we had an intruder. Through the gathering darkness, in the far corner of our backyard, we could see the threatening shape. There she crouched: The Cat!
Robin went on one dive bombing mission after another, swooping as close to the enemy as she dared and loudly scolding with each attack. But to no avail. This tried and tested method, which worked with lesser foes like the squirrels, was useless now. Cat stood her ground, seeming to be seeking the right moment to advance on the weak and vulnerable baby birds.
Then out of the night came Papa, wildly waving his arms, lurching and leaping forward like something out of Jurassic Park and bellowing, "Scat! Shoo! Get out of here!"
Cat held her position as long as she could. Then realizing the new troops were too much for her, she did the smart thing and hastily retreated back over the fence into the safety of her own yard.
With all the precious treasure of the nest secure once again, Robin calmed down and peace returned to our neighborhood. And just before I drifted off to sleep I wondered about what Robin might be thinking of the whole affair.
If Robin could talk, how would she relate what happened? Would she even be aware of where help had really come from? Did she know that Someone powerful who cared for her and her concerns had heard her cries for help and had rushed to her aid?
The next morning at the birdbath would she say something like this to the birds of her feather as they flocked together: "Boy, I really had a scare last night. It was getting dark, and I made one last trip out to dig worms for the little ones. Just as I flew back toward home I noticed something was not right. Then I saw it. A big furry creature sneaking steadily toward my babies. Disaster on the move. Oh, I could see it coming!
"With my heart in my throat I knew I had to do something. Everything depended on me. I remembered all the articles I had read on assertiveness training and self-defense. I remembered reading The Little Engine That Could. I was terrified, but I reached way down inside myself to pull up the right stuff and started to go at that creature. I tried to intimidate the thing with loud, shrill sounds as I flew and fluttered in as close as I dared, then circled and flew back for another attack. For a while I was losing ground and the creature kept in coming. I was frantic and weak, but I kept up my harangue (rant). And then the strangest thing happened. Suddenly, the creature turned and jumped away in the other direction. It took me a minute to calm down and realize that the danger was gone. I guess I really am something and have what it takes to take care of any situation. I noticed my People standing near the corner of their house. I guess they were pretty impressed with me too."
Or would Robin greet her friends in the morning with a tale like this: "Boy I really had a scare last night. It was getting dark, and I made one last trip out to dig worms for the little ones. Just as I flew back toward home I noticed something was not right. Then I saw it. A big furry creature sneaking steadily toward my babies. Disaster on the move. Oh, I could see it coming!
"With my heart in my throat I knew I had to do something. I tried to intimidate the thing with loud, shrill sounds as I flew and fluttered in as close as I dared, then circled and flew back for another attack. But I could see I was losing ground. I was no match for this enemy. Then I remembered Someone who owned the bush where I had my nest. I knew He had smiled at me and was delighted with my new family. I knew He was big - much bigger than the creature named Disaster. So I did the right thing. I cried for help. And do you know what? He answered my cry and He rushed to help me. He knew just what to do and how best to protect me. I am really glad I recognized I needed help and called. Now I know even more that He cares for me and is there for me. He doesn't expect me to always know what to do and to always be strong. I want to remember to give credit where credit is due and to say; 'Thanks, I needed that!' Last night I had a big scare but I also learned a big lesson."
Dear Grands,
This little bird taught me a big lesson too. From her I learned to call out for help to my heavenly Father when I feel weak and am facing something big and scary. I hope you will each do the same. Our God will come rushing to help because He delights in you even more that Papa delights in Robin.
With lots of love,
Nana
P.S. Have Mom or Dad read you Psalm 18:1-19 to see how this worked for someone else a long time ago.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtSUW5Av9FDu88Kw1LL2wJtSZcusPpT99SppW9F_4a1ZVh1zWe8wfP99WY4jc679akl16w5vmaUn1MR2HopSIoo1oSZo0EKyvEaAFvZVlSkrHUn5eRyaP0XO-4V0TI4k64SRrwKaOOLLM/s800/d59sulh-1564f191-42cc-47a9-833a-85a3ab758ab2_11.png
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https://www.deviantart.com/julieanne-katherine/art/A-Little-Birdie-Told-Me-318793445
PHOTO:
Robin, with four newly hatched young in her well-tended nest, which she
has carefully crafted and anchored securely in one of the tall junipers
(evergreen shrub) against our back fence. The threatening shape. There she crouched: The Cat.Picture from Wikimedia
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzeiHbpcOYqoliin4tQseMzobvjvrWDHOPpw6-W_C_SarUwj0RaXFRjOIt-CFbAFvk2gMJF4YXBadd27ViAB_BFGfErBQ8_FUTYIrWrnPK7Cr-YqIRPCIsYa7FOBW8oXYbuHidVwhu_8U/s700/Old_rickety_bird_feeder_-_with_cat_11.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Old_rickety_bird_feeder_-_with_cat.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_rickety_bird_feeder_-_with_cat.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzeiHbpcOYqoliin4tQseMzobvjvrWDHOPpw6-W_C_SarUwj0RaXFRjOIt-CFbAFvk2gMJF4YXBadd27ViAB_BFGfErBQ8_FUTYIrWrnPK7Cr-YqIRPCIsYa7FOBW8oXYbuHidVwhu_8U/s700/Old_rickety_bird_feeder_-_with_cat_11.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Old_rickety_bird_feeder_-_with_cat.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_rickety_bird_feeder_-_with_cat.jpg
PHOTO: "Dear Lord, we learn to call out for help to our heavenly Father when we feel weak and am facing something big and scary.We pray that everyone of us will each do the same.
Our God will come rushing to help because He delights in us even more than our earthly love-ones delight in us.
Lord, help us to join David in Psalm 18:1-19. This is a Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love you, O Lord, my strength.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Ennya7 on 17 May 2017
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfKtd-_CdhflT6EJzH0vFU4BpIWYy5fQaepa41nq7HeYt78ajE3FRKedjXsBiK_DEtrK3pXpeaEw6b98fsyGjS5d-tbUzpd-sqIKFWUY76UHVSWk59O2WgwNGSiePS_Hsuk8ghWiriB6s/s1200/DdZj6WWWAAE5PzI_1.png
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https://www.deviantart.com/ennya7/art/Fly-away-birdie-680930862
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DdZj6WWWAAE5PzI.jpg
Chapter 9 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Bird Song, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-bird-song.html [9]
PHOTO: Field and forest, vale (valley) and mountain,
Flow'ry meadow, flashing sea,
Chanting bird and flowing fountain
Call us to rejoice in Thee.
- Genevan Psalter
Speaking of birds - Solomon describes old age as a time "when men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint." (Ecclesiastes 12:4) He was right, of course, on both counts: I get up with the birds, but until I get my bearings and my hearing aid in place, I can't hear their songs. Thanks to the marvel of modern gadgetry, however, I can hear birds quite well these days, and their singing makes my heart swell with joy.
I read the other day that birds sing "because they can and because they must. Songs are used to attract mates and defend territories, but the form is much more than function. Nature is full of beauty, and of music." So writes David Rothenberg, a professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology.
The professor goes on to explain that birds sing because they have syrinx instead of a larynx. The syrinx is a unique musical instrument that looks like a hollow, inverted Y that lies deep in a bird's chest at the point where the trachea divides into the two bronchia which rise from the lungs. Each leg of the Y rests on a separate bronchial tube, thus giving birds unusual control and creativity in the sounds they can make.
Birds can sing two different notes at the same time, or sing a duet with themselves. They are capable of singing a rising note with one side of the syrinx and a falling note with the other. They can use one side for low notes and the other for high ones, or switch from one side to the other in mid-note. No other creature is quite so versatile.
But what I ask is, why do birds sing - really? Why these tiny virtuosos (experts)? Why does "the air tremble with the din of songs and the whir of wings?"
Birds were brought into being before us to fill the earth with joyful music - to draw our hearts up to God in thanksgiving and adoration. Birds are "heaven's high and holy muses (inspiration)," John Donne said, daily reminders that God has given us a song so we may sing with them in praise and thanksgiving to our creator.
We can sing along with Israel's sweet singer:
I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your loves;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble. (Psalm 59:16)
We can "sing of the ways of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord is great." (Psalm 138:5) We can "sing . . . for [the Lord] has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for [us]." (Psalm 98:1) Or we can make up our very own song!
So, when you hear God's little hymn-birds break into carefree song each morning, echo their melodies with your own. Lift up your voice - harmonious, hoarse, or harsh - and join them in praise to your Creator, Redeemer, and Lord. Sing from your soul-nest.
But, you say, "I don't feel like singing this morning." All is still - no flutter, no melody? Sing anyway. There is grace sufficient to sing, and joy may surprise you as you make melody in your heart to the Lord. Give it a try. What do you have to lose but your sorrow?
Israel's poet observed:
The birds of the air nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches . . .
[Therefore] I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. (Psalm 104:12, 33)
Picture posted by Starre Vartan, Treehugger on 20 June 2019Flow'ry meadow, flashing sea,
Chanting bird and flowing fountain
Call us to rejoice in Thee.
- Genevan Psalter
Speaking of birds - Solomon describes old age as a time "when men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint." (Ecclesiastes 12:4) He was right, of course, on both counts: I get up with the birds, but until I get my bearings and my hearing aid in place, I can't hear their songs. Thanks to the marvel of modern gadgetry, however, I can hear birds quite well these days, and their singing makes my heart swell with joy.
I read the other day that birds sing "because they can and because they must. Songs are used to attract mates and defend territories, but the form is much more than function. Nature is full of beauty, and of music." So writes David Rothenberg, a professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology.
The professor goes on to explain that birds sing because they have syrinx instead of a larynx. The syrinx is a unique musical instrument that looks like a hollow, inverted Y that lies deep in a bird's chest at the point where the trachea divides into the two bronchia which rise from the lungs. Each leg of the Y rests on a separate bronchial tube, thus giving birds unusual control and creativity in the sounds they can make.
Birds can sing two different notes at the same time, or sing a duet with themselves. They are capable of singing a rising note with one side of the syrinx and a falling note with the other. They can use one side for low notes and the other for high ones, or switch from one side to the other in mid-note. No other creature is quite so versatile.
But what I ask is, why do birds sing - really? Why these tiny virtuosos (experts)? Why does "the air tremble with the din of songs and the whir of wings?"
Birds were brought into being before us to fill the earth with joyful music - to draw our hearts up to God in thanksgiving and adoration. Birds are "heaven's high and holy muses (inspiration)," John Donne said, daily reminders that God has given us a song so we may sing with them in praise and thanksgiving to our creator.
We can sing along with Israel's sweet singer:
I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your loves;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble. (Psalm 59:16)
We can "sing of the ways of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord is great." (Psalm 138:5) We can "sing . . . for [the Lord] has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for [us]." (Psalm 98:1) Or we can make up our very own song!
So, when you hear God's little hymn-birds break into carefree song each morning, echo their melodies with your own. Lift up your voice - harmonious, hoarse, or harsh - and join them in praise to your Creator, Redeemer, and Lord. Sing from your soul-nest.
But, you say, "I don't feel like singing this morning." All is still - no flutter, no melody? Sing anyway. There is grace sufficient to sing, and joy may surprise you as you make melody in your heart to the Lord. Give it a try. What do you have to lose but your sorrow?
Israel's poet observed:
The birds of the air nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches . . .
[Therefore] I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. (Psalm 104:12, 33)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl3Zt7XnQfKjiLDlDMC917PYDaZEn57Bay5-_ZCeqGrjW9RyLifp-ejZ5b_DgBFTbFSQF1iik3OD-AVUKNOfBwXpHoU0sCvQrdV78SgG_1Yyo8fVPOfeIeStzN6UEK5AoQ1oZcvT7ysWI/s2048/747a9601792a40c6b3455f07dc3040f6.jpg
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https://www.treehugger.com/birds-live-near-human-noise-sing-louder-shorter-songs-4867690
PHOTO: The birds of the air nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches . . .
[Therefore] I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. (Psalm 104:12, 33)
Picture posted by Fox2006 on 04 January 2015 - Nerdanel
Reverse Gif file is generated from the link - (http://freegifmaker.me/reverse-gif/)
gif file generated by Animated Images Effects Generator at http://www.webestools.com/animated-images-effect-generator-effects-gif-images-picture-blog-gif-fx-images-animated-effect.html
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk3x_bxGlLWpPXfVKJrL-Q7v1g16Cph7fxIwSQOmsY0Z6oIcUDKOY8p0Gi3hWlsnY8YPQ-r31bKR_12or7yeVbEwvenZSQsWgtllPBrumSJ2GqJ-DlZQkbufdD9wB5fmNpZo5o0m_wuEs/s1539/nerdanel_by_fox2006_d8cfszr-fullview_1.pngthey sing among the branches . . .
[Therefore] I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. (Psalm 104:12, 33)
Picture posted by Fox2006 on 04 January 2015 - Nerdanel
Reverse Gif file is generated from the link - (http://freegifmaker.me/reverse-gif/)
gif file generated by Animated Images Effects Generator at http://www.webestools.com/animated-images-effect-generator-effects-gif-images-picture-blog-gif-fx-images-animated-effect.html
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https://www.deviantart.com/fox2006/art/Nerdanel-504622215
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn from Solomon that old age is a time ‘when men rise up at
the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint.’ We get up with the
birds, but until we get our bearings and our hearing aid in place, we
can't hear their songs.
We learn too that birds were brought into being before us to fill the earth with joyful music - to draw our hearts up to God in thanksgiving and adoration. Birds are ‘heaven's high and holy muses,’ daily reminders that God has given us a song so we may sing with them in praise and thanksgiving to our creator.
Lord, we pray that we can ‘sing of the ways of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord is great.’ That we can "sing . . . for [the Lord] has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for [us].’
We pray that when we hear God's little hymn-birds, we can break into carefree song each morning, echo their melodies with our own. Lift up our voice - harmonious, hoarse, or harsh - and join them in praise to our Creator, Redeemer, and Lord. Also we can sing from our soul-nest.
Lord, we pray for Your that even when we don't feel like singing, we sng anyway. There is grace sufficient to sing, and joy may surprise us as we make melody in our heart to the Lord.
We have nothing to lose but our sorrow. May we be like the Psalmist in singing praise to God as long as we live.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Pictue posted by irinama on 04 December 2011 - Fairytale princess
Reverse Gif file is generated from the link - (http://freegifmaker.me/reverse-gif/)We learn too that birds were brought into being before us to fill the earth with joyful music - to draw our hearts up to God in thanksgiving and adoration. Birds are ‘heaven's high and holy muses,’ daily reminders that God has given us a song so we may sing with them in praise and thanksgiving to our creator.
Lord, we pray that we can ‘sing of the ways of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord is great.’ That we can "sing . . . for [the Lord] has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for [us].’
We pray that when we hear God's little hymn-birds, we can break into carefree song each morning, echo their melodies with our own. Lift up our voice - harmonious, hoarse, or harsh - and join them in praise to our Creator, Redeemer, and Lord. Also we can sing from our soul-nest.
Lord, we pray for Your that even when we don't feel like singing, we sng anyway. There is grace sufficient to sing, and joy may surprise us as we make melody in our heart to the Lord.
We have nothing to lose but our sorrow. May we be like the Psalmist in singing praise to God as long as we live.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Pictue posted by irinama on 04 December 2011 - Fairytale princess
gif file generated by Animated Images Effects Generator at http://www.webestools.com/animated-images-effect-generator-effects-gif-images-picture-blog-gif-fx-images-animated-effect.html
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Chapter 10 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Counting the Days, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-counting-days.html [10]
![That flesh is but the [hour] glasse, which holds the dust](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyqI-hRfREckbItlYRuCsgqYmhAwU883EUnTEKA7_BNb9T4n2Cfx4qDWTgZyg3kZgAdEG4s5qwvzg7ixyOgAYwUE-ONEuUdA6UcG792as78WwIGpSqb9hUSFfdpUGSI3gG15dqk1zuqkw/s2048/womaninclouds-1.jpg)
PHOTO: That flesh is but the [hour] glasse, which holds the dust
That measures all our time.
- George Herbert
Psalm 90 is "A Prayer of Mosses," the wistful reflections and petitions of an old man. Here Mosses, as Flannery O'Connor once pointed out, is in the most significant position life offers us: He is facing death.
Mosses begins by pondering the vast difference between God and His creatures. He is eternal; we are not. He is "from everlasting to everlasting." We are ephemeral (short-lived), swept away "in the sleep of death." We spring up like grass in the morning and by evening we are withered and dry, a little mound of dust.
"Why do we have to die?" I ask myself. God has put eternity in our hearts; we were made for immortality! Why does death sweep us away?
The answer comes as a complete surprise: Death is not our lot; it is our sentence. We are "consumed by [God's] anger." We are mortal because we are sinful. "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23)
To use Moses' words, we are "hurried away" (Psalm 90:7) by God's indignation, which is why, I suppose, we keep looking at our watches. The "span" of our days passes quickly; tempus fugit (time flies), we say. No, "we fly away." (Psalm 90:10)
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten as a dream
Dies at the op'ning day.
So, I say to myself, it's a good thing to ponder the brevity (shortness) of life now and then, and to number my days, as Moses suggests. Three-score and ten years are allotted, or four-score if I'm unduly strong. But in the end the grave gets us all.
I have to say, we don't think much about dying these days. In earlier times folks were more comfortable with the idea. Churches were surrounded by cemeteries and filled with sepulchers (tombs) - somber reminders that one's body would one day lie under a slab. The village parson, George Herbert, said he frequented graveyards to "take acquaintance of this heap of dust." Today, we want cemeteries to be out of town or out of sight, out of mind, as far away as possible.
So, what will take away our fear of death? It is a promise of a "morning" that rends (splits) the skies, when we rise from "the sleep of death" that has swept us away. (Psalm 90:14, 90:5) This is the promise of the resurrection - a prospect that is a spring of invincible joy, a current of mirth (cheer) under all our troubles. We can, as Moses insists, "be glad all our days."
So for the rest of our days on earth, we pray with Moses: "May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish [make permanent] the work of our hands for us." And may God direct us to do those things that have eternal significance: prayer, love, purity, wisdom, and quiet proclamation.
We pass through this world and on, like a swallow through a loft, but our influence can be eternal. We may not live long, but we can "live deep," as a friend of mine says. Then, when I have served God's purposes in my generation, I can fly away. (Acts 13:36)
There was a needlepoint plaque that hung on a wall in the home which I grew up. (Thank you, Mother.) It meant very little to me then; it meant a good deal to me now:
Only one life, 'twill soon be past;
Only what's done for Christ will last.
And when I am dying, how glad I will be,
That the lamp of my life has blazed out for Thee.
Picture posted by kayleahjewel, Faith2TalkPress - Pray in the SpiritThat measures all our time.
- George Herbert
Psalm 90 is "A Prayer of Mosses," the wistful reflections and petitions of an old man. Here Mosses, as Flannery O'Connor once pointed out, is in the most significant position life offers us: He is facing death.
Mosses begins by pondering the vast difference between God and His creatures. He is eternal; we are not. He is "from everlasting to everlasting." We are ephemeral (short-lived), swept away "in the sleep of death." We spring up like grass in the morning and by evening we are withered and dry, a little mound of dust.
"Why do we have to die?" I ask myself. God has put eternity in our hearts; we were made for immortality! Why does death sweep us away?
The answer comes as a complete surprise: Death is not our lot; it is our sentence. We are "consumed by [God's] anger." We are mortal because we are sinful. "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23)
To use Moses' words, we are "hurried away" (Psalm 90:7) by God's indignation, which is why, I suppose, we keep looking at our watches. The "span" of our days passes quickly; tempus fugit (time flies), we say. No, "we fly away." (Psalm 90:10)
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten as a dream
Dies at the op'ning day.
So, I say to myself, it's a good thing to ponder the brevity (shortness) of life now and then, and to number my days, as Moses suggests. Three-score and ten years are allotted, or four-score if I'm unduly strong. But in the end the grave gets us all.
I have to say, we don't think much about dying these days. In earlier times folks were more comfortable with the idea. Churches were surrounded by cemeteries and filled with sepulchers (tombs) - somber reminders that one's body would one day lie under a slab. The village parson, George Herbert, said he frequented graveyards to "take acquaintance of this heap of dust." Today, we want cemeteries to be out of town or out of sight, out of mind, as far away as possible.
So, what will take away our fear of death? It is a promise of a "morning" that rends (splits) the skies, when we rise from "the sleep of death" that has swept us away. (Psalm 90:14, 90:5) This is the promise of the resurrection - a prospect that is a spring of invincible joy, a current of mirth (cheer) under all our troubles. We can, as Moses insists, "be glad all our days."
So for the rest of our days on earth, we pray with Moses: "May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish [make permanent] the work of our hands for us." And may God direct us to do those things that have eternal significance: prayer, love, purity, wisdom, and quiet proclamation.
We pass through this world and on, like a swallow through a loft, but our influence can be eternal. We may not live long, but we can "live deep," as a friend of mine says. Then, when I have served God's purposes in my generation, I can fly away. (Acts 13:36)
There was a needlepoint plaque that hung on a wall in the home which I grew up. (Thank you, Mother.) It meant very little to me then; it meant a good deal to me now:
Only one life, 'twill soon be past;
Only what's done for Christ will last.
And when I am dying, how glad I will be,
That the lamp of my life has blazed out for Thee.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyqI-hRfREckbItlYRuCsgqYmhAwU883EUnTEKA7_BNb9T4n2Cfx4qDWTgZyg3kZgAdEG4s5qwvzg7ixyOgAYwUE-ONEuUdA6UcG792as78WwIGpSqb9hUSFfdpUGSI3gG15dqk1zuqkw/s2048/womaninclouds-1.jpg
https://faith2talk.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/womaninclouds-1.jpg
https://faith2talkpress.com/2019/02/02/the-armor-of-god/
PHOTO: So for the rest of our days on earth, we pray with Moses: "May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish [make permanent] the work of our hands for us." And may God direct us to do those things that have eternal significance: prayer, love, purity, wisdom, and quiet proclamation.Painting by Ernst Klimt (1864, Wien Penzing - 1892, Wien) - Two girls praying (1887)
Picture posted by imkinsky on 19 June 2018 at 6:00 pm
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2cpvWGMQkY8LdfAPL1ofhtKOe541pXsJ_yRedsZNY0tzGr-2nxe-5uHNZW46Ok-aFck-wLJ5MzvdT4dcCjYRMGWh7Tha5s-VKCLBy56uQjmWqL6hYhr988AbFwi-G-fjnGzgKbdf5JZQ/s2048/74964.jpg
https://img.imkinsky.com/74964.jpg
https://imkinsky.com/en/auction-results/123/628/7/52936
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn from Mosses in Psalm 90, the vast difference between God
and His creatures. He is eternal; we are not. He is ‘from everlasting
to everlasting.’ We are ephemeral, swept away ‘n the sleep of death.’ We
spring up like grass in the morning and by evening we are withered and
dry, a little mound of dust.
Lord, we learn that death sweep us away because we sinned and it is our sentence. We are mortal because we are sinful. We are ‘hurried away’ by God's indignation. The ‘span’ of our days passes quickly. ‘We fly away.’
We pray for Your help to ponder the brevity of life, and to number our days, as Moses suggests. We are allotted the numbers of years but in the end the grave gets us all. In our days, we want cemeteries to be out of town or out of sight, out of mind, as far away as possible.
Lord, thank You for taking away our fear of death by Your promise of resurrection - a prospect that is a spring of invincible joy, a current of mirth under all our troubles. We can, as Moses insists, ‘be glad all our days.’
So for the rest of our days on earth, we pray with Moses: ‘May the favour of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish [make permanent] the work of our hands for us.’ And may God direct us to do those things that have eternal significance: prayer, love, purity, wisdom, and quiet proclamation.
Lord, may we pass through this world and on, like a swallow through a loft, but our influence be eternal. We may not live long, but may we ‘live deep.’ Then, when we have served God's purposes in our generation, we can fly away.
Our one life will soon be past. Help us to do the will of Christ, which will last. And when we are dying, we can be glad that the lamp of our life has blazed out for You.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by elenamazur, Shutterstock
Lord, we learn that death sweep us away because we sinned and it is our sentence. We are mortal because we are sinful. We are ‘hurried away’ by God's indignation. The ‘span’ of our days passes quickly. ‘We fly away.’
We pray for Your help to ponder the brevity of life, and to number our days, as Moses suggests. We are allotted the numbers of years but in the end the grave gets us all. In our days, we want cemeteries to be out of town or out of sight, out of mind, as far away as possible.
Lord, thank You for taking away our fear of death by Your promise of resurrection - a prospect that is a spring of invincible joy, a current of mirth under all our troubles. We can, as Moses insists, ‘be glad all our days.’
So for the rest of our days on earth, we pray with Moses: ‘May the favour of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish [make permanent] the work of our hands for us.’ And may God direct us to do those things that have eternal significance: prayer, love, purity, wisdom, and quiet proclamation.
Lord, may we pass through this world and on, like a swallow through a loft, but our influence be eternal. We may not live long, but may we ‘live deep.’ Then, when we have served God's purposes in our generation, we can fly away.
Our one life will soon be past. Help us to do the will of Christ, which will last. And when we are dying, we can be glad that the lamp of our life has blazed out for You.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by elenamazur, Shutterstock
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Chapter 11 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Sauntering, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-sauntering.html [11]
PHOTO: I am old and move slowly.- Socrates
When I was a much younger man I used to run several miles a day. When my knees gave out I began to walk - first aerobically and then briskly. Now I saunter.
Henry David Thoreau, in an essay on walking, explains the origins of the word "saunter." He says the term comes from the Middle Ages, when wandering pilgrims would beg for alms to finance their journey to la Saint Terre (the Holy Land). Such people became known as "saint-terrers," or "saunterers."
I can't vouch for the etymology (origin and history of words) of the word, and I understand Thoreau's theory is in doubt these days, but I like his explanation better than any I've heard, for I myself am a saunterer, a wandering pilgrim, begging for grace, slowly making my way to the City of God.
Let's hear it for sauntering! My dictionary defines the word as "to wander or walk about idly and in a leisurely or lazy manner; to lounge; to stroll; to loiter." That's me: God's loiterer, in no particular hurry, taking time to see the world around me and sample it along the way.
Very few people saunter these days. Most folks on the green belt here in Boise (where I saunter) are in a hurry - speed-walking, or racing around on mountain bikes, rollerblades, and skateboards. I wonder where they're going, or, as an old song by Alabama, the country group, suggests: "I'm in a Hurry (and Don't Know Why)."
The same can be said for God's people. So many of us seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere, running off to this meeting or that, signing up for one course or another, frantically working out our own salvation, sanctification, and service for God as though everything depends on us. I wish all knew how to saunter.
It's a great art to saunter. And it grows out of the conviction that "all things are of God." (2 Corinthians 5:18 NKJV) [58] Oh, we must pursue God and His will for us with all our heart, but it is rest and peace to know that every aspect of our pilgrimage is in God's hands. He has freed us from past sin and guilt and is presently freeing us from its power. Our destiny is not riding on anything we do or have done or fail to do here on earth. It rests on the work of One who is faithful to the end.
So, "just go for walks" says Thomas Merton, "live in peace, let change come quietly and invisibly on the inside." [59]
I find Merton's words bracing (stimulating). Since God is at work in me and has promised that He will never forsake the work of His hands, I can trust Him to bring completion to the process He has begun. It's been my experience that whatever change takes place in me is fairly slow, occurring in some secret, hidden part of me and often imperceptible (unnoticeable) except in retrospect (reflection). There are even times of failure when I seem to be making no progress at all. I may even revert to old habits of behavior for a season - regressions (movement backward) that make me believe I've slipped back into old patterns of sin. It is good to remind myself in those times that it may be years later that I see what God has been doing. His pace, though inexorably (relentlessly) steady and impossible to stop, is also excruciatingly (agonizingly) slow.
In the meantime, while I saunter toward heaven and home, I can begin to pay attention to those who are in pilgrimage with me. I can take every occasion to listen, to love and to pray, knowing that I don't have to rush about and make things happen. God himself has prepared good works for me to do. (Ephesians 2:10) [60]
Thoreau was not a Christian, as far as I know, but he often wrote with luminous insight. Thus he concludes his essay on sauntering: "So we saunter toward the Holy Land; till one day the sun shall shine more brightly than ever he has done, shall shine into our minds and hearts, and light up our whole lives with a great awakening light, so warm and serene and golden as on a bank-side in autumn."
Thoreau was a wise man - wiser than he knew. Someday soon our "sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings" (Malachi 4:2) [61] and we shall settle into a perfect pace.
Picture posted by Ed Lukas, Pixels on 22 July 2012 - Festival Saunter
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBHZ8EWhU_20N53ZOCRRA6x01tFIHncHJVU_CYzrkTtQmPcFzfnZi6vlmSOkQM5-p6PuO6Dhzap1NSbVwRzGgacyVhZoiMdgOpek1MHE_udjhoerQPPmAJwBZc7DRuYLrLg-t3CvIBHHU/s900/festival-saunter-ed-lukas.jpg
https://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/festival-saunter-ed-lukas.jpg
https://pixels.com/featured/festival-saunter-ed-lukas.html
PHOTO: So, "just go for walks" says Thomas Merton, "live in peace, let change come quietly and invisibly on the inside."Picture posted by Pexels, Pixabay
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2z6SXlZz5JZBpCT1pBY147c6XwzKTFTDWedRthXh5sUs0fPBialmBaR_xbbypIOebNr0yJIOppZMhHYll1Hv1ck4_Zfj-deUDJ_4mqUebZyVZMhWkFtz-d-aLx-9BQAaZ-7tzQ7y6-78/s2048/pexels-photo-264188.jpeg
https://images.pexels.com/photos/264188/pexels-photo-264188.jpeg
https://www.pexels.com/sk-sk/fotka/264188/
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we are mostly saunterer, a wandering pilgrim, begging for grace,
slowly making our way to the City of God. We are God's loiterer, in no
particular hurry, taking time to see the world around us and sample it
along the way.
However very few people saunter these days. Most are in a hurry - speed-walking, or racing around on mountain bikes, rollerblades, and skateboards. We are hurrying but don’t know why.
The same can be said for God's people. So many of us seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere, running off to this meeting or that, signing up for one course or another, frantically working out our own salvation, sanctification, and service for God as though everything depends on us.
As all things are of God, we must pursue God and His will for us with all our heart, but it is rest and peace to know that every aspect of our pilgrimage is in God's hands. He has freed us from past sin and guilt and is presently freeing us from its power. Our destiny is not riding on anything we do or have done or fail to do here on earth. It rests on the work of One who is faithful to the end.
Lord, help us to just go for walks, and live in peace, let change come quietly and invisibly on the inside.
However very few people saunter these days. Most are in a hurry - speed-walking, or racing around on mountain bikes, rollerblades, and skateboards. We are hurrying but don’t know why.
The same can be said for God's people. So many of us seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere, running off to this meeting or that, signing up for one course or another, frantically working out our own salvation, sanctification, and service for God as though everything depends on us.
As all things are of God, we must pursue God and His will for us with all our heart, but it is rest and peace to know that every aspect of our pilgrimage is in God's hands. He has freed us from past sin and guilt and is presently freeing us from its power. Our destiny is not riding on anything we do or have done or fail to do here on earth. It rests on the work of One who is faithful to the end.
Lord, help us to just go for walks, and live in peace, let change come quietly and invisibly on the inside.
Since God is at work in me and has promised that He will never forsake the work of His hands, help us to trust Him to bring completion to the process He has begun.
Lord, there are even times of failure when we seem to be making no progress at all. We may even revert to old habits of behaviour for a season - regressions that make us believe we've slipped back into old patterns of sin. Help us to remind ourselves in those times that it may be years later that we see what God has been doing.
We pray that as we saunter toward heaven and home, begin to pay attention to those who are in pilgrimage with us. Help us to take every occasion to listen, to love and to pray, knowing that we don't have to rush about and make things happen. God himself has prepared good works for us to do.
‘So we saunter toward the Holy Land; till one day the sun shall shine more brightly than ever he has done, shall shine into our minds and hearts, and light up our whole lives with a great awakening light, so warm and serene and golden as on a bank-side in autumn.’
May our ‘sun of righteousness rises with healing in its wings’ and we shall settle into a perfect pace.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Lazada
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gif file generated by Animated Images Effects Generator at http://www.webestools.com/animated-images-effect-generator-effects-gif-images-picture-blog-gif-fx-images-animated-effect.html
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Chapter 12 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Dangerous Crossings, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-dangerous.html [12]
PHOTO: Life is mighty chancy (risky) at any kind of trade.- Rudyard Kipling
I don't wade swift streams any more, even when the best fishing lies on the other side of the river. The rocks are too slippery, the currents are too strong, my balance is too uncertain, and my old legs aren't what they used to be.
I take this as a parable for my life: So many challenges I once took on readily are now too challenging for me. Like the psalmist, I lose sleep at night wondering how I can negotiate them. (Psalm 77:1-4)
But then I remember the deeds of the Lord. He led His "people like a flock." Like a good shepherd He brought all Israel safely through the Red Sea to the other side. His "path led through the sea, [His] way through the mighty waters." (Psalm 77:19-20) No one was left behind, no one was abandoned, no one was swept away. God surged through the Red Sea as I would wade a tiny brook.
All of us face difficult and dangerous crossings in our lifetime - a transition to a new place or position, a decision to abandon a sinful practice and make a new beginning, a choice to walk a way we would rather not go, a call to venture ourselves in untried service, a retirement that takes us from prominence to a lower profile, or our final crossing through the river "bitter and cold." Yet we need not fear the dark currents, for God does not fear them. His strength and courage are infinite. He will see us through.
The psalmist observes, with some wonderment, that God leaves no footprints as He accompanies us. Just as the sand in the bottom of a stream hides our footprints as soon as they are imprinted, so God's presence, as real as our own, is hidden from us. He is with us, "walking incognito (camouflaged)," as C. S. Lewis said, and thus we may not realize He is present. But, Lewis continues, "the incognito is not hard to penetrate. The real labor is to remember, to attend. In fact, to come awake. Still more, to remain awake," to make ourselves think about His presence, to remind ourselves that He is at our side.
Furthermore, though we cannot see God's footprints in our crossings, He is incarnate in human agents that we can see. At the Red Sea He led Israel "by the hand of Moses and Aaron." Think back to how He has led you - in the wise counsel of a mother, in the strong grip of a father, in the urgings of godly brother or sister, in the quiet encouragement of a caring spouse, in the gentle touch of a child.
How many hands have reached out to us - guiding us, encouraging us, strengthening us? In them we perceive the hand of our Lord leading us through deep and dangerous waters to the other side.
Hard crossings are inevitable, but our Lord has promised: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you." (Isaiah 43:2)
I came to the swift, raging river,
And the roar held the echo of fear;
"Oh, Lord, give me wings to fly over,
If You are, as You promised, quite near,"
But He said, "Trust the grace I am giving,
All-pervasive (into everything), sufficient for you.
Take My hand - we will face it together,
But My plan is not over but through."
- Lee Webber
Picture posted by Ulrike Lemmin-Woolfrey on 04 June 2021
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEW_hsgqPFyAfgHAo_ux_1HGynwGbxmw8RQg8O-mzFpsVR4fUKvHlOZOrf1_rkQbb4yYmzScfAfIYfNnQoFBHSWmoxILcLtBtWEoci6jIssCzrHYDVuJQlG8kvM70cuF7WbQHakanP228/s900/p09kgyln_1.png
https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/1600x900/p09kgyln.webp
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210603-why-wild-swimming-is-britains-new-craze
PHOTO: I came to the swift, raging river,
And the roar held the echo of fear;
"Oh, Lord, give me wings to fly over,
If You are, as You promised, quite near,"
But He said, "Trust the grace I am giving,
All-pervasive (into everything), sufficient for you.
Take My hand - we will face it together,
But My plan is not over but through."
- Lee Webber
Picture posted by iStock
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNNQJ9ChLPbUonFqiLOXSNtoiww1n_su6k4EDUGy5nR71O8H20IvkyLaXmA7CNlZdEAkLN1sFaPbEw5ggRjX6q7ZJSuIkf3mkAuB7XkfX1yKqvzK_W-Nlc8jAXGlOQB0v-XVh5kU3msec/s2048/istockphoto-483771650-2048x2048_1.pngAnd the roar held the echo of fear;
"Oh, Lord, give me wings to fly over,
If You are, as You promised, quite near,"
But He said, "Trust the grace I am giving,
All-pervasive (into everything), sufficient for you.
Take My hand - we will face it together,
But My plan is not over but through."
- Lee Webber
Picture posted by iStock
https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/picnic-portrait-of-beautiful-romantic-lady-in-a-wreath-picture-id483771650?s=2048x2048
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/picnic-portrait-of-beautiful-romantic-lady-in-a-wreath-gm483771650-70829835
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn a parable for our life. As we grow older there are so
many challenges we once took on readily are now too challenging for us.All of us face difficult and dangerous crossings in our lifetime - a transition to a new place or position, a decision to abandon a sinful practice and make a new beginning, a choice to walk a way we would rather not go, a call to venture ourselves in untried service, a retirement that takes us from prominence to a lower profile, or our final crossing through the river ‘bitter and cold.’
Lord, we pray that we need not fear the dark currents, for God does not fear them. His strength and courage are infinite. He will see us through.
Help us to remember that God leaves no footprints as He accompanies us. Just as the sand in the bottom of a stream hides our footprints as soon as they are imprinted, so God's presence, as real as our own, is hidden from us. He is with us. Help us remain awake, to make ourselves think about His presence, to remind ourselves that He is at our side.
Lord, though we cannot see God's footprints in our crossings, may He incarnate in human agents that we can see. Help us to think back to how He has led us - in the wise counsel of a mother, in the strong grip of a father, in the urgings of godly brother or sister, in the quiet encouragement of a caring spouse, in the gentle touch of a child.
The many hands that have reached out to us - guiding us, encouraging us, strengthening us. May we perceive in them the hand of our Lord leading us through deep and dangerous waters to the other side.
Lord, though hard crossings are inevitable, You has promised that: ‘When we pass through the waters, You will be with us; and when we pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over us.’
Lord, may we trust the grace You are giving which is all-pervasive, and sufficient for us. Allow us to take Your hand and go through the river, safely and successfully.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Depositphotos
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Chapter 13 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Deformed, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/07/reflection-number-our-days-deformed.html [13]
PHOTO: O God, I am too ugly for human beings,perhaps you have a use for me.
- St. Vincent De Paul
I came across a tortured, twisted pine tree some years ago, high on a ridge overlooking Boulder Meadow - an ugly, misshapen thing at first glance. But I looked again and saw something deeper and better and thought of those whose deformities are overwhelmed by beauty.
Appearance is overrated, a mere sensation in the eyes (or brain) produced by shape, color, and motion and conditioned a good deal by society and association. (In some cultures, foot-long earlobes are considered the essence of loveliness.)
There is a spiritual beauty, however, that is much deeper and more enduring than everything we can see with our natural eyes. It is a symmetry and splendor that God brings to His Children - the "beauty of holiness."
Our present culture turns the phrase upside down, worshipping instead the outward appearance - the holiness of beauty. [66] That's a terrible mistake, for it leads us to vanity - the desire to exceed the limits God has appointed for us - and is the means by which pride and self-preoccupation enter in and whereby we miss the highest good.
We must be satisfied with the way God has formed us. Our disabilities and deformities are not a mistake, but part of God's eternal plan. His way of dealing with them is not to remove them, but to endow them with godlike strength, dignity, and beauty and put them to His intended use.
William Holmes McGuffey had it exactly right . . .
Beautiful faces are they that wear,
The light of a pleasant spirit there;
Beautiful hands are they that do,
Deeds that are noble, good and true;
Beautiful feet are they that go,
Swiftly to lighten another's woe.
- McGuffey's Second Reader
Has aging brought humiliating disfigurement? Do you consider yourself an eyesore, too ugly to be of use?
Do not believe that for a moment. No, you are "God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for [you] to do." (Ephesians 2:10) [67] You are His special creation, designed from birth to manifest God's loveliness in a unique way. The Craftsman's plan surpasses the material.
Your countenance (face), though wrinkled or blemished, can be adorned with the joy of the Lord and made lovely with His kindness and compassion. Your body, be it ever so humble and lumpish, can be graceful in unselfish service and love. This is "grace beyond reach of art," human ugliness hidden in divine loveliness, beauty at its best.
And, of course, this is not all that will be. On ahead lies the redemption of our bodies. We will be made new: "We are as God has made us, but we are not as God will make us. We will be made over again and everything will once for all be set right" (George MacDonald).
And so I pray, may the beauty of the Lord our God be upon you.
Odd, this twisted form
should be the work of God.
God, who makes, without mistakes,
the happy norm, the status quo -
the usual - made me, you know.
The Royal Palm He made;
and, too, the stunted pine.
With joy I see the lovely shapes;
with pride I live in mine.
No accident I am:
a Master Craftsman's plan.
- Ruth Bell Graham
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PHOTO: With joy I see the lovely shapes;with pride I live in mine.
No accident I am:
a Master Craftsman's plan.
Picture posted by But Natural Photography on Friday, 03 Jyly 2020 at 11:1\05 pm
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PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn that ugly and misshapen thing at first glance may have
something deeper and better, even though the deformities are overwhelmed
by beauty.
Appearance is overrated, a mere sensation in the eyes (or brain) produced by shape, colour, and motion and conditioned a good deal by society and association.
Lord, thank You for giving us also spiritual beauty that is deeper and more enduring than everything we can see with our natural eyes. It is a symmetry and splendour that You brings to us, Your Children - the ‘beauty of holiness.’
Please help us not to worship outward appearance instead of the holiness of beauty. Because otherwise pride and self-preoccupation will enter in and whereby we miss the highest good.
We pray that we can be satisfied with the way You has formed us. Our disabilities and deformities are not a mistake, but part of Your eternal plan. Your way of dealing with them is not to remove them, but to endow them with godlike strength, dignity, and beauty and put them to Your intended use.
Lord, help us not to believe that aging brought humiliating disfigurement making us an eyesore, and too ugly to be of use. We are ‘God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.’ We are Your special creation, designed from birth to manifest Your loveliness in a unique way. The Craftsman's plan surpasses the material.
We learn that our countenance, though wrinkled or blemished, can be adorned with the joy of the Lord and made lovely with Your kindness and compassion. Our body, be it ever so humble and lumpish, can be graceful in unselfish service and love. This is ‘grace beyond reach of art,’ human ugliness hidden in divine loveliness, beauty at its best.
Thank You for giving us the promise that on ahead lies the redemption of our bodies. We will be made new: ‘We are as You has made us, but we are not as You will make us. We will be made over again and everything will once for all be set right’.
We pray, may the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by But Natural Photography on Sunday, 21 July 2019 at 01:19 am - Beautiful Mother
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Appearance is overrated, a mere sensation in the eyes (or brain) produced by shape, colour, and motion and conditioned a good deal by society and association.
Lord, thank You for giving us also spiritual beauty that is deeper and more enduring than everything we can see with our natural eyes. It is a symmetry and splendour that You brings to us, Your Children - the ‘beauty of holiness.’
Please help us not to worship outward appearance instead of the holiness of beauty. Because otherwise pride and self-preoccupation will enter in and whereby we miss the highest good.
We pray that we can be satisfied with the way You has formed us. Our disabilities and deformities are not a mistake, but part of Your eternal plan. Your way of dealing with them is not to remove them, but to endow them with godlike strength, dignity, and beauty and put them to Your intended use.
Lord, help us not to believe that aging brought humiliating disfigurement making us an eyesore, and too ugly to be of use. We are ‘God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.’ We are Your special creation, designed from birth to manifest Your loveliness in a unique way. The Craftsman's plan surpasses the material.
We learn that our countenance, though wrinkled or blemished, can be adorned with the joy of the Lord and made lovely with Your kindness and compassion. Our body, be it ever so humble and lumpish, can be graceful in unselfish service and love. This is ‘grace beyond reach of art,’ human ugliness hidden in divine loveliness, beauty at its best.
Thank You for giving us the promise that on ahead lies the redemption of our bodies. We will be made new: ‘We are as You has made us, but we are not as You will make us. We will be made over again and everything will once for all be set right’.
We pray, may the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by But Natural Photography on Sunday, 21 July 2019 at 01:19 am - Beautiful Mother
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Chapter 14 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Dressed for Success, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/07/reflection-number-our-days-dressed-for.html [14]
PHOTO: The wearer of Grandmother's (Wisdom's) clothes
never thinks about how he or she looks, but
thinks how handsome other peope are.
- George MacDonald, The Golden Key
I recently came across Washington Irving's description of a friend with whom he fished one of the tributaries (side stream) of the Hudson River:
One of our party had equaled the Don [Quixote] in the fullness of his equipments, being attired capa-pie [from head to foot] for the enterprise. He wore a broad-skirted fustian [pretentious] coat, perplexed with half a hundred pockets; a pair of stout shoes and leathern gaiters; a basket slung on one side for fish; a patent rod, a landing net, and a score of other inconveniences only to be found in the true angler's armory. Thus harnessed for the field, he was as great a matter of stare and wonderment among the country folk, who had never seen a regular angler, as was the steel-cad hero of La Mancha among the goatherds of the Sierra Morena.
Nothing has changed. Anglers still hope to be properly "harnessed" for the field, and, truth be told, to become the objects of the stares and wonderment of those that see them on-stream. The only difference between Irving's day and ours is that our equipment has become more sophisticated, and Orvis, Winston, Sage, and Simms have put their brands on our "armory." It's a matter of looking good.
That goes for our street clothes as well, except they bear other brand names such as L.L. Bean and REI - at least for me. One purpose of clothing, I suppose, is to cover up our less-presentable parts, as Paul would say, as our parts grow less presentable each year.
It seems to me, though, that no matter what we wear, we ought to dress down rather than up. Advertisements entice us to be noticed, but God's men and women have a different motivation: we should be "clothed with humility," one practical application of which is the desire to blend in and not attract attention to ourselves.
This generally means that we dress conventionally, the way most people would dress on a given occasion. Being flamboyant (excessive) can draw attention to us, but so can being frumpy (old-fashioned) or out of fashion. Augustine of Hippo taught his students, "Do not attract attention by the way you dress. Endeavor to impress by your manner of life, not by the clothes you wear." I think that's good counsel for all ages.
One practical result of getting this idea into our hearts is that we become less preoccupied with how we look and can "think more highly of others than we think of ourselves."
Clothing is a necessity mandated by the Fall and our subsequent self-consciousness. But maintaining a wardrobe can be a tedious process, which gets more tiresome as we age, particularly as we get less interested in impressing others. Then the thought occurred to me one morning, after I read Jeremy Taylor's advice in his diary, that I could make the morning ritual of dressing myself more meaningful if I view it as a reminder of the spiritual apparel with which I'm clothed.
In your dressing, let there be ejaculations fitted to the several actions of dressing: as at washing your hands and face, pray God to cleanse your Soul from sin; in putting on your clothes, pray Him to clothe your Soul with the righteousness of your Savior; and so in all the rest. For Religion must not only be the garment of your Soul, to invest it all over; but it must be also as the fringes to every of your actions, that something of Religion appear in every one of them, besides the innocence of all of them.
What Taylor is suggesting is that we use each item of clothing to remind ourselves of our spiritual vestments. It's a contrivance (tactic) I've been using for a while now.
When I put on my shirt each morning, I remind myself to "put on love." Perhaps I can do nothing more than love someone today, but it's enough. Love is the best gift I can give to God and to others throughout the day.
When I buckle my trousers, I'm reminded that I need to "gird up the loins" of my mind - pull my thoughts together and fix my hope fully on the gift of eternal life that will be brought to me when I see my Savior face to face. That's a thought that brings sobriety (sensibility) and peace.
When I lace up my boots, I think of my feet as shod and prepared to go wherever God wants me to go today and to go the distance - whatever it may be - to bring the good news of reconciliation and peace to others.
When I strap on my watch, I think of the need to redeem the time - to use each hour to be a benediction to others. "Evil days are days of opportunity," I say to myself. Many that I meet today have been ravaged by evil and are living in terrible sorrow. "May I be a blessing to them," I pray.
When I pick up my hat, I'm reminded of our ultimate and certain salvation - salvation that is promised and secure. I am the apple of God's eye, as dear as God's only-begotten Son.
Silly, you say? Works for me. It's a great way to dress for success.
never thinks about how he or she looks, but
thinks how handsome other peope are.
- George MacDonald, The Golden Key
I recently came across Washington Irving's description of a friend with whom he fished one of the tributaries (side stream) of the Hudson River:
One of our party had equaled the Don [Quixote] in the fullness of his equipments, being attired capa-pie [from head to foot] for the enterprise. He wore a broad-skirted fustian [pretentious] coat, perplexed with half a hundred pockets; a pair of stout shoes and leathern gaiters; a basket slung on one side for fish; a patent rod, a landing net, and a score of other inconveniences only to be found in the true angler's armory. Thus harnessed for the field, he was as great a matter of stare and wonderment among the country folk, who had never seen a regular angler, as was the steel-cad hero of La Mancha among the goatherds of the Sierra Morena.
Nothing has changed. Anglers still hope to be properly "harnessed" for the field, and, truth be told, to become the objects of the stares and wonderment of those that see them on-stream. The only difference between Irving's day and ours is that our equipment has become more sophisticated, and Orvis, Winston, Sage, and Simms have put their brands on our "armory." It's a matter of looking good.
That goes for our street clothes as well, except they bear other brand names such as L.L. Bean and REI - at least for me. One purpose of clothing, I suppose, is to cover up our less-presentable parts, as Paul would say, as our parts grow less presentable each year.
It seems to me, though, that no matter what we wear, we ought to dress down rather than up. Advertisements entice us to be noticed, but God's men and women have a different motivation: we should be "clothed with humility," one practical application of which is the desire to blend in and not attract attention to ourselves.
This generally means that we dress conventionally, the way most people would dress on a given occasion. Being flamboyant (excessive) can draw attention to us, but so can being frumpy (old-fashioned) or out of fashion. Augustine of Hippo taught his students, "Do not attract attention by the way you dress. Endeavor to impress by your manner of life, not by the clothes you wear." I think that's good counsel for all ages.
One practical result of getting this idea into our hearts is that we become less preoccupied with how we look and can "think more highly of others than we think of ourselves."
Clothing is a necessity mandated by the Fall and our subsequent self-consciousness. But maintaining a wardrobe can be a tedious process, which gets more tiresome as we age, particularly as we get less interested in impressing others. Then the thought occurred to me one morning, after I read Jeremy Taylor's advice in his diary, that I could make the morning ritual of dressing myself more meaningful if I view it as a reminder of the spiritual apparel with which I'm clothed.
In your dressing, let there be ejaculations fitted to the several actions of dressing: as at washing your hands and face, pray God to cleanse your Soul from sin; in putting on your clothes, pray Him to clothe your Soul with the righteousness of your Savior; and so in all the rest. For Religion must not only be the garment of your Soul, to invest it all over; but it must be also as the fringes to every of your actions, that something of Religion appear in every one of them, besides the innocence of all of them.
What Taylor is suggesting is that we use each item of clothing to remind ourselves of our spiritual vestments. It's a contrivance (tactic) I've been using for a while now.
When I put on my shirt each morning, I remind myself to "put on love." Perhaps I can do nothing more than love someone today, but it's enough. Love is the best gift I can give to God and to others throughout the day.
When I buckle my trousers, I'm reminded that I need to "gird up the loins" of my mind - pull my thoughts together and fix my hope fully on the gift of eternal life that will be brought to me when I see my Savior face to face. That's a thought that brings sobriety (sensibility) and peace.
When I lace up my boots, I think of my feet as shod and prepared to go wherever God wants me to go today and to go the distance - whatever it may be - to bring the good news of reconciliation and peace to others.
When I strap on my watch, I think of the need to redeem the time - to use each hour to be a benediction to others. "Evil days are days of opportunity," I say to myself. Many that I meet today have been ravaged by evil and are living in terrible sorrow. "May I be a blessing to them," I pray.
When I pick up my hat, I'm reminded of our ultimate and certain salvation - salvation that is promised and secure. I am the apple of God's eye, as dear as God's only-begotten Son.
Silly, you say? Works for me. It's a great way to dress for success.
Picture posted by The Jovial Studio - Kimono - Female Yukata
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PHOTO: When I put on my shirt each morning, I remind myself to "put on love." Perhaps
I can do nothing more than love someone today, but it's enough. Love is
the best gift I can give to God and to others throughout the day.Picture posted by Plantation59
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https://plantation59.com/collections/valentines-day-must-haves/products/copy-of-we-love-because-he-first-loved-us-tee
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we put on our street clothes with the intention of looking good.
One of our purpose of clothing, is to cover up our less-presentable
parts, as our parts grow less presentable each year.We pray that we follow the advice that no matter what we wear, we ought to dress down rather than up. Advertisements entice us to be noticed, but God's men and women have a different motivation: we should be ‘clothed with humility,’ one practical application of which is the desire to blend in and not attract attention to ourselves.
Lord, help us to dress conventionally, the way most people would dress on a given occasion. Because being flamboyant can draw attention to us, but so can being frumpy or out of fashion. Help us not to attract attention by the way we dress, but to impress by our manner of life. May this idea get into our hearts so that we become less preoccupied with how we look and can ‘think more highly of others than we think of ourselves.’
We learn that clothing is a necessity mandated by the Fall and our subsequent self-consciousness. But maintaining a wardrobe can be a tedious process, which gets more tiresome as we age, particularly as we get less interested in impressing others. Help us to make the morning ritual of dressing ourselves more meaningful by viewing it as a reminder of the spiritual apparel with which we’re clothed.
May in our dressing, have ejaculations fitted to the several actions of dressing: as at washing our hands and face, pray God to cleanse our Soul from sin; in putting on our clothes, pray Him to clothe our Soul with the righteousness of our Saviour; and so in all the rest. May we use each item of clothing to remind ourselves of our spiritual vestments.
When we put on our shirt each morning, may we remind ourselves to ‘put on love.’ For love is the best gift we can give to God and to others throughout the day.
When we buckle our trousers, may we be reminded that we need to ‘gird up the loins’ of our mind - pull our thoughts together and fix our hope fully on the gift of eternal life that will be brought to us when we see my Saviour face to face. May that thought brings sobriety and peace.
When we lace up our boots, may we think of our feet as shod and prepared to go wherever God wants us to go today and to go the distance - whatever it may be - to bring the good news of reconciliation and peace to others.
When we strap on our watch, may we think of the need to redeem the time - to use each hour to be a benediction to others. Many that we meet today may have been ravaged by evil and are living in terrible sorrow. We pray that we may be a blessing to them.
When we pick up our hat, may we be reminded of our ultimate and certain salvation - salvation that is promised and secure. May we be the apple of God's eye, as dear as God's only-begotten Son.
May these be the great way to dress for success.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
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Chapter 15 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Is This All the Thanks I Get?, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/07/reflection-number-our-days-is-this-all.html [15]
PHOTO: Teach me, Lord, not to gather encouragement
Public And Private
For several years Carolyn and I, somewhat like Job, sat in a "Nash heap" - a 1959, porcelain-white Nash Rambler station wagon that looked for all the world like an inverted bathtub on wheels. If it were turned upside down, I could have clamped an outboard motor on the rear bumper and raced the thing in Vancouver's annual Nanaimo Bathtub Regatta.
I still remember the day we began visiting car lots to replace it. We looked at a number of shiny new vehicles and finally decided on a purchase. Unfortunately, the payments were more than we could carry.
We dickered (bargained) for a while with the salesman - his price and ours - but concluded that the twain (two) would never meet and hastened to make our departure. As we were leaving his office, the salesman gave us his best shot. "Hey, you guys deserve this car," he shouted. In my heart of hearts I responded, "Indeed we do!"
Entitlement has always been one of my soft spots. "I've been a pretty good guy," I say to myself. "My accomplishments deserve a bit of praise." Which is why I get my nose out of joint when people don't appreciate me.
Then one day I came upon God's word to Zechariah about a shepherd who dedicated himself to the good of his people, who encouraged peace, prosperity, and brought tranquility and harmony to his flock. He, however, far from being appreciated, was despised and rejected. Those who discarded him set his price at thirty pieces of silver, the value of a slave. (Zechariah 11:7-13) Should I expect more?
And then there is Solomon's tale of "a small city with only a few people in it, and a powerful king who . . . surrounded it and built huge siege works against it." But, "there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom." Let's hear it for the wise man! What will he receive for his efforts? Alas, "nobody remembered that poor man." (Ecclesiastes 9:14-15)
One of the things I'm learning as I grow older is not to expect too much from people. It's possible to pour a good deal of effort, energy, and love into a friend or family member and receive nothing but ingratitude for our efforts. It's even possible that others may receive credit for the good that we've done.
We should all express appreciation to those who come to our side, but if we expect everyone to recognize what we have done for them, we can be deeply hurt. And we'll soon be asking ourselves: "Is this all the thanks I get?"
It's good, in those times of disappointment, to look into our own motives: Do we have an unholy sense of entitlement, or a passion to be seen and applauded for our efforts? Can we give freely and allow others to take responsibility for their own responses?
There are grateful men and women in this world, and we may hear from them. But the statistics in Jesus' parable of the ten virgins suggest that perhaps only ten percent of those we love and serve will ever thank us. The others will be silent at best. At worst they may be hostile. So if even one has responded, be grateful. And remember - God alone enables us to do good things for others.
And if the love of a grateful heart
As a rich reward be given,
Lift thou the love of a grateful heart
To the God of Love in Heaven.
Ingratitude in others can embitter us if we're not watchful. We must forgive those who fail to thank us - even those who, despite the love we've bestowed upon them, have turned away from us. Jesus said, "Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful . . . " (Luke 6:35)
Our Lord will be "kind" to us when we see Him face to face, for we too have been ungrateful. His "well-done" will ring throughout the universe, and He will praise us before human beings and angels. This may be the only appreciation we receive for the good we've done on earth, but in the end it's the only praise that will matter.
And though we cannot do much about those who disregard us, we can do a good deal about ourselves. Sometimes in the busyness of our lives we fail to express appreciation to those who have contributed so much to us - parents, spouses, siblings, friends, teachers, mentors, colleagues, to name only a few. Yet it doesn't take much time or effort to express our gratitude - a brief but heartfelt word of appreciation, a phone call, a text message, an e-mail, or a thank-you note will do.
Speaking of which, Carolyn and I have often marveled at our culture's indifference to thank-you notes. "I don't write little thank-you notes," a man said recently in our hearing. We could only stare in amazement. Is this refinement and courtesy so frivolous (unimportant) that it's now beneath us?
"Sending thank-you notes has become a lost art," mourns Mary Mitchell, a syndicated columnist who writes under the name of Ms. Demeanor. "A grateful attitude is a tremendous life skill, and an efficient and inexpensive way to set ourselves apart in the work force and in our adult lives . . . The habit of manners comes from inside - it's an attitude based on respecting other people."
Appreciation is an attitude based on respect for other people, even the unkind and ungrateful. But primarily it is an attitude based on love, for "love has good manners." (1 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV) And the habit of thankfulness must come from inside, for gratitude is the work of God's Holy Spirit. Apart from His grace, we would all be ungrateful wretches.
from appreciation by others, lest this should
interfere with purity of motive - not to seek praise,
respect, gratitude, or regard from superiors or
equals on account of age, or past service.
- Edward Benson From Prayers,interfere with purity of motive - not to seek praise,
respect, gratitude, or regard from superiors or
equals on account of age, or past service.
Public And Private
For several years Carolyn and I, somewhat like Job, sat in a "Nash heap" - a 1959, porcelain-white Nash Rambler station wagon that looked for all the world like an inverted bathtub on wheels. If it were turned upside down, I could have clamped an outboard motor on the rear bumper and raced the thing in Vancouver's annual Nanaimo Bathtub Regatta.
I still remember the day we began visiting car lots to replace it. We looked at a number of shiny new vehicles and finally decided on a purchase. Unfortunately, the payments were more than we could carry.
We dickered (bargained) for a while with the salesman - his price and ours - but concluded that the twain (two) would never meet and hastened to make our departure. As we were leaving his office, the salesman gave us his best shot. "Hey, you guys deserve this car," he shouted. In my heart of hearts I responded, "Indeed we do!"
Entitlement has always been one of my soft spots. "I've been a pretty good guy," I say to myself. "My accomplishments deserve a bit of praise." Which is why I get my nose out of joint when people don't appreciate me.
Then one day I came upon God's word to Zechariah about a shepherd who dedicated himself to the good of his people, who encouraged peace, prosperity, and brought tranquility and harmony to his flock. He, however, far from being appreciated, was despised and rejected. Those who discarded him set his price at thirty pieces of silver, the value of a slave. (Zechariah 11:7-13) Should I expect more?
And then there is Solomon's tale of "a small city with only a few people in it, and a powerful king who . . . surrounded it and built huge siege works against it." But, "there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom." Let's hear it for the wise man! What will he receive for his efforts? Alas, "nobody remembered that poor man." (Ecclesiastes 9:14-15)
One of the things I'm learning as I grow older is not to expect too much from people. It's possible to pour a good deal of effort, energy, and love into a friend or family member and receive nothing but ingratitude for our efforts. It's even possible that others may receive credit for the good that we've done.
We should all express appreciation to those who come to our side, but if we expect everyone to recognize what we have done for them, we can be deeply hurt. And we'll soon be asking ourselves: "Is this all the thanks I get?"
It's good, in those times of disappointment, to look into our own motives: Do we have an unholy sense of entitlement, or a passion to be seen and applauded for our efforts? Can we give freely and allow others to take responsibility for their own responses?
There are grateful men and women in this world, and we may hear from them. But the statistics in Jesus' parable of the ten virgins suggest that perhaps only ten percent of those we love and serve will ever thank us. The others will be silent at best. At worst they may be hostile. So if even one has responded, be grateful. And remember - God alone enables us to do good things for others.
And if the love of a grateful heart
As a rich reward be given,
Lift thou the love of a grateful heart
To the God of Love in Heaven.
Ingratitude in others can embitter us if we're not watchful. We must forgive those who fail to thank us - even those who, despite the love we've bestowed upon them, have turned away from us. Jesus said, "Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful . . . " (Luke 6:35)
Our Lord will be "kind" to us when we see Him face to face, for we too have been ungrateful. His "well-done" will ring throughout the universe, and He will praise us before human beings and angels. This may be the only appreciation we receive for the good we've done on earth, but in the end it's the only praise that will matter.
And though we cannot do much about those who disregard us, we can do a good deal about ourselves. Sometimes in the busyness of our lives we fail to express appreciation to those who have contributed so much to us - parents, spouses, siblings, friends, teachers, mentors, colleagues, to name only a few. Yet it doesn't take much time or effort to express our gratitude - a brief but heartfelt word of appreciation, a phone call, a text message, an e-mail, or a thank-you note will do.
Speaking of which, Carolyn and I have often marveled at our culture's indifference to thank-you notes. "I don't write little thank-you notes," a man said recently in our hearing. We could only stare in amazement. Is this refinement and courtesy so frivolous (unimportant) that it's now beneath us?
"Sending thank-you notes has become a lost art," mourns Mary Mitchell, a syndicated columnist who writes under the name of Ms. Demeanor. "A grateful attitude is a tremendous life skill, and an efficient and inexpensive way to set ourselves apart in the work force and in our adult lives . . . The habit of manners comes from inside - it's an attitude based on respecting other people."
Appreciation is an attitude based on respect for other people, even the unkind and ungrateful. But primarily it is an attitude based on love, for "love has good manners." (1 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV) And the habit of thankfulness must come from inside, for gratitude is the work of God's Holy Spirit. Apart from His grace, we would all be ungrateful wretches.
Picture posted by Shristi Patni, F and B Recipes
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PHOTO:
It's good, in those times of disappointment, to look into our own
motives: Do we have an unholy sense of entitlement, or a passion to be
seen and applauded for our efforts? Can we give freely and allow others
to take responsibility for their own responses?Picture posted by FineArtAmerica
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PHOTO: "Dear Lord, we learn that we may feel that we deserve some entitlement because of our accomplishments.The Bible has God's word to Zechariah about a shepherd who dedicated himself to the good of his people, who encouraged peace, prosperity, and brought tranquility and harmony to his flock. He, however, far from being appreciated, was despised and rejected. Those who discarded him set his price at thirty pieces of silver, the value of a slave.
And then there is Solomon's tale of ‘a small city with only a few people in it, and a powerful king who . . . surrounded it and built huge siege works against it.’ But, ‘there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. nobody remembered that poor man.’
Help us not to expect too much from people. It's possible to pour a good deal of effort, energy, and love into a friend or family member and receive nothing but ingratitude for our efforts. It's even possible that others may receive credit for the good that we've done.
Lord, we pray that we should all express appreciation to those who come to our side. Help us to realise that if we expect everyone to recognize what we have done for them, we can be deeply hurt.
We pray that in those times of disappointment, to look into our own motives: Do we have an unholy sense of entitlement, or a passion to be seen and applauded for our efforts? Can we give freely and allow others to take responsibility for their own responses?
We learn that there are grateful men and women in this world, and we may hear from them. But the statistics in Jesus' parable of the ten virgins suggest that perhaps only ten percent of those we love and serve will ever thank us. The others will be silent at best. At worst they may be hostile.
Help us to be grateful if even one has responded. May we remember - God alone enables us to do good things for others.
We pray that ingratitude in others do not embitter us, but to forgive those who fail to thank us - even those who, despite the love we've bestowed upon them, have turned away from us. Help us to learn from Jesus who said, ‘Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.’
Help us to realise that we too have been ungrateful. And yet He will praise us before human beings and angels. Although this may be the only appreciation we receive for the good we've done on earth, but in the end it's the only praise that will matter.
Help us to express appreciation to those who have contributed so much to us - parents, spouses, siblings, friends, teachers, mentors, colleagues, to name only a few.
We learn that appreciation is an attitude based on respect for other people, even the unkind and ungrateful. But primarily it is an attitude based on love, for ‘love has good manners.’ And the habit of thankfulness must come from inside, for gratitude is the work of God's Holy Spirit. Apart from His grace, we would all be ungrateful wretches.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by kabekinxuro
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Chapter 16 - Reflection - Number Our Days - "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory", https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/07/reflection-number-our-days-mine-eyes.html [16]
PHOTO: O! but we shall keepOur vision still. One moment was enough,
We know we are not made of mortal stuff.
And we can bear all trials that come after:
The hate of men and the fool's loud bestial (inhuman) laughter;
And Nature's rule and cruelties unclean
For we have seen the Glory - we have seen.
- C. S. Lewis, Spirits in Bondage:We know we are not made of mortal stuff.
And we can bear all trials that come after:
The hate of men and the fool's loud bestial (inhuman) laughter;
And Nature's rule and cruelties unclean
For we have seen the Glory - we have seen.
A Cycle of Lyrics, "Dungeon Grates"
We think of youth as the prime of life, when we have our wits about us. But, as William Shakespeare's Dogberry lamented, "When the age is in, the wit is out. God help us!"
Psychologist B. F. Skinner said, "It is easier to be happy when you're young . . . old age is not the 'best part.'" But Skinner was a behaviorist, who saw human activity as little more than conditioned response. Furthermore, his model was unredeemed humanity. The apostle Paul had the true and much better perspective.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
Gerontologists (focus on studying the aging process) tell us we're three ages at once; chronological, physiological, and psychological. Our chronological age is a function of our years. Our physiological age is a measure of our physical well-being. Our psychological age is the age that we "feel." And I would add a fourth: our spiritual age. This is the true measure of our maturity. It's not a date on our calendar; it's a state of mind.
Age has its troubles - diminished hearing and eyesight, forgetfulness, aching backs and arthritic hands, sleepless nights, faltering steps, crippled knees. These are what Paul calls light, momentary troubles - incremental intimations that "we are wasting away." Yet Paul insists that "inwardly we are being renewed day by day," for our present, temporal troubles are at work to produce an eternal weight of glory. (2 Corinthians 4:16-17, emphasis added)
How so?
Well, as I see it, aging and weakness send our thoughts after God. We learn to "fix our eyes" on Him and on unseen realities; we gain insight to distinguish between the temporary and the timeless, the permanent and the passing. We are drawn by God's love, we set our affections on things above and not on things on the earth.
Here is a state of mind, I say, a way of looking at things. It is a matter of seeing what cannot be seen with natural eyes: envisioning the eternal glory that awaits us. It is looking beyond present frailty to what we will someday be - glorious creatures, bursting with radiant beauty and infinite energy!
So, with this vision, "We do not lose heart." We can know strength of character despite our frail and failing humanity. We can show patient endurance and love for others in the midst of our discomfort. We can partner with our pain and go on serving, praying, loving, and caring to the end of our days. We can be joyful and confident at the edge of death. We can press on, because we have seen the glory!
We're all growing older and feeling more of the effects of aging every day. This is "Nature's rule and cruelties unclean." The question is this: How do we view our troubles? Are they driving us toward bitterness and despair? Or are they drawing us into deeper intimacy with God?
If we are growing toward Him, we will see more of the glory than ever before, for that assurance comes not from texts or creeds, but from daily communion with the God of life who loves us as no one else can. Thus, Isaiah encourages us:
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. (Isaiah 60:1)
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PHOTO:
Our spiritual age is the true measure of our maturity. It's not a date
on our calendar; it's a state of mind. Spirituality, according to Oxford
Dictionaries, is “The quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.”Picture posted by University Village
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PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn that human activity is not just conditioned response
basing on variables like age. Paul had the true and much better
perspective.
We are encouraged not to lose heart. Although outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. Our incremental intimations that cause us to ‘waste away’ are comparatively light and momentary troubles.
Our present, temporal troubles are at work to produce an eternal weight of glory. And God’s glory is heavy because in 2 Chronicles 5:14, the glory of the Lord that filled the house was so heavy that the priests could not stand.
We pray that in our aging and weakness, we send our thoughts after God. Help us to learn to ‘fix our eyes’ on Him and on unseen realities so as to gain insight to distinguish between the temporary and the timeless, the permanent and the passing.
Help us to be drawn by God's love, set our affections on things above and not on things on the earth.
Lord, grant us the correct state of mind to look at things, especially to see what cannot be seen with natural eyes: envisioning the eternal glory that awaits us. May we be able to look beyond our present frailty to what we will someday be - glorious creatures, bursting with radiant beauty and infinite energy.
With this vision, ‘We will not lose heart.’ We can know strength of character despite our frail and failing humanity. We can show patient endurance and love for others in the midst of our discomfort. We can partner with our pain and go on serving, praying, loving, and caring to the end of our days. We can be joyful and confident at the edge of death. We can press on, because we have seen the glory!
We pray that as we grow older and feel more of the effects of aging every day, draw us into deeper intimacy with You. Because if we are growing toward You, we will see more of the glory than ever before. May this assurance comes from daily communion with You, the God of life who loves us as no one else can.
May we be encouraged by Isaiah’s ‘Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.’
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Irene Rudnyk on 17 March 2019 - Chloe
We are encouraged not to lose heart. Although outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. Our incremental intimations that cause us to ‘waste away’ are comparatively light and momentary troubles.
Our present, temporal troubles are at work to produce an eternal weight of glory. And God’s glory is heavy because in 2 Chronicles 5:14, the glory of the Lord that filled the house was so heavy that the priests could not stand.
We pray that in our aging and weakness, we send our thoughts after God. Help us to learn to ‘fix our eyes’ on Him and on unseen realities so as to gain insight to distinguish between the temporary and the timeless, the permanent and the passing.
Help us to be drawn by God's love, set our affections on things above and not on things on the earth.
Lord, grant us the correct state of mind to look at things, especially to see what cannot be seen with natural eyes: envisioning the eternal glory that awaits us. May we be able to look beyond our present frailty to what we will someday be - glorious creatures, bursting with radiant beauty and infinite energy.
With this vision, ‘We will not lose heart.’ We can know strength of character despite our frail and failing humanity. We can show patient endurance and love for others in the midst of our discomfort. We can partner with our pain and go on serving, praying, loving, and caring to the end of our days. We can be joyful and confident at the edge of death. We can press on, because we have seen the glory!
We pray that as we grow older and feel more of the effects of aging every day, draw us into deeper intimacy with You. Because if we are growing toward You, we will see more of the glory than ever before. May this assurance comes from daily communion with You, the God of life who loves us as no one else can.
May we be encouraged by Isaiah’s ‘Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.’
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Irene Rudnyk on 17 March 2019 - Chloe
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Chapter 17 - Reflection - Number Our Days - The Grander Curves of Character, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/07/reflection-number-our-days-grander.html [17]
PHOTO: Dear Pastor,
I know God loves everybody, but I
don't think he ever met my sister.
Yours sincerely,
- Arnold, Age 8
Its's not easy to endure, let alone love, someone who makes your life miserable, which is why David's poem in praise of Saul is so laudable:
Saul and Jonathan -
in life they were loved and gracious,
and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.
O daughters of Israel,
weep for Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and finery,
who adorned your garments with ornaments
of gold. (2 Samuel 1:23-24)
"Saul and Jonathan - in life they were loved and gracious." What a remarkable thing to say!
David had good reason, of course, to eulogize (praise) his dear friend Jonathan, every memory of whom was a benediction (blessing), but Saul was another matter entirely. Saul's resentment and insane rage had driven him to harass David unmercifully. He had hounded David for years, pursuing him like "a partridge (a short-tailed game bird with mainly brown feathers) in the mountains." (1 Samuel 26:20) Yet David crowds what praise he can utter of Saul into these lines.
In doing this, however, David did not lie. There were things he could not say of Saul. But he did commend what he knew was good and true about the man: his courage, his military skill, his willingness to aid those in need, his pleasantness and courtesy when he was in his right mind. David resisted the temptation to dwell on Saul's vices and chose instead to reflect on his virtues.
And so I've been asking myself lately; Am I preoccupied with other people's imperfections? Do I brood over their failures and faults, their moral flaws? Do I consider only the wrong that they do, especially the wrong they have done to me, or do I reflect on those aspects of character that are morally excellent and worthy of praise?
How many friendships have ended because someone's mistakes loomed large in our minds? How many marriages have died because we brooded and obsessed over our spouse's flaws? How many of us have alienated our children because we have endlessly chided them and harped (Dwell on; talk or write about to a tedious and excessive extent) on their failings?
Paul writes, "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent, or praiseworthy - think about such things." (Philippians 4:8) I've often pondered this verse and wondered how anyone can think abstractly about nobility, righteousness, and loveliness. Can it be that Paul is suggesting that we concentrate on those traits in others that are noble, admirable, lovely, and worthy of praise?
Love is not gullible (easily persuaded to believe something) or naive, but when we "love each other deeply . . . love cover a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8) Love looks for goodness and nobility in others. When we do this, we gain perspective and admiration for the merits of friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues despite their flaws.
So in the survey of his worth the small
Asperities (harshness) of his spirit disappear,
Lost in the grander curves of character.
"Love one another and you will be happy," Michael Leunig writes. "It's as simple and as difficult as that."
Philosopher Peter Kreeft says that "our loving can be like a tube open at both ends, with God's love coming in one end and out the other . . . The alternative is to be a tube open at only one end. Then we try to squeeze our own toothpaste out of the tube. But we have only a finite amount of spiritual toothpaste to give. So we worry about squandering it, just as the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son did. But God's supply is infinite."
God's love flowing in from one end of the tube to the other floods all our being so that we can pour out our love to others. But we can only love because we know that God "first loved us."
"We must lie where John did, on the bosom of incarnate (represent a spirit in human form) Love, until we begin to love as He."
I know God loves everybody, but I
don't think he ever met my sister.
Yours sincerely,
- Arnold, Age 8
Its's not easy to endure, let alone love, someone who makes your life miserable, which is why David's poem in praise of Saul is so laudable:
Saul and Jonathan -
in life they were loved and gracious,
and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.
O daughters of Israel,
weep for Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and finery,
who adorned your garments with ornaments
of gold. (2 Samuel 1:23-24)
"Saul and Jonathan - in life they were loved and gracious." What a remarkable thing to say!
David had good reason, of course, to eulogize (praise) his dear friend Jonathan, every memory of whom was a benediction (blessing), but Saul was another matter entirely. Saul's resentment and insane rage had driven him to harass David unmercifully. He had hounded David for years, pursuing him like "a partridge (a short-tailed game bird with mainly brown feathers) in the mountains." (1 Samuel 26:20) Yet David crowds what praise he can utter of Saul into these lines.
In doing this, however, David did not lie. There were things he could not say of Saul. But he did commend what he knew was good and true about the man: his courage, his military skill, his willingness to aid those in need, his pleasantness and courtesy when he was in his right mind. David resisted the temptation to dwell on Saul's vices and chose instead to reflect on his virtues.
And so I've been asking myself lately; Am I preoccupied with other people's imperfections? Do I brood over their failures and faults, their moral flaws? Do I consider only the wrong that they do, especially the wrong they have done to me, or do I reflect on those aspects of character that are morally excellent and worthy of praise?
How many friendships have ended because someone's mistakes loomed large in our minds? How many marriages have died because we brooded and obsessed over our spouse's flaws? How many of us have alienated our children because we have endlessly chided them and harped (Dwell on; talk or write about to a tedious and excessive extent) on their failings?
Paul writes, "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent, or praiseworthy - think about such things." (Philippians 4:8) I've often pondered this verse and wondered how anyone can think abstractly about nobility, righteousness, and loveliness. Can it be that Paul is suggesting that we concentrate on those traits in others that are noble, admirable, lovely, and worthy of praise?
Love is not gullible (easily persuaded to believe something) or naive, but when we "love each other deeply . . . love cover a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8) Love looks for goodness and nobility in others. When we do this, we gain perspective and admiration for the merits of friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues despite their flaws.
So in the survey of his worth the small
Asperities (harshness) of his spirit disappear,
Lost in the grander curves of character.
"Love one another and you will be happy," Michael Leunig writes. "It's as simple and as difficult as that."
Philosopher Peter Kreeft says that "our loving can be like a tube open at both ends, with God's love coming in one end and out the other . . . The alternative is to be a tube open at only one end. Then we try to squeeze our own toothpaste out of the tube. But we have only a finite amount of spiritual toothpaste to give. So we worry about squandering it, just as the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son did. But God's supply is infinite."
God's love flowing in from one end of the tube to the other floods all our being so that we can pour out our love to others. But we can only love because we know that God "first loved us."
"We must lie where John did, on the bosom of incarnate (represent a spirit in human form) Love, until we begin to love as He."
O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzywJnUscRU9ZQd_TqxIdQVSjiwEi62O02E2zsp933vDG7HiRBv-3FXGW0M8Id0sRRRA3heEyV_H2Q4rFH8IF60MuK2QMRmmQGJCE8YCYeZBO2v35MnULwG2Bm4WfmzugamuLA_URGq4o/s1500/dancing-happy-field-flowers-1949413.jpg
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PHOTO: Love is not gullible (easily persuaded to believe something) or naive, but when we "love each other deeply . . . love cover a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8) Love
looks for goodness and nobility in others. When we do this, we gain
perspective and admiration for the merits of friends, family, neighbors,
and colleagues despite their flaws.Picture posted by Irulana, Agnieszka Miroslaw on 23 August 2007 - Falling in Love
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqgiDd5zdOLqKabnP8fMntq9Ee9orIJED4QB50gOIld2wSpjv3qKEQ2M5L7Thn-pQQRKt78UGl8SfSbb7QZLN9omsp2dGzVnXojGMS4TwN0jsp6eu5H5mPYbxgM5zqnUuibhgrZoHBkAI/s1202/d11i9hp-d05893f2-50de-4448-a437-3e8f50c91636.jpg
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https://www.deviantart.com/irulana/art/Falling-in-Love-62997901
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we pray that we can learn from David who was able to eulogize
both his dear friend Jonathan and Saul, as ‘in life they were loved and
gracious’. To eulogize his dear friend Jonathan, every memory of whom
was a benediction, but Saul was another matter entirely. Saul's
resentment and insane rage had driven him to harass David unmercifully.
He had hounded David for years, pursuing him like ‘a partridge in the
mountains.’ David resisted the temptation to dwell on Saul's vices and
chose instead to reflect on his virtues.Help us not to be preoccupied with other people's imperfections, their failures and faults, and their moral flaws. Help us not to consider only the wrong that they do, especially the wrong they have done to us, but to reflect on those aspects of character that are morally excellent and worthy of praise.
May then many friendships need not ended because someone's mistakes loomed large in our minds. Many marriages need not died due to our brooding and obsessing over our spouse's flaws. Many of us need not alienated our children because we have endlessly chided them and harped on their failings.
Lord, help us to take Paul’s advice: ‘Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent, or praiseworthy - think about such things.’ May we concentrate on those traits in others that are noble, admirable, lovely, and worthy of praise.
We pray that we love each other deeply because love cover a multitude of sins. Love looks for goodness and nobility in others. Help us to do this in order to gain perspective and admiration for the merits of friends, family, neighbours, and colleagues despite their flaws.
May we love one another and be happy. But Lord, we have only a finite amount of love to give. We pray for your love to flood all our being so that we can pour out our love to others. We can only love because You ‘first loved us.’
We pray for Your incarnate love so that we begin to love as You. And that is the grander curves of our characters.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Dreamstime
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Chapter 18 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Going and Not Knowing,
PHOTO: God of coming years, through
paths unknown we follow Thee.
- Hugh T. Kerr
Abraham was seventy-five years of age when he was taken from his home in Ur of the Chaldees. His entire life from that time on became nomadic as he moved from one place to another - from Ur to Haran, to Shechem, to Bethel, to Egypt, to the Negev, to Hebron . . . "By faith Abraham . . . obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." (Hebrews 11:8) Rootless, homeless, going and not knowing - that was the story of his life.
Thinking about Abraham's changing environment, it occurred to me that aging itself is a journey away from settled and secure places to endless change, uncertainty, and adjustment. It is transition from a familiar past to an uncertain future. It is movement from a family home, to a smaller place, to a daughter's home, to a retirement community, to a nursing home - the "last resort," as a friend of mine says. Sociologist Paul Tournier describes the experience as always being "in between," like a trapeze artist suspended in mid-air.
So, like Abraham, as we grow older we pass "through paths unknown," making our way from one place to another, always traveling, going and not knowing, "just lookin' for a home." Yet we can be at home in every place we dwell, for our safekeeping lies not in the place, but in God himself. He is our home and our habitation. We dwell in the shelter of the Most High. We rest in the shadow of the Almighty. (Psalm 91:1, 9)
It is noteworthy that Abraham raised a rough-hewn altar in every place he lived. There, we're told, he "called on the name of the Lord" - he bowed his heart in worship.
Worship is the way we get our minds off our circumstances and ourselves and give our full attention to God. There, in His presence, under His wings, we find refuge. The eternal God becomes our dwelling place. (Psalm 90:1)
Peter was told, "When you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Nevertheless, Jesus called to him, "Follow me!" (John 21:18-19)
Though it may seem that others are choosing our habitation, it is our sovereign Lord who actually makes these choices, leading us from one place to another. He will turn each dreary dwelling place into a house of grace in which we can shed the light of God's loving kindness on other travelers. And He will be our companion and friend until our traveling days are over and we reach our heart's true Home.
God of the coming years, through paths unknown
we follow Thee.
Picture posted by Isira
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7D9q2e0_QcsJxB5UBg0B-c8szW4QfF7NYG7J9VDRm57IRDPrHdhGll185EI3LC3ZY2qNkhe1rmxOjdeGHS8eNHt7wiwEpcY12rv87mW1B_TcutZE42mpL5e6INz3zXV-HDw55DSZSTGs/s2048/TheTruth_a-WEBSITE_1.jpg
https://www.isira.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/TheTruth_a-WEBSITE.jpg
paths unknown we follow Thee.
- Hugh T. Kerr
Abraham was seventy-five years of age when he was taken from his home in Ur of the Chaldees. His entire life from that time on became nomadic as he moved from one place to another - from Ur to Haran, to Shechem, to Bethel, to Egypt, to the Negev, to Hebron . . . "By faith Abraham . . . obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." (Hebrews 11:8) Rootless, homeless, going and not knowing - that was the story of his life.
Thinking about Abraham's changing environment, it occurred to me that aging itself is a journey away from settled and secure places to endless change, uncertainty, and adjustment. It is transition from a familiar past to an uncertain future. It is movement from a family home, to a smaller place, to a daughter's home, to a retirement community, to a nursing home - the "last resort," as a friend of mine says. Sociologist Paul Tournier describes the experience as always being "in between," like a trapeze artist suspended in mid-air.
So, like Abraham, as we grow older we pass "through paths unknown," making our way from one place to another, always traveling, going and not knowing, "just lookin' for a home." Yet we can be at home in every place we dwell, for our safekeeping lies not in the place, but in God himself. He is our home and our habitation. We dwell in the shelter of the Most High. We rest in the shadow of the Almighty. (Psalm 91:1, 9)
It is noteworthy that Abraham raised a rough-hewn altar in every place he lived. There, we're told, he "called on the name of the Lord" - he bowed his heart in worship.
Worship is the way we get our minds off our circumstances and ourselves and give our full attention to God. There, in His presence, under His wings, we find refuge. The eternal God becomes our dwelling place. (Psalm 90:1)
Peter was told, "When you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Nevertheless, Jesus called to him, "Follow me!" (John 21:18-19)
Though it may seem that others are choosing our habitation, it is our sovereign Lord who actually makes these choices, leading us from one place to another. He will turn each dreary dwelling place into a house of grace in which we can shed the light of God's loving kindness on other travelers. And He will be our companion and friend until our traveling days are over and we reach our heart's true Home.
God of the coming years, through paths unknown
we follow Thee.
Picture posted by Isira
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7D9q2e0_QcsJxB5UBg0B-c8szW4QfF7NYG7J9VDRm57IRDPrHdhGll185EI3LC3ZY2qNkhe1rmxOjdeGHS8eNHt7wiwEpcY12rv87mW1B_TcutZE42mpL5e6INz3zXV-HDw55DSZSTGs/s2048/TheTruth_a-WEBSITE_1.jpg
https://www.isira.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/TheTruth_a-WEBSITE.jpg
PHOTO: Like Abraham, as we grow older we pass 'through paths unknown,' making our way from one place to another, always traveling, going and not knowing, 'just looking for a home.' Yet
we can be at home in every place we dwell, for our safekeeping lies not
in the place, but in God himself. He is our home and our habitation. We
dwell in the shelter of the Most High. We rest in the shadow of the
Almighty. (Psalm 91:1, 9)
Picture posted by Emden, Deutschland
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLucqAKGfhRHjP16lgHWpFvVD7IeCts0w4cbtVUjb1l55B9pf686dkRs0sVtkwxQqC6uTHpkeNjnuPqGl59l35PERgURPTiaQfz8FKyLM6km13i6Egl1OyoMmDyTNNAm_fAqO-E9Y5ZXk/s2048/altitude-bright-christ-the-redeemer-2818895_1.jpg
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Picture posted by Emden, Deutschland
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https://integraleschristsein.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/altitude-bright-christ-the-redeemer-2818895.jpg
PHOTO: "Dear Lord, we learn that Abraham was seventy-five years of age when he was taken from his home in Ur of the Chaldees. His entire life from that time on became nomadic as he moved from one place to another. Rootless, homeless, going and not knowing - that was the story of his life.
Abraham's changing environment is like our aging - it is a journey away from settled and secure places to endless change, uncertainty, and adjustment. It is transition from a familiar past to an uncertain future. It is movement from a family home, to a smaller place, to a daughter's home, to a retirement community, to a nursing home - the ‘last resort.’ The ‘in between,’ is like a trapeze artist suspended in mid-air.
Lord, like Abraham, as we grow older we pass ‘through paths unknown,’ making our way from one place to another, always travelling, going and not knowing, ‘just looking for a home.’
Lord, we learn from Abraham, worship is the way we get our minds off our circumstances and ourselves and give our full attention to God. In every place he lived, he raised a rough-hewn altar, and ‘called on the name of the Lord’ - he bowed his heart in worship.
Though it may seem that others are choosing our habitation, it is our sovereign Lord who actually makes these choices, leading us from one place to another. May He turn each dreary dwelling place into a house of grace in which we can shed the light of God's loving kindness on other travellers. And we pray that He will be our companion and friend until our travelling days are over and we reach our heart's true Home.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Paintig by Solomon Joseph Solomon (1860-1927) - The Judgement of Paris (1891)
Picture posted by Wikipedia
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Chapter 19 - Reflection - Number Our Days - From the Ground Up, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/08/reflection-number-our-days-from-ground.html [19]
PHOTO: We descend by self-exaltation (ecstasy)
and ascend by humility.
- St. Benedict
I read the other day of Charles Simeon, the nineteenth-century English preacher and leader of the evangelical revival in the Church of England. As an elderly man he was noted for his gentle, humble ways, but in his early years Simeon was proud and self-assertive.
One day he was visiting a friend, Henry Venn, who was pastor in the village of Yelling some miles away from Simeon's church in Cambridge. When he left to go home, Venn's daughters complained to their father about his manner.
Venn took the girls to the backyard and said, "Pick me one of those peaches." It was early summer, and the peaches were very green. The girls asked why he wanted the green, unripe fruit. Venn replied, "Well, my dears, it is green now, and we must wait; but a little more sun, and a few more showers, and the peach will be ripe and sweet. So it is with Mr. Simeon."
Simeon, in due time, came to recognize his own arrogance. The warmth of God's love and the showers of opposition, misunderstanding, misrepresentation, disappointment, and frustration that fell upon him became the means by which he grew downward in humility and upward in adoration.
Thus the God of all grace works in the lives of His children, humbling the proud and exalting (praising) the humble, to make us ripe and sweet.
We imagine that spiritual growth is upward, when in fact the path to usefulness and maturity is a downward spiral through difficulty, contradiction, injustice, and humiliation. There is no other way. We must be brought low, rendered powerless, stripped of pretense and defensiveness. We must be left empty, insignificant, useless, feeling like dirt.
"Dirt" is exactly the right word, for fruitfulness grows from the ground up. As Jesus said, "Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." (John 12:24)
God brings us to the ground, and aging is one of His means. Past sin, frailty, discomfort, physical decline, and thoughts of impending (coming) death all bring us down.
We must believe, then, that God is humbling us, that He is humbling us for a reason, and that He gives great grace to the humble.
The Lord sends poverty and wealth;
he humbles and he exalts.
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
He seats them with princes
and has them inherit a throne of honor. (1 Samuel 2:7-8)
Our part, in the midst of all that is happening to us, is to see God's grace in our frustrations and accept them as His loving hand upon us without growing weary or running away. We must take courage, and wait for the Lord to make us "ripe and sweet."
One of my favorite lines in all of C.S. Lewis's writing is found in his Narnia tale "The Horse and His Boy." The great warhorse Bree, the "Horse" in the title, had humiliated himself by running away from battle. Now he thought he could never again show his face in Narnia and was stricken with terrible remorse over his cowardice.
"It's all very well for you," said Bree. "You haven't disgraced yourself. But I've lost everything."
"My good Horse," said the Hermit [of the Southern March] . . . "you've lost nothing but your self-conceit. No, no, cousin. Don't put back your ears and shake your mane at me. If you are really so humbled as you sounded a minute ago, you must learn to listen to sense. You're not quite the great Horse you had come to think, from living among poor dumb horses. Of course you were braver and cleverer than them. You could hardly help being that. It doesn't follow that you'll be anyone very special in Narnia. But as long as you know you're nobody very special, you'll be a very decent sort of Horse, on the whole, and taking one thing with another."
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https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/08/reflection-number-our-days-from-ground.htmland ascend by humility.
- St. Benedict
I read the other day of Charles Simeon, the nineteenth-century English preacher and leader of the evangelical revival in the Church of England. As an elderly man he was noted for his gentle, humble ways, but in his early years Simeon was proud and self-assertive.
One day he was visiting a friend, Henry Venn, who was pastor in the village of Yelling some miles away from Simeon's church in Cambridge. When he left to go home, Venn's daughters complained to their father about his manner.
Venn took the girls to the backyard and said, "Pick me one of those peaches." It was early summer, and the peaches were very green. The girls asked why he wanted the green, unripe fruit. Venn replied, "Well, my dears, it is green now, and we must wait; but a little more sun, and a few more showers, and the peach will be ripe and sweet. So it is with Mr. Simeon."
Simeon, in due time, came to recognize his own arrogance. The warmth of God's love and the showers of opposition, misunderstanding, misrepresentation, disappointment, and frustration that fell upon him became the means by which he grew downward in humility and upward in adoration.
Thus the God of all grace works in the lives of His children, humbling the proud and exalting (praising) the humble, to make us ripe and sweet.
We imagine that spiritual growth is upward, when in fact the path to usefulness and maturity is a downward spiral through difficulty, contradiction, injustice, and humiliation. There is no other way. We must be brought low, rendered powerless, stripped of pretense and defensiveness. We must be left empty, insignificant, useless, feeling like dirt.
"Dirt" is exactly the right word, for fruitfulness grows from the ground up. As Jesus said, "Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." (John 12:24)
God brings us to the ground, and aging is one of His means. Past sin, frailty, discomfort, physical decline, and thoughts of impending (coming) death all bring us down.
We must believe, then, that God is humbling us, that He is humbling us for a reason, and that He gives great grace to the humble.
The Lord sends poverty and wealth;
he humbles and he exalts.
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
He seats them with princes
and has them inherit a throne of honor. (1 Samuel 2:7-8)
Our part, in the midst of all that is happening to us, is to see God's grace in our frustrations and accept them as His loving hand upon us without growing weary or running away. We must take courage, and wait for the Lord to make us "ripe and sweet."
One of my favorite lines in all of C.S. Lewis's writing is found in his Narnia tale "The Horse and His Boy." The great warhorse Bree, the "Horse" in the title, had humiliated himself by running away from battle. Now he thought he could never again show his face in Narnia and was stricken with terrible remorse over his cowardice.
"It's all very well for you," said Bree. "You haven't disgraced yourself. But I've lost everything."
"My good Horse," said the Hermit [of the Southern March] . . . "you've lost nothing but your self-conceit. No, no, cousin. Don't put back your ears and shake your mane at me. If you are really so humbled as you sounded a minute ago, you must learn to listen to sense. You're not quite the great Horse you had come to think, from living among poor dumb horses. Of course you were braver and cleverer than them. You could hardly help being that. It doesn't follow that you'll be anyone very special in Narnia. But as long as you know you're nobody very special, you'll be a very decent sort of Horse, on the whole, and taking one thing with another."
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PHOTO: "Dirt" is exactly the right word, for fruitfulness grows from the ground up. [96] As Jesus said, "Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." (John 12:24)
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PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn from St. Benedict that We descend by self-exaltation and
ascend by humility. We pray that although we may be proud and
self-assertive but with Your love and grace we can become gentle and
humble.
From nature we too notice that in early summer, the peaches are very green. But with a little more sun, and a few more showers, the peach will be ripe and sweet.
Lord, help us in due time, come to recognize our own arrogance. Your warmth of love and the showers of opposition, misunderstanding, misrepresentation, disappointment, and frustration that fell upon us become the means by which we grew downward in humility and upward in adoration.
You are the God of all grace who works in the lives of Your children, humbling the proud and exalting the humble, to make us ripe and sweet.
We may be growing spiritually upward, when in fact the path to usefulness and maturity is a downward spiral through difficulty, contradiction, injustice, and humiliation. There is no other way. We must be brought low, rendered powerless, stripped of pretence and defensiveness. We must be left empty, insignificant, useless, feeling like dirt.
We learn that 'dirt' is exactly the right word, for fruitfulness grows from the ground up. As Jesus said, ’Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.’
Lord, we pray that You bring us to the ground, and aging is one of Your means. Past sin, frailty, discomfort, physical decline, and thoughts of impending death all bring us down. We believe that You are humbling us for a reason, and that You gives great grace to the humble.
We pray too, that in the midst of all that is happening to us, to see Your grace in our frustrations and accept them as Your loving hand upon us without growing weary or running away. We must take courage, and wait for You to make us 'ripe and sweet.'
May we realise that we are nobody special so that we can be very decent sort of person, on the whole, and replacing our undesirable with desirable.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Photo by Annie Leibovitz - Taylor Swift is Rapunzel in the latest "Celebrity Disney Princess"
Picture posted by Charlie Jane Anders on 23 January 2013 at 09:05 pm
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https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/08/reflection-number-our-days-from-ground.htmlFrom nature we too notice that in early summer, the peaches are very green. But with a little more sun, and a few more showers, the peach will be ripe and sweet.
Lord, help us in due time, come to recognize our own arrogance. Your warmth of love and the showers of opposition, misunderstanding, misrepresentation, disappointment, and frustration that fell upon us become the means by which we grew downward in humility and upward in adoration.
You are the God of all grace who works in the lives of Your children, humbling the proud and exalting the humble, to make us ripe and sweet.
We may be growing spiritually upward, when in fact the path to usefulness and maturity is a downward spiral through difficulty, contradiction, injustice, and humiliation. There is no other way. We must be brought low, rendered powerless, stripped of pretence and defensiveness. We must be left empty, insignificant, useless, feeling like dirt.
We learn that 'dirt' is exactly the right word, for fruitfulness grows from the ground up. As Jesus said, ’Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.’
Lord, we pray that You bring us to the ground, and aging is one of Your means. Past sin, frailty, discomfort, physical decline, and thoughts of impending death all bring us down. We believe that You are humbling us for a reason, and that You gives great grace to the humble.
We pray too, that in the midst of all that is happening to us, to see Your grace in our frustrations and accept them as Your loving hand upon us without growing weary or running away. We must take courage, and wait for You to make us 'ripe and sweet.'
May we realise that we are nobody special so that we can be very decent sort of person, on the whole, and replacing our undesirable with desirable.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Photo by Annie Leibovitz - Taylor Swift is Rapunzel in the latest "Celebrity Disney Princess"
Picture posted by Charlie Jane Anders on 23 January 2013 at 09:05 pm
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Chapter 20 - Reflection - Number Our Days - The Hand on the Helve,
PHOTO:And behind the working is a mind controlling,
A friend of mine tells me that he may have prostate cancer, but must wait for several months for a final diagnosis. "The Sword of Damocles is hanging over my head," he says.
Damocles, according to classical mythology, was a courier who served King Dionysius, a fourth-century tyrannical ruler of the Greek colony of Syracuse. King Dionysius enjoyed all the blessings of power and wealth and seemed to be living the perfect life. Damocles would often compliment the king on his wealth and power. One day when he did this, the king asked if he would like to try living his life for a day. Damocles eagerly agreed and enjoyed himself immensely until he noticed a sharp sword suspended above his head by a single hair. This, Dionysius explained, was what life as a ruler was really like.
"The Sword of Damocles," then, is an allusion (reference) to this tale and has become a symbol for any perilous situation in which tragedy is imminent and foreboding. My friend's comment, thus, takes on vivid meaning: He lives each day with the knowledge that his fate is hanging by the slenderest of threads.
As I thought about what my friend had told me, I suddenly saw the hand on the helve of the sword. The fate of my friend is not based on slender chance, miscalculation, or accident, but on the wisdom and goodness of the loving Father who holds the "sword," whatever it may be. My friend is in the strong hands of one who loves him and cares for him as no other can.
The Heidelberg Catechism asks: "What dost thou mean by the providence of God?" And answers: "The almighty and everywhere present power of God; whereby, as it were by His hand, He upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures; so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drinks, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things come, not by chance, but by His fatherly hand."
You and I may face terrifying circumstances in this life over which we have no control: rain or drought, fruitful or barren years, health or sickness, riches or poverty, life or death. These circumstances, when they come to us, may seem capricious (unaccountable) and mere chance, but they are not. "The force that holds them, retards them, stops and starts and guides them, is our Father's hand."
David knew this. "But you, O God, do see trouble and grief, you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you." (Psalm 10:14)
And a force direction, and a guiding hand.
- Anne Johnson FlintA friend of mine tells me that he may have prostate cancer, but must wait for several months for a final diagnosis. "The Sword of Damocles is hanging over my head," he says.
Damocles, according to classical mythology, was a courier who served King Dionysius, a fourth-century tyrannical ruler of the Greek colony of Syracuse. King Dionysius enjoyed all the blessings of power and wealth and seemed to be living the perfect life. Damocles would often compliment the king on his wealth and power. One day when he did this, the king asked if he would like to try living his life for a day. Damocles eagerly agreed and enjoyed himself immensely until he noticed a sharp sword suspended above his head by a single hair. This, Dionysius explained, was what life as a ruler was really like.
"The Sword of Damocles," then, is an allusion (reference) to this tale and has become a symbol for any perilous situation in which tragedy is imminent and foreboding. My friend's comment, thus, takes on vivid meaning: He lives each day with the knowledge that his fate is hanging by the slenderest of threads.
As I thought about what my friend had told me, I suddenly saw the hand on the helve of the sword. The fate of my friend is not based on slender chance, miscalculation, or accident, but on the wisdom and goodness of the loving Father who holds the "sword," whatever it may be. My friend is in the strong hands of one who loves him and cares for him as no other can.
The Heidelberg Catechism asks: "What dost thou mean by the providence of God?" And answers: "The almighty and everywhere present power of God; whereby, as it were by His hand, He upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures; so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drinks, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things come, not by chance, but by His fatherly hand."
You and I may face terrifying circumstances in this life over which we have no control: rain or drought, fruitful or barren years, health or sickness, riches or poverty, life or death. These circumstances, when they come to us, may seem capricious (unaccountable) and mere chance, but they are not. "The force that holds them, retards them, stops and starts and guides them, is our Father's hand."
David knew this. "But you, O God, do see trouble and grief, you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you." (Psalm 10:14)
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PHOTO: "What dost thou mean by the providence of God?" And answers: "The
almighty and everywhere present power of God; whereby, as it were by
His hand, He upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures; so
that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat
and drinks, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things
come, not by chance, but by His fatherly hand."
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PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn that ‘The Sword of Damocles,’ has become a symbol for
any perilous situation in which tragedy is imminent and foreboding.
Especially, when we live each day with the knowledge that our fate is
hanging by the slenderest of threads.
However, lord, the hand on the helve of the sword is Your strong hands, of one who loves us and cares for us as no other can. Our fate is not based on slender chance, miscalculation, or accident, but on the wisdom and goodness of the loving Father who holds the ‘sword.’
The Heidelberg Catechism provides the answer to the providence of God: ‘The almighty and everywhere present power of God; whereby, as it were by His hand, He upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures; so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drinks, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things come, not by chance, but by His fatherly hand.’
We may face terrifying circumstances in this life over which we have no control: rain or drought, fruitful or barren years, health or sickness, riches or poverty, life or death. These circumstances, when they come to us, may seem capricious and mere chance, but they are not. ‘The force that holds them, retards them, stops and starts and guides them, is our Father's hand.’
Thank You Lord. We follow David who knew this. ‘But you, O God, do see trouble and grief, you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you.’
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
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However, lord, the hand on the helve of the sword is Your strong hands, of one who loves us and cares for us as no other can. Our fate is not based on slender chance, miscalculation, or accident, but on the wisdom and goodness of the loving Father who holds the ‘sword.’
The Heidelberg Catechism provides the answer to the providence of God: ‘The almighty and everywhere present power of God; whereby, as it were by His hand, He upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures; so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drinks, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things come, not by chance, but by His fatherly hand.’
We may face terrifying circumstances in this life over which we have no control: rain or drought, fruitful or barren years, health or sickness, riches or poverty, life or death. These circumstances, when they come to us, may seem capricious and mere chance, but they are not. ‘The force that holds them, retards them, stops and starts and guides them, is our Father's hand.’
Thank You Lord. We follow David who knew this. ‘But you, O God, do see trouble and grief, you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you.’
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
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PHOTO: "Why, yes, Cephalus," said I, "and
I enjoy talking with the very aged. For to my thinking we have to learn
of them as it were from wayfarers who have preceded us on a road on
which we too, it may be, must some time fare - what it is like - is it
rough and hard-going or easy and pleasant to travel. And so now I would
fain (gladly) learn of you what you think of this thing, now that your
time has come to it, the thing that the poets call 'the threshold of old
age.' Is it a hard part of life to hear, or what report have you to
make of it?"
- Socrates in Plato's The Republic
Socrates asks his friend Cephalus, a very old man, "Is [aging] a hard part of life to bear, or what report have you to make of it?"
Cephalus answers that he often gathers with older men whose complaints fill the air. They miss the pleasures of youth and regret them as if they had been robbed of great things. He, however, feels no regret and can't identify with their complaints, for he's enjoying old age.
"There is only one reason for what happens [to us as we age]," he explains. "[It is] not old age, but a man's character. For if they [the aging] are decent, even-tempered people, old age is only moderately troublesome, if not then youth is no less difficult than age is for some people."
- Socrates in Plato's The Republic
Socrates asks his friend Cephalus, a very old man, "Is [aging] a hard part of life to bear, or what report have you to make of it?"
Cephalus answers that he often gathers with older men whose complaints fill the air. They miss the pleasures of youth and regret them as if they had been robbed of great things. He, however, feels no regret and can't identify with their complaints, for he's enjoying old age.
"There is only one reason for what happens [to us as we age]," he explains. "[It is] not old age, but a man's character. For if they [the aging] are decent, even-tempered people, old age is only moderately troublesome, if not then youth is no less difficult than age is for some people."
In other words, it's not aging that makes life hard to bear, bur unrighteousness, an idea Solomon underscores in his couplet: "The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness." (Proverbs 16:31 NKJV, emphasis added)
It seems, then, that old age can be "good old age," or it can be very bad. It all depends on the direction of one's life. The important thing is not to live long, but to live well. "Of what use is a long life if we amend so little?" wrote Thomas à Kempis. "Alas, a long life often adds to our sins rather than to our virtue."
In my opinion, the first half of life is a piece of cake. The hard part comes later as our strength begins to decline. It's then that the stuff of which we're made begins to show. Folks can mask their bad behavior better they're younger; they have the energy to do so. But when old age sets in, the restraints come off and they may become irascible (easily angered), irritable, testy, and short-tempered (think Grumpy Old Men).
Those traits don't develop simply because people get older. Oh, there are conditions that cause confusion and anxiety as we age, but nothing in aging necessarily impairs us morally. No, I think as we grow older we finally become what we've been becoming all along.
Paul had a good word on the subject: "The one who sows to please his sinful nature [to please himself] . . . will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit . . . will reap eternal life." (Galatians 6:8)
Those who pander (indulge) to self-interest are sowing seeds that will inevitably produce a harvest of misery in themselves and in others. On the other hand, those who love God and others are sowing seeds that yield a harvest of life. Every day they're becoming more alive than ever before.
Old dogs can learn new tricks. There is a very real sense on which we can begin again. We can ask God to fill us again with His goodness. Every day can be a new beginning. We can mature, grow, and become sweeter as the days go by.
Listen:
Lord, at Thy feet my prostrate heart is lying,
Worn with the burden, weary of the way;
The world's proud sunshine on the hills is dying,
And morning's promise fades with parting day.
Yet, in Thy light another morn is breaking,
Of fairer promise and with pledge more true;
And in Thy life a dawn of youth is waking,
Whose bounding pulses shall this heart renew.
Oh, to go back across the years long vanished,
To have the words unsaid, the deeds undone,
The errors cancelled, the deep shadows banished,
In the glad sense of a new life begun.
To be a little child, whose page of story
Is yet undimmed, unblotted by a stain,
And in the sunrise of primeval glory
To know that life has had its start again.
I may go back across the years long vanished,
I may resume my childhood, Lord, in Thee,
When in the shadow of Thy cross are banished
All other shadows that encompass me:
And o'er the road that now is rough and dreary,
This soul, made buoyant by a strength divine,
Shall walk untired, shall run and not be weary,
To bear the blessings that have made Thee mine.
I read the other day that Abraham was circumcised - the visible, outward sign of his covenant love for God - when he was ninety-five years of age. "Better late than never!" I say.
Picture posted by Les hommes libres on Tuesday, 30 November 2010 - Adam and Eve leaving paradise, the Garden of Eden
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https://hommelibre.blog.tdg.ch/media/00/00/1030176000.jpg
https://hommelibre.blog.tdg.ch/archive/2010/11/30/adam-et-eve-relecture-du-peche-originel.html
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https://hommelibre.blog.tdg.ch/media/00/00/1030176000.jpg
https://hommelibre.blog.tdg.ch/archive/2010/11/30/adam-et-eve-relecture-du-peche-originel.html
PHOTO:
We can ask God to fill us again with His goodness. Every day can be a
new beginning. We can mature, grow, and become sweeter as the days go
by.
Picture posted by iStockphoto
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8u8Y2D2Asmnad_JA7vUhgeFlR0XzDvGDU82-vWjxkK2HMs4AG4JtmIL6cI1E_EVQ38B-SM2qRJV8dwTrgiD285j50B89TdctTmJcNEkfS8VrqJJqBPBt9lqbh3L9mG5kAfygznjD8JaQ/s2048/istockphoto-521873747-2048x2048_1.png
https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/female-florist-in-summer-garden-picture-id521873747?s=2048x2048
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Picture posted by iStockphoto
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https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/female-florist-in-summer-garden-picture-id521873747?s=2048x2048
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/female-florist-in-summer-garden-gm521873747-50439908
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn that a man’s character causes him to miss the pleasures
of youth and regret them as if they had been robbed of great things. If
we are decent, even-tempered people, old age is only moderately
troublesome, if not then youth is no less difficult than age is for some
people.
It's not aging that makes life hard to bear, bur unrighteousness, as according to Solomon. ‘The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness.’
We learn too that old age can be ‘good old age,’ or it can be very bad. It all depends on the direction of one's life. The important thing is not to live long, but to live well.
Lord, life can be a piece of cake until our strength begins to decline. When old age sets in, we are unable to restrain our bad behaviour and may become irascible, irritable, testy, and short-tempered, like Grumpy Old Men.
However, we learn that those traits don't develop simply because people get older. There are conditions that cause confusion and anxiety as we age, but nothing in aging necessarily impairs us morally. As we grow older we finally become what we've been becoming all along.
Lord, help us to be like those who sows to please the Spirit and reap eternal life. Prevent us from being like the one who sows to please his sinful nature but will reap destruction.
Lord, help us not to pander to self-interest as that will inevitably produce a harvest of misery in ourselves and in others. But fill us again with Your goodness. Then every day can be a new beginning. We can mature, grow, and become sweeter as the days go by.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Neon Life Magazine - The Happy List
Reverse Gif file is generated from the link - (http://freegifmaker.me/reverse-gif/)
gif file generated by Animated Images Effects Generator at http://www.webestools.com/animated-images-effect-generator-effects-gif-images-picture-blog-gif-fx-images-animated-effect.html
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https://in.pinterest.com/pin/774759942117208010/
It's not aging that makes life hard to bear, bur unrighteousness, as according to Solomon. ‘The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness.’
We learn too that old age can be ‘good old age,’ or it can be very bad. It all depends on the direction of one's life. The important thing is not to live long, but to live well.
Lord, life can be a piece of cake until our strength begins to decline. When old age sets in, we are unable to restrain our bad behaviour and may become irascible, irritable, testy, and short-tempered, like Grumpy Old Men.
However, we learn that those traits don't develop simply because people get older. There are conditions that cause confusion and anxiety as we age, but nothing in aging necessarily impairs us morally. As we grow older we finally become what we've been becoming all along.
Lord, help us to be like those who sows to please the Spirit and reap eternal life. Prevent us from being like the one who sows to please his sinful nature but will reap destruction.
Lord, help us not to pander to self-interest as that will inevitably produce a harvest of misery in ourselves and in others. But fill us again with Your goodness. Then every day can be a new beginning. We can mature, grow, and become sweeter as the days go by.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Neon Life Magazine - The Happy List
Reverse Gif file is generated from the link - (http://freegifmaker.me/reverse-gif/)
gif file generated by Animated Images Effects Generator at http://www.webestools.com/animated-images-effect-generator-effects-gif-images-picture-blog-gif-fx-images-animated-effect.html
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https://in.pinterest.com/pin/774759942117208010/
PHOTO: God sometimes makes choice of those as
his messengers, who have the least of the
advantages of art or nature, that his grace
in them may appear the more glorious.
- Matthew Henry, Commentary on Exodus 4:10-17
Years ago, in my student days (shortly after the earth's crust began to cool), I took a course in Ugaritic, the language of the ancient Canaanites. One day we were presented with a small tablet from a Canaanite temple. On it was a prayer, left at the feet of a musty old idol. "O El, cut through the root of my stammering; remove the impediment (handicap)." These were the words of an unfortunate Canaanite, humiliated by his affliction, imploring his god to remove his handicap.
Contrast the Canaanite El with our God - the Living God. While He may heal our handicaps, more often than not He takes them as they are and puts them to glorious use. Consider God's servant, Moses.
A Jewish legend says that Moses had a speech impediment. Recent studies suggest that the legend is accurate in that Moses' description of himself as "slow of speech and tongue" (Exodus 4:10) is squarely in the realm of ancient medical terminology describing a speech defect. We have no way of knowing what Moses' defect was, but it must have been severe. Perhaps, like the frustrated Canaanite, he stuttered. Imagine Moses standing before the most powerful ruler in the ancient world and stammering his demand, "L-l-l-et my p-p-p-people g-g-go!"
God's answer to Moses' disclaimer is astonishing. "And who do you think made the human mouth? And who makes some mute, some deaf, some sighted, some blind? Isn't it I God?" the Lord asks, thus explaining that impairments (damages), disabilities, and handicaps are not accidents, but byproducts of God's infinite wisdom. (Exodus 4:11) He creates every one of us as we are, and uses us as we are. His way of dealing with our handicaps is not necessarily to remove them, but to endow them with strength.
Here is one of the ironies of faith: God chooses those we least expect to do His holy work. It is the handicapped, the seemingly limited people, that astound (amaze) the world.
Paul said of his handicap: "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore," Paul concluded, "I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses . . . For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:8-10)
I have a friend who is dying of Parkinson's disease, who each month can do less than the month before. He was a tough and hardy soul who, in his former days, roamed the forest of Suriname and Brazil, often out of touch with the outside world for months at a time, looking for unreached people. Today he can do little more than smile.
But what a smile! His face is luminous with the love of Christ, and reveals a compassionate affection that warms the hearts of all who visit him. To be with him for a moment or two makes my day.
Is my friend handicapped? Oh no! God's strength is made perfect in his weakness.
his messengers, who have the least of the
advantages of art or nature, that his grace
in them may appear the more glorious.
- Matthew Henry, Commentary on Exodus 4:10-17
Years ago, in my student days (shortly after the earth's crust began to cool), I took a course in Ugaritic, the language of the ancient Canaanites. One day we were presented with a small tablet from a Canaanite temple. On it was a prayer, left at the feet of a musty old idol. "O El, cut through the root of my stammering; remove the impediment (handicap)." These were the words of an unfortunate Canaanite, humiliated by his affliction, imploring his god to remove his handicap.
Contrast the Canaanite El with our God - the Living God. While He may heal our handicaps, more often than not He takes them as they are and puts them to glorious use. Consider God's servant, Moses.
A Jewish legend says that Moses had a speech impediment. Recent studies suggest that the legend is accurate in that Moses' description of himself as "slow of speech and tongue" (Exodus 4:10) is squarely in the realm of ancient medical terminology describing a speech defect. We have no way of knowing what Moses' defect was, but it must have been severe. Perhaps, like the frustrated Canaanite, he stuttered. Imagine Moses standing before the most powerful ruler in the ancient world and stammering his demand, "L-l-l-et my p-p-p-people g-g-go!"
God's answer to Moses' disclaimer is astonishing. "And who do you think made the human mouth? And who makes some mute, some deaf, some sighted, some blind? Isn't it I God?" the Lord asks, thus explaining that impairments (damages), disabilities, and handicaps are not accidents, but byproducts of God's infinite wisdom. (Exodus 4:11) He creates every one of us as we are, and uses us as we are. His way of dealing with our handicaps is not necessarily to remove them, but to endow them with strength.
Here is one of the ironies of faith: God chooses those we least expect to do His holy work. It is the handicapped, the seemingly limited people, that astound (amaze) the world.
Paul said of his handicap: "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore," Paul concluded, "I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses . . . For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:8-10)
I have a friend who is dying of Parkinson's disease, who each month can do less than the month before. He was a tough and hardy soul who, in his former days, roamed the forest of Suriname and Brazil, often out of touch with the outside world for months at a time, looking for unreached people. Today he can do little more than smile.
But what a smile! His face is luminous with the love of Christ, and reveals a compassionate affection that warms the hearts of all who visit him. To be with him for a moment or two makes my day.
Is my friend handicapped? Oh no! God's strength is made perfect in his weakness.
Photo: Sport Singapore
Picture posted by The Straits Times on 11 September 2016 at 05:00 am SGT - Paralympics (Rio Olympic Aquatics Stadium): Singapore's S2 100m backstroke world record holder Yip Pin Xiu on beating jitters. With a Paralympic gold medal and the world-record time under her belt, Yip Pin Xiu was all smiles as she celebrated her 100m backstroke S2 win.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKOzkMyEBJuUwoF3VZojq_EiFb_nC0GWS1yU-wLnPerFbEsr7xSUXsFmB_2iwVwM-MSVROrZXrfAK-I3EcPMtlLlot1Ie74kcwkIfjteRqtGCnuwhyoDYdX1JUW6FfWQZ-DrL4k7QcmWY/s2048/st_20160911_sptyip11_2588240_1.png
https://static.straitstimes.com.sg/s3fs-public/st_20160911_sptyip11_2588240.jpg
https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/beating-the-jitters
Picture posted by The Straits Times on 11 September 2016 at 05:00 am SGT - Paralympics (Rio Olympic Aquatics Stadium): Singapore's S2 100m backstroke world record holder Yip Pin Xiu on beating jitters. With a Paralympic gold medal and the world-record time under her belt, Yip Pin Xiu was all smiles as she celebrated her 100m backstroke S2 win.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKOzkMyEBJuUwoF3VZojq_EiFb_nC0GWS1yU-wLnPerFbEsr7xSUXsFmB_2iwVwM-MSVROrZXrfAK-I3EcPMtlLlot1Ie74kcwkIfjteRqtGCnuwhyoDYdX1JUW6FfWQZ-DrL4k7QcmWY/s2048/st_20160911_sptyip11_2588240_1.png
https://static.straitstimes.com.sg/s3fs-public/st_20160911_sptyip11_2588240.jpg
https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/beating-the-jitters
PHOTO:
God's answer to Moses' disclaimer is astonishing. He creates every one
of us as we are, and uses us as we are. His way of dealing with our
handicaps is not necessarily to remove them, but to endow them with
strength.
Artwork by Sébastien Bourdon (17th century)
Picture posted by Gary Michuta on 10 August 2017
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOr_NkhqMGq0_u4htIt1wUckTUCXszPCnFI0T_KmBnJIWWqb2XYsv0ABr8xduICX3Rzixyi7MaWDzHYXXPftLqajRjsUlWOSpcKzaOVUoQd61TNf-t5xQN4q7kVUiYcrvxulZrmoi3VfY/s1545/image.jpg
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https://detroitcatholic.com/news/gary-michuta/when-jesus-passes-by
Artwork by Sébastien Bourdon (17th century)
Picture posted by Gary Michuta on 10 August 2017
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOr_NkhqMGq0_u4htIt1wUckTUCXszPCnFI0T_KmBnJIWWqb2XYsv0ABr8xduICX3Rzixyi7MaWDzHYXXPftLqajRjsUlWOSpcKzaOVUoQd61TNf-t5xQN4q7kVUiYcrvxulZrmoi3VfY/s1545/image.jpg
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https://detroitcatholic.com/news/gary-michuta/when-jesus-passes-by
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn that You our Living God may heal our handicaps, but more
often than not takes them as they are and puts them to glorious use.
Lord, we learn that Moses had a speech impediment – ‘slow of speech and tongue’. Whatever Moses' defect was, it must have been severe. Your answer explained that that impairments, disabilities, and handicaps are not accidents, but by-products of Your infinite wisdom.
You created every one of us as we are, and uses us as we are. Your way of dealing with our handicaps is not necessarily to remove them, but to endow them with strength. You have chosen those we least expect to do Your holy work. It is the handicapped, the seemingly limited people, that astound the world.
Please help us to be like Paul who ‘boast all the more gladly about his weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on us. That is why, for Christ's sake, we can delight in our weaknesses . . . For when we are weak, then we are strong.
We pray that we can smile amidst our weaknesses. May our face be luminous with the love of Christ, and reveals a compassionate affection that warms the hearts of all who visit us. May we be able to make others feel having a wonderful day.
Lord, we may be handicapped in some ways but Your strength is made perfect in our weakness.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by sohu.com on 09 January 2017 at 14:22
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUftWoldpjwQeMrznYJUrB9G2eMPiiYG-xhIGn8HDoJVLbzoJwHP727U5rj9knOZtq7AY7OXLAmS5PXvaZh0y9sNP_IY1xxcyX4vpzGnpI8-yBBGS9kC3WAil4ICDuyaZ1DS_J0y9_Z8g/s1659/4de2c72691524bbcb7b95c6d2f477720_th_11.png
http://img.mp.itc.cn/upload/20170109/4de2c72691524bbcb7b95c6d2f477720_th.jpg
http://img.mp.itc.cn/upload/20170225/49ecf6fb6abf4fa1b46c8a54589c8b48_th.jpeg
https://www.sohu.com/a/123805633_467279
Lord, we learn that Moses had a speech impediment – ‘slow of speech and tongue’. Whatever Moses' defect was, it must have been severe. Your answer explained that that impairments, disabilities, and handicaps are not accidents, but by-products of Your infinite wisdom.
You created every one of us as we are, and uses us as we are. Your way of dealing with our handicaps is not necessarily to remove them, but to endow them with strength. You have chosen those we least expect to do Your holy work. It is the handicapped, the seemingly limited people, that astound the world.
Please help us to be like Paul who ‘boast all the more gladly about his weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on us. That is why, for Christ's sake, we can delight in our weaknesses . . . For when we are weak, then we are strong.
We pray that we can smile amidst our weaknesses. May our face be luminous with the love of Christ, and reveals a compassionate affection that warms the hearts of all who visit us. May we be able to make others feel having a wonderful day.
Lord, we may be handicapped in some ways but Your strength is made perfect in our weakness.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by sohu.com on 09 January 2017 at 14:22
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUftWoldpjwQeMrznYJUrB9G2eMPiiYG-xhIGn8HDoJVLbzoJwHP727U5rj9knOZtq7AY7OXLAmS5PXvaZh0y9sNP_IY1xxcyX4vpzGnpI8-yBBGS9kC3WAil4ICDuyaZ1DS_J0y9_Z8g/s1659/4de2c72691524bbcb7b95c6d2f477720_th_11.png
http://img.mp.itc.cn/upload/20170109/4de2c72691524bbcb7b95c6d2f477720_th.jpg
http://img.mp.itc.cn/upload/20170225/49ecf6fb6abf4fa1b46c8a54589c8b48_th.jpeg
https://www.sohu.com/a/123805633_467279
PHOTO: Hark! Hark! The dogs do bark,
The beggars are coming to town.
Some in rags and some in tags,
And one in a velvet gown.
- Nursery Rhyme
David wrote: "How blessed is he who considers the helpless [the poor]." His beatitude (blessedness) set me to thinking.
The poor we'll always have with us, Jesus said. Some are poor in possessions and appearance; others are poor in faith, hope, and love. Even if I can't alleviate the poverty of those I meet along the way, I can "consider" them - a verb that means "to pay attention." (Psalm 41:1 NASB)
G. K. Chesterton defines a saint as one who exaggerates what the world neglects, and what is neglected today is the art of paying attention. Few seem to be aware of the pain around them, they go their way inattentive and unmoved.
In such a world it's not difficult to find some want to supply, some misery to alleviate. A divorcée or widow, grief-stricken in her loneliness. A weary parent kept awake at night by the struggles of a hurting child. A frightened man awaiting cancer surgery in the morning. A care-worn checker in a grocery store working a second or third job to make ends meet. A young boy who has never had enough father. A single mother whose flood of worries has washed her hope away. A lonely old man who has outlived his usefulness, or so he believes. A hurting heart behind your own front door. Perhaps we don't have much to give, but we can pay attention. We can see beyond what others see to the possibilities of mercy, compassion, and understanding.
This past summer I came across a book entitled The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow which contains the diary of a semi-literate twelve-year-old child who lived at the turn of the century in lumber camps in western Oregon. As I read Opal's diary I was awed by her simple compassion and sensitivity. Though often abused, she was not swallowed up in self-pity, but hid herself in God (as her poems indicate) and freely gave herself away. She was a happy child who teaches us what it means to "pay attention."
Here's a brief excerpt from her diary. I've included it as it is, though her vernacular (language) may sound strange to our ears.
The mama did send me in a hurry to the wood-shed. It was for two loads of wood she wanted. I did bring in the first load in a hurry. The second load I brought not so. I did pick up all the sticks my arms could hold. While I was picking them up, I looked long looks at them. I went not to the kitchen with them in a quick way. I was meditating. I did have thinks about the tree they all were before they got chopped up. I did wonder how I would feel if I was a very little piece of wood that got chopped out of a big tree. I did think that it would have hurt my feelings. I felt the feelings of the wood. They did have a very sad feel.
Just when I was getting that topmost stick a bit wet with sympathy tears - then the mama did come up behind me with a switch. She said while she did switch, "Stop your meditations," and while she did switch, I did drop the wood. I felt the feels the sticks of wood felt when they hit the floor. Then I did pick them up with care and I put them all in the wood-box back of the cook stove . . . But all the time I was churning (the butter) I did hum a little song. It was a good-bye song to the sticks in the wood-box back of the kitchen stove.
When the churning was done and the butter was come, the mama did lift all the little lumps of butter out of the churn. Then she did pat them together in a big lump, and this she put away in the butterbox in the wood-shed. When she went to lay herself down to rest on the bed, she did call me to rub her head. I like to rub the mama's head, for it does help the worry lines to go away. Often I rub her head, for it is often she does have longings to have it so. And I do think it is very nice to help people have what they do have longings for.
So I, too, should be willing to bear the pain that brings me to Jesus who feels our feelings and rubs our worry lines away. So I, too, should take long looks at others.
I can let people know that I care. I can ask them to tell their stories and listen patiently while they do. I can treat them with courtesy and respect, though they may be testy or tiresome. I can encourage those with aching hearts with a word of God's mercy and love. I can follow up with an e-mail, a card, or a call. And I can pray with them, the most helpful and healing act of all, for in prayer I bring others to the throne of mercy where they may find grace to help in their time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) Even when I cannot help them, I can bring them to the One who can. And here's where David's beatitude comes into play, for in the oldest and oddest paradox of all, paying attention pays off, for we're happiest when we give our lives away. (Psalm 41:4-9)
The beggars are coming to town.
Some in rags and some in tags,
And one in a velvet gown.
- Nursery Rhyme
David wrote: "How blessed is he who considers the helpless [the poor]." His beatitude (blessedness) set me to thinking.
The poor we'll always have with us, Jesus said. Some are poor in possessions and appearance; others are poor in faith, hope, and love. Even if I can't alleviate the poverty of those I meet along the way, I can "consider" them - a verb that means "to pay attention." (Psalm 41:1 NASB)
G. K. Chesterton defines a saint as one who exaggerates what the world neglects, and what is neglected today is the art of paying attention. Few seem to be aware of the pain around them, they go their way inattentive and unmoved.
In such a world it's not difficult to find some want to supply, some misery to alleviate. A divorcée or widow, grief-stricken in her loneliness. A weary parent kept awake at night by the struggles of a hurting child. A frightened man awaiting cancer surgery in the morning. A care-worn checker in a grocery store working a second or third job to make ends meet. A young boy who has never had enough father. A single mother whose flood of worries has washed her hope away. A lonely old man who has outlived his usefulness, or so he believes. A hurting heart behind your own front door. Perhaps we don't have much to give, but we can pay attention. We can see beyond what others see to the possibilities of mercy, compassion, and understanding.
This past summer I came across a book entitled The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow which contains the diary of a semi-literate twelve-year-old child who lived at the turn of the century in lumber camps in western Oregon. As I read Opal's diary I was awed by her simple compassion and sensitivity. Though often abused, she was not swallowed up in self-pity, but hid herself in God (as her poems indicate) and freely gave herself away. She was a happy child who teaches us what it means to "pay attention."
Here's a brief excerpt from her diary. I've included it as it is, though her vernacular (language) may sound strange to our ears.
The mama did send me in a hurry to the wood-shed. It was for two loads of wood she wanted. I did bring in the first load in a hurry. The second load I brought not so. I did pick up all the sticks my arms could hold. While I was picking them up, I looked long looks at them. I went not to the kitchen with them in a quick way. I was meditating. I did have thinks about the tree they all were before they got chopped up. I did wonder how I would feel if I was a very little piece of wood that got chopped out of a big tree. I did think that it would have hurt my feelings. I felt the feelings of the wood. They did have a very sad feel.
Just when I was getting that topmost stick a bit wet with sympathy tears - then the mama did come up behind me with a switch. She said while she did switch, "Stop your meditations," and while she did switch, I did drop the wood. I felt the feels the sticks of wood felt when they hit the floor. Then I did pick them up with care and I put them all in the wood-box back of the cook stove . . . But all the time I was churning (the butter) I did hum a little song. It was a good-bye song to the sticks in the wood-box back of the kitchen stove.
When the churning was done and the butter was come, the mama did lift all the little lumps of butter out of the churn. Then she did pat them together in a big lump, and this she put away in the butterbox in the wood-shed. When she went to lay herself down to rest on the bed, she did call me to rub her head. I like to rub the mama's head, for it does help the worry lines to go away. Often I rub her head, for it is often she does have longings to have it so. And I do think it is very nice to help people have what they do have longings for.
So I, too, should be willing to bear the pain that brings me to Jesus who feels our feelings and rubs our worry lines away. So I, too, should take long looks at others.
I can let people know that I care. I can ask them to tell their stories and listen patiently while they do. I can treat them with courtesy and respect, though they may be testy or tiresome. I can encourage those with aching hearts with a word of God's mercy and love. I can follow up with an e-mail, a card, or a call. And I can pray with them, the most helpful and healing act of all, for in prayer I bring others to the throne of mercy where they may find grace to help in their time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) Even when I cannot help them, I can bring them to the One who can. And here's where David's beatitude comes into play, for in the oldest and oddest paradox of all, paying attention pays off, for we're happiest when we give our lives away. (Psalm 41:4-9)
And for those who think only for themselves? The life they save is the life they lose. In the end it's worth nothing to anyone including themselves - a featureless, lifeless parody (imitation) of those who have lived and cared for others. "Only a life given away for love's sake is worth living," says Fredrick Buechner.
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments that stand out, the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you have done things in a spirit of love. As memory scans the past, above and beyond all transitory pleasures of life, there leap forward those supreme hours when you have been enabled to do unnoticed kindnesses to those around you, things too trifling to speak about, but which you feel have entered into your eternal life. I have seen almost all the beautiful things that God has made; I have enjoyed almost every pleasure that [God] has planned for [people]; and yet as I look back I see standing out above all the life that has gone four or five short experiences when the love of God reflected itself in some poor imitation, some small act of love of mine, and these seen to be things which alone of all one's life abide (endure). Everything else in all our lives is transitory. Every other good is visionary. But the acts of love which no [one] knows about, or can ever know about, they never fail.
The greatest thing in the world is love. It's our best gift to God and to others. Perhaps you and I can do nothing more than love one soul, but it is enough.
But what is left for the cold gray soul,
That moans like a wounded dove?
One wine is left in the broken bowl! -
'Tis - to love, and love, and love.
- George MacDonald, Phantastes
Picture posted by Heidi Zak, co-founder and co-CEO of ThirdLove on 2019 at 05:38 pm - Emotional empathy
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PHOTO:
In such a world it's not difficult to find some want to supply, some
misery to alleviate. Perhaps we don't have much to give, but we can pay
attention. We can see beyond what others see to the possibilities of
mercy, compassion, and understanding.
Picture saved by Antonio Lucas to Historias e Livros para aumentar a sua Fé! - Jesus and John the apostle
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https://br.pinterest.com/pin/430727151834946585/
Picture saved by Antonio Lucas to Historias e Livros para aumentar a sua Fé! - Jesus and John the apostle
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https://br.pinterest.com/pin/430727151834946585/
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, help us to learn from David to considers the helpless [the poor].
We learn from Jesus we'll always have the poor with us, Some are poor
in possessions and appearance; others are poor in faith, hope, and love.
Even if we can't alleviate the poverty of those we meet along the way,
help us to be able to 'consider', which means 'to pay attention' to
them.
Lord help us to be aware of the pain around us, and not go our way inattentive and unmoved. Perhaps we don't have much to give, but help us to pay attention. Help us to see beyond what others see to the possibilities of mercy, compassion, and understanding.
May we be not swallowed up in self-pity, but hid ourselves in God and freely gave ourselves away. May we be willing to bear the pain that brings us to Jesus who feels our feelings and rubs our worry lines away. Help us to take long looks at others.
Lord we pray for Your help to have us letting people know that we care. May we be able to ask them to tell their stories and listen patiently while they do. May we treat them with courtesy and respect, though they may be testy or tiresome. May we encourage those with aching hearts with a word of God's mercy and love. May we be able to follow up with an e-mail, a card, or a call. May we be able to pray with them, the most helpful and healing act of all, for in prayer we bring others to the throne of mercy where they may find grace to help in their time of need. Even when we cannot help them, may we be able to bring them to the One who can. May we be the happiest when we give our lives away.
Lord, we pray that we will not just think only for ourselves, because the life that we save is the life that we lose. In the end it's worth nothing to anyone including ourselves - a featureless, lifeless parody of those who have lived and cared for others. Only a life given away for love's sake is worth living.
The greatest thing in the world is love. It's our best gift to God and to others. May we can love at least one soul, which will be enough.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Derik
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https://www.pixall.in/2020/02/sad-images.html
Lord help us to be aware of the pain around us, and not go our way inattentive and unmoved. Perhaps we don't have much to give, but help us to pay attention. Help us to see beyond what others see to the possibilities of mercy, compassion, and understanding.
May we be not swallowed up in self-pity, but hid ourselves in God and freely gave ourselves away. May we be willing to bear the pain that brings us to Jesus who feels our feelings and rubs our worry lines away. Help us to take long looks at others.
Lord we pray for Your help to have us letting people know that we care. May we be able to ask them to tell their stories and listen patiently while they do. May we treat them with courtesy and respect, though they may be testy or tiresome. May we encourage those with aching hearts with a word of God's mercy and love. May we be able to follow up with an e-mail, a card, or a call. May we be able to pray with them, the most helpful and healing act of all, for in prayer we bring others to the throne of mercy where they may find grace to help in their time of need. Even when we cannot help them, may we be able to bring them to the One who can. May we be the happiest when we give our lives away.
Lord, we pray that we will not just think only for ourselves, because the life that we save is the life that we lose. In the end it's worth nothing to anyone including ourselves - a featureless, lifeless parody of those who have lived and cared for others. Only a life given away for love's sake is worth living.
The greatest thing in the world is love. It's our best gift to God and to others. May we can love at least one soul, which will be enough.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Derik
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https://www.pixall.in/2020/02/sad-images.html
PHOTO: Gentleness may well be called the Christian spirit.
One of the byproducts of aging can be an intolerance of others and an irritable, impatient spirit. We may become angry, bitter curmudgeons (bad-tempered person) if we're not watchful. And when that happens . . .
All usefulness and all comfort may be prevented by an unkind, a sour, crabbed (bad-tempered) temper of mind - a mind that can bear with no difference of opinion or temperament. A spirit of fault-finding; an unsatisfied temper; a constant irritability; little inequalities in the look, the temper, or the manner; a brow cloudy and dissatisfied - your husband or your wife cannot tell why - will more than neutralize all the good you can do, and render life anything but a blessing.
We must never excuse our bouts of bad temper, for intolerance spreads misery all around us and withers the souls of those we love. We have not fulfilled our duty toward others until we have learned to be pleasant.
Poet Hannah More Portrays it this way:
Ancient Greek philosophers had a word for the virtue that corrects our irritation - praus, a term that means gentleness and suggests a tender, kind spirit. It was considered the "queen of the virtues," for it governs and blesses all the others. It softens the sterner virtues and makes them more tender and gentle. Like sugar dropped into a cup of tea, it permeates (spread throughout) our actions and sweetens all that we do. The author of the book of James, who understood the classical use of the word, describes the consummate (perfect) good life as deeds done "in the meekness [gentleness, prautes] of wisdom." (James 3:13 NKJV)
Gentleness is not weakness or mildness. Jesus was meek but not mild, despite Wesley's Christmas carol. Gentleness is strength under control. It is the power to be kind and considerate in the face of pain or disruption. It is a willingness to accept our limitations and ailments without taking out our frustrations on others. It is showing gratitude for the smallest service rendered to us and extending patience to those that do not serve us well. It is bearing with bothersome people (even noisy, boisterous (lively) little children, for kindness to little people is a crowning mark of a good and gentle soul). It is speaking softly in the face of provocation. (Isaiah 40:28-31) It is even being silent, for calm, unruffled silence is often the most eloquent response to another's unkind words.
The root of a gentle spirit is humility. We must focus on our own weaknesses rather than the weakness and failures of others and their frustrating inability to wholly meet our needs. It is said that Israel's high priests were "able to deal gently with those who [were] ignorant and [were] going astray" because they themselves were "subject to weakness." (Hebrews 5:1-2) If I would be gentle and meek with those who disappoint me, I must know that I am as flawed and weak as they.
Since Jesus comes to me "gentle and riding on a donkey," (Zechariah 9:9) I must get off my high horse and learn from Him, for He is "gentle [praus] and humble in heart," (Matthew 11:29) and He must create His likeness in me. Then who knows what will happen? Perhaps nothing will change but my own heart, and I will become a more gracious, gentle man. Or it may be that my gentle manner will open the eyes of someone else's heart, someone who has no gentle Jesus to see.
"Tones that jar the heart of another, words that make it ache . . . from such, as from all other sins, Jesus was born to deliver us," George MacDonald prayed. May we put ourselves into His hands for His healing.
Picture posted by R_K_Z_B_A_12 R_____Z♥️@R_K_Z_B_A_12
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It is the distinguishing disposition in the hearts
of Christians to be identified as Christians. All
who are truly godly have a gentle spirit in them.
of Christians to be identified as Christians. All
who are truly godly have a gentle spirit in them.
- Jonathan Edwards
One of the byproducts of aging can be an intolerance of others and an irritable, impatient spirit. We may become angry, bitter curmudgeons (bad-tempered person) if we're not watchful. And when that happens . . .
All usefulness and all comfort may be prevented by an unkind, a sour, crabbed (bad-tempered) temper of mind - a mind that can bear with no difference of opinion or temperament. A spirit of fault-finding; an unsatisfied temper; a constant irritability; little inequalities in the look, the temper, or the manner; a brow cloudy and dissatisfied - your husband or your wife cannot tell why - will more than neutralize all the good you can do, and render life anything but a blessing.
We must never excuse our bouts of bad temper, for intolerance spreads misery all around us and withers the souls of those we love. We have not fulfilled our duty toward others until we have learned to be pleasant.
Poet Hannah More Portrays it this way:
Since trifles make the sum of human things,
And half our misery from our foibles (weak spot) springs;
Since life's best joys consist in peace and ease,
And though but few can serve, yet all can please;
Oh, let the ungentle spirit learn from hence,
A small unkindness is a great offence.
And half our misery from our foibles (weak spot) springs;
Since life's best joys consist in peace and ease,
And though but few can serve, yet all can please;
Oh, let the ungentle spirit learn from hence,
A small unkindness is a great offence.
Ancient Greek philosophers had a word for the virtue that corrects our irritation - praus, a term that means gentleness and suggests a tender, kind spirit. It was considered the "queen of the virtues," for it governs and blesses all the others. It softens the sterner virtues and makes them more tender and gentle. Like sugar dropped into a cup of tea, it permeates (spread throughout) our actions and sweetens all that we do. The author of the book of James, who understood the classical use of the word, describes the consummate (perfect) good life as deeds done "in the meekness [gentleness, prautes] of wisdom." (James 3:13 NKJV)
Gentleness is not weakness or mildness. Jesus was meek but not mild, despite Wesley's Christmas carol. Gentleness is strength under control. It is the power to be kind and considerate in the face of pain or disruption. It is a willingness to accept our limitations and ailments without taking out our frustrations on others. It is showing gratitude for the smallest service rendered to us and extending patience to those that do not serve us well. It is bearing with bothersome people (even noisy, boisterous (lively) little children, for kindness to little people is a crowning mark of a good and gentle soul). It is speaking softly in the face of provocation. (Isaiah 40:28-31) It is even being silent, for calm, unruffled silence is often the most eloquent response to another's unkind words.
The root of a gentle spirit is humility. We must focus on our own weaknesses rather than the weakness and failures of others and their frustrating inability to wholly meet our needs. It is said that Israel's high priests were "able to deal gently with those who [were] ignorant and [were] going astray" because they themselves were "subject to weakness." (Hebrews 5:1-2) If I would be gentle and meek with those who disappoint me, I must know that I am as flawed and weak as they.
Since Jesus comes to me "gentle and riding on a donkey," (Zechariah 9:9) I must get off my high horse and learn from Him, for He is "gentle [praus] and humble in heart," (Matthew 11:29) and He must create His likeness in me. Then who knows what will happen? Perhaps nothing will change but my own heart, and I will become a more gracious, gentle man. Or it may be that my gentle manner will open the eyes of someone else's heart, someone who has no gentle Jesus to see.
"Tones that jar the heart of another, words that make it ache . . . from such, as from all other sins, Jesus was born to deliver us," George MacDonald prayed. May we put ourselves into His hands for His healing.
Picture posted by R_K_Z_B_A_12 R_____Z♥️@R_K_Z_B_A_12
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PHOTO: Gentleness may well be called the Christian spirit. It is the distinguishing disposition in the hearts
of Christians to be identified as Christians. All who are truly godly have a gentle spirit in them. - Jonathan Edwards
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of Christians to be identified as Christians. All who are truly godly have a gentle spirit in them. - Jonathan Edwards
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PHOTO:
"Dear Lord, we pray for Your help in preventing on of our byproducts of
aging causing us to be an intolerance of others and an irritable,
impatient spirit. We may become angry, bitter curmudgeons if we're not
watchful.
Lord help us not to let that happen because then all usefulness and all comfort may be prevented by an unkind, a sour, crabbed temper of mind - a mind that can bear with no difference of opinion or temperament. A spirit of fault-finding; an unsatisfied temper; a constant irritability; little inequalities in the look, the temper, or the manner; a brow cloudy and dissatisfied, that others cannot tell why. These will more than neutralize all the good we can do, and render life anything but a blessing.
Help us never excuse our bouts of bad temper, for intolerance spreads misery all around us and withers the souls of those we love. We have not fulfilled our duty toward others until we have learned to be pleasant.
Grant us the virtue that corrects our irritation - gentleness and a tender, kind spirit. As these are considered the ‘queen of the virtues,’ for it governs and blesses all the others. It softens the sterner virtues and makes them tender and gentle. May these virtues permeate our actions and sweetens all that we do. May our actions be done ‘in the meekness of wisdom’, which is the consummate good life.
Lord, help us to be like Jesus who is gentle. We learn that gentleness is strength under control. It is the power to be kind and considerate in the face of pain or disruption. It is a willingness to accept our limitations and ailments without taking out our frustrations on others. It is showing gratitude for the smallest service rendered to us and extending patience to those that do not serve us well. It is bearing with bothersome people. It is speaking softly in the face of provocation. It is even being silent, for calm, unruffled silence is often the most eloquent response to another's unkind words.
May we have humility which is the root of a gentle spirit. May we focus on our own weaknesses rather than the weakness and failures of others and their frustrating inability to wholly meet our needs. It is said that Israel's high priests were ‘able to deal gently with those who were ignorant and were going astray’ because they themselves were ‘subject to weakness.’ This mean if we would be gentle and meek with those who disappoint us, we must know that we are as flawed and weak as they.
Jesus had come to us ‘gentle and riding on a donkey’. Help us to must get off our high horse and learn from Him, for He is ‘gentle and humble in heart’, and He must create His likeness in us.
May we become a more gracious, gentle person. May our gentle manner open the eyes of someone else's heart, someone who has no gentle Jesus to see.
We put ourselves into His hands for His healing.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Farothiel on 28 May 2011 - Arwens Coronation Gown
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https://www.deviantart.com/farothiel/art/Arwens-Coronation-Gown-210569517
Lord help us not to let that happen because then all usefulness and all comfort may be prevented by an unkind, a sour, crabbed temper of mind - a mind that can bear with no difference of opinion or temperament. A spirit of fault-finding; an unsatisfied temper; a constant irritability; little inequalities in the look, the temper, or the manner; a brow cloudy and dissatisfied, that others cannot tell why. These will more than neutralize all the good we can do, and render life anything but a blessing.
Help us never excuse our bouts of bad temper, for intolerance spreads misery all around us and withers the souls of those we love. We have not fulfilled our duty toward others until we have learned to be pleasant.
Grant us the virtue that corrects our irritation - gentleness and a tender, kind spirit. As these are considered the ‘queen of the virtues,’ for it governs and blesses all the others. It softens the sterner virtues and makes them tender and gentle. May these virtues permeate our actions and sweetens all that we do. May our actions be done ‘in the meekness of wisdom’, which is the consummate good life.
Lord, help us to be like Jesus who is gentle. We learn that gentleness is strength under control. It is the power to be kind and considerate in the face of pain or disruption. It is a willingness to accept our limitations and ailments without taking out our frustrations on others. It is showing gratitude for the smallest service rendered to us and extending patience to those that do not serve us well. It is bearing with bothersome people. It is speaking softly in the face of provocation. It is even being silent, for calm, unruffled silence is often the most eloquent response to another's unkind words.
May we have humility which is the root of a gentle spirit. May we focus on our own weaknesses rather than the weakness and failures of others and their frustrating inability to wholly meet our needs. It is said that Israel's high priests were ‘able to deal gently with those who were ignorant and were going astray’ because they themselves were ‘subject to weakness.’ This mean if we would be gentle and meek with those who disappoint us, we must know that we are as flawed and weak as they.
Jesus had come to us ‘gentle and riding on a donkey’. Help us to must get off our high horse and learn from Him, for He is ‘gentle and humble in heart’, and He must create His likeness in us.
May we become a more gracious, gentle person. May our gentle manner open the eyes of someone else's heart, someone who has no gentle Jesus to see.
We put ourselves into His hands for His healing.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Farothiel on 28 May 2011 - Arwens Coronation Gown
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Chapter 25 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Weariness,
PHOTO: More life I need ere (before) I myself can be.
Sometimes, when the eternal tide ebbs low,
A moment weary of my life I grow.
- George MacDonald, Diary of an Old Soul
What is this weariness that settles upon us as we age? Does it come from something that needs to be set right?
Not necessarily. Sin does wear us out. The burden of guilt and shame is a heavy load to bear. But it may not be evil-doing that weighs us down. We may be "weary in well-doing," as Paul would say, for love can be hard work that wears out both body and soul. Or, our weariness may be the sin of another and our inability to give help as we would like to do. Or it may come simply from prolonged illness or pain.
I delight in George MacDonald's Diary of an Old Soul, for my old soul resonates so readily with his. There he writes:
Shall fruit be blamed if it hang wearily
A day before it perfected drop plumb
To the sad earth from off its nursing tree?
Ripeness must always come with loss of might.
The weary evening fall before the resting night.
Weariness and "loss of might" bring ripeness, for they remind us that we're passing away so that a better thing may come. The weary evening leads to the resting night. This is what we Christians call "hope," and in this hope we renew our souls, as the prophet Isaiah declares.
[Our] Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)
Hope, Isaiah's strong word, looks to the future. It is waiting in confidence for a salvation that is certain to come - kept in heaven for those who are themselves kept for the day of salvation.
This is the perspective that overwhelms my weariness; not accidentally, but essentially, for if I know that my ultimate destiny is glorious, it picks up my pace here and now. I can stretch the wings of my heart and fly! I can run in the path of obedience and not get tired. I can walk through routine, pedestrian days and not grow weary.
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, I say; but a better world is coming in which my spirit will call me to action and my body will run and leap and fly! This is my assurance, for hope, in biblical terms, does not imply contingency but certainty. As a backcountry friend of mine once put it, "My salvation is for certain sure!"
In meantime, what someday will be true can began to be true even now. I can be steadfast, patient, and joyful in spite of my deep weariness; kind and calm, less focused on my own frailty and fatigue; more concerned about others than I am about myself - and thus able 'to speak a word in season to him that is weary.' (Isaiah 50:4 KJV)
So MacDonald prays,
I am a little weary of my life -
Not thy life, blessed Father! Or the blood
Too slowly laves the coral shores of thought,
Or I am weary of weariness and strife.
Open my soul-gates to thy living flood;
I ask not larger heart-throbs, vigor-fraught,
I pray thy presence, with strong patience rife.
Sometimes, when the eternal tide ebbs low,
A moment weary of my life I grow.
- George MacDonald, Diary of an Old Soul
What is this weariness that settles upon us as we age? Does it come from something that needs to be set right?
Not necessarily. Sin does wear us out. The burden of guilt and shame is a heavy load to bear. But it may not be evil-doing that weighs us down. We may be "weary in well-doing," as Paul would say, for love can be hard work that wears out both body and soul. Or, our weariness may be the sin of another and our inability to give help as we would like to do. Or it may come simply from prolonged illness or pain.
I delight in George MacDonald's Diary of an Old Soul, for my old soul resonates so readily with his. There he writes:
Shall fruit be blamed if it hang wearily
A day before it perfected drop plumb
To the sad earth from off its nursing tree?
Ripeness must always come with loss of might.
The weary evening fall before the resting night.
Weariness and "loss of might" bring ripeness, for they remind us that we're passing away so that a better thing may come. The weary evening leads to the resting night. This is what we Christians call "hope," and in this hope we renew our souls, as the prophet Isaiah declares.
[Our] Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)
Hope, Isaiah's strong word, looks to the future. It is waiting in confidence for a salvation that is certain to come - kept in heaven for those who are themselves kept for the day of salvation.
This is the perspective that overwhelms my weariness; not accidentally, but essentially, for if I know that my ultimate destiny is glorious, it picks up my pace here and now. I can stretch the wings of my heart and fly! I can run in the path of obedience and not get tired. I can walk through routine, pedestrian days and not grow weary.
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, I say; but a better world is coming in which my spirit will call me to action and my body will run and leap and fly! This is my assurance, for hope, in biblical terms, does not imply contingency but certainty. As a backcountry friend of mine once put it, "My salvation is for certain sure!"
In meantime, what someday will be true can began to be true even now. I can be steadfast, patient, and joyful in spite of my deep weariness; kind and calm, less focused on my own frailty and fatigue; more concerned about others than I am about myself - and thus able 'to speak a word in season to him that is weary.' (Isaiah 50:4 KJV)
So MacDonald prays,
I am a little weary of my life -
Not thy life, blessed Father! Or the blood
Too slowly laves the coral shores of thought,
Or I am weary of weariness and strife.
Open my soul-gates to thy living flood;
I ask not larger heart-throbs, vigor-fraught,
I pray thy presence, with strong patience rife.
Picture posted by Aunty Faith on 26 October 2020
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https://auntyfaith.com/2020/10/26/he-is-closer-to-us-than-life-itself/
PHOTO:
It may not be evil-doing that weighs us down. We may be 'weary in
well-doing,' for love can be hard work that wears out both body and
soul. Or, our weariness may be the sin of another and our inability to
give help as we would like to do. Or it may come simply from prolonged
illness or pain.
Picture posted by EstebanSayhueque on 09 May 2020 - Fallen Angel
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibuH3VU2KQ0R12ZiZTbSf15KJOFDychoZhotFqweYCHJM6oqEg4SxcLnDjiTfadErdqf61EmrioRAxO4Rcce_jlYh1IkW2YLFKJ4TS8vMZR8EWyY16TlidJBZaTgCxyvgZNQM0tQrNAxk/s1000/ddwipv0-ab39e7cc-3b05-43d5-a029-cb3f6c5285bd.jpg
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Picture posted by EstebanSayhueque on 09 May 2020 - Fallen Angel
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https://www.deviantart.com/estebansayhueque/art/Fallen-angel-840681324
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn that it is not necessarily that our weariness is due to
sin. The burden of guilt and shame is a heavy load to bear. But it may
not be evil-doing that weighs us down. We may be ‘weary in well-doing’,
for love can be hard work that wears out both body and soul. Or, our
weariness may be the sin of another and our inability to give help as we
would like to do. Or it may come simply from prolonged illness or pain.
Thank You that weariness and ‘loss of might’ bring ripeness. They remind us that we're passing away so that a better thing may come. The weary evening leads to the resting night. This we call ‘hope’, and in this hope we renew our souls, as the prophet Isaiah declares in Isaiah 40:28-31.
We pray that Isaiah's strong word, ‘hope’ looks to the future successfully. May we wait in confidence for a salvation that is certain to come - kept in heaven for those who are themselves kept for the day of salvation.
Thank You that weariness and ‘loss of might’ bring ripeness. They remind us that we're passing away so that a better thing may come. The weary evening leads to the resting night. This we call ‘hope’, and in this hope we renew our souls, as the prophet Isaiah declares in Isaiah 40:28-31.
We pray that Isaiah's strong word, ‘hope’ looks to the future successfully. May we wait in confidence for a salvation that is certain to come - kept in heaven for those who are themselves kept for the day of salvation.
Lord, may this perspective overwhelm our weariness; not accidentally, but essentially. When we know that our ultimate destiny is glorious, it picks up our pace here and now. May we be able to stretch the wings of our heart and fly! We can run in the path of obedience and not get tired. We can walk through routine, pedestrian days and not grow weary.
But Lord, our spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. May the better world come in which our spirit will call us to action and our bodies will run and leap and fly! Let this be our assurance, for our hope is a certainty. Our salvation is for certain sure!
Lord help us in the meantime, what someday will be true can began to be true even now. May we can be steadfast, patient, and joyful in spite of our deep weariness; kind and calm, less focused on our own frailty and fatigue; more concerned about others than we are about ourselves - and thus able ‘to know the word that sustains the weary’.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Equilibrium Coaching on 10 January 2014
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https://www.facebook.com/288792011136932/photos/a.384121101604022/784497861566342/
PHOTO: Happiness is neither outside nor inside us;
I was rummaging around in my son's garage some months ago and came across a box containing the trophies he'd won during his years of athletic competition. There they were, abandoned and laden with dust, about to be carted away. I thought of the discipline and effort that had gone into gaining those treasures, and how much my son had once valued them. But now they meant nothing to him. They were trash.
Then I thought of all the stuff I've accumulated through the years - things in closets, boxes, and storage bins. "Things upon the mantle, things on every shelf, things that others gave me, things I gave myself."
Every year my possessions accumulate and clutter my existence more and more. The thought of moving it all or discarding it fills me with dread. It's just "stuff." I wish I'd never collected it.
Shel Silverstein, a writer of children's verses, makes a similar point in a whimsical poem he entitles "Hector the Collector." In it he describes the objects Hector accumulated over the years and how he "Loved these things with all his soul, / Loved them more than shining diamonds, / Loved them more than glistenin' gold." Then Hector called to all the people, "'Come and share my treasure trunk!'" They "came and looked . . . and called it junk."
It is in God, both outside and inside us.
- Blaise Pascal, Pensées
- Blaise Pascal, Pensées
I was rummaging around in my son's garage some months ago and came across a box containing the trophies he'd won during his years of athletic competition. There they were, abandoned and laden with dust, about to be carted away. I thought of the discipline and effort that had gone into gaining those treasures, and how much my son had once valued them. But now they meant nothing to him. They were trash.
Then I thought of all the stuff I've accumulated through the years - things in closets, boxes, and storage bins. "Things upon the mantle, things on every shelf, things that others gave me, things I gave myself."
Every year my possessions accumulate and clutter my existence more and more. The thought of moving it all or discarding it fills me with dread. It's just "stuff." I wish I'd never collected it.
Shel Silverstein, a writer of children's verses, makes a similar point in a whimsical poem he entitles "Hector the Collector." In it he describes the objects Hector accumulated over the years and how he "Loved these things with all his soul, / Loved them more than shining diamonds, / Loved them more than glistenin' gold." Then Hector called to all the people, "'Come and share my treasure trunk!'" They "came and looked . . . and called it junk."
So it will be in the end. All the things that you and I have accumulated will be rubbish.
Still we continually seek more "stuff," for we've been deceived into believing that acquisition and accumulation lead to happiness. All day long voices urge to buy this, spend for that, borrow against tomorrow so we can have what we want today. Generous incentives, rebates, sales packages, low or no interest rates, and other "good deals" lure us on, creating wants in us that we never imagined. The belief that "just one more thing" will make us happy lingers in our minds.
We gather, harbor, and store things until we have no places to put them. Yet we must always have more, what a friend of mine calls, The Barbie Doll Law: Accessories once considered optional become mandatory, creating needs and wants never had before. Things that used to be add-on become must-haves - a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.
In our quest for all our doodads (things we cannot recall), gimcracks (a cheap and showy ornament), and gewgaws (a showy thing), we buy well beyond our ability to pay. The only limiting factor is our imagination and credit card limit, which can always be extended.
Yet though we buy (and buy, and buy) enough is never enough. We must have one more gadget, or its upgrade, a compulsion that has no cure on earth.
But there is healing from above. The happiness we are seeking in all our "getting" is truly found only in loving and being loved by God. "Blessed are those you choose and bring near . . . We are filled with the good things of your house . . ." (Psalm 65:4) In His love we find full satisfaction.
Indeed, all our wanting and getting is nothing more than a symptom of the heart's deepest desire - the desire for God himself. We were made to be filled and flooded with God alone; there is thus an infinite space within us that no number of toys or other joys can fill. Only infinite Love will do.
God is not just one more good thing among others. He is the cause of all good, the "giver of every good and perfect gift" - the source of "the good life" and the happiness we seek.
"One who has God has everything," Augustine of Hippo wrote. "And one who has everything except God has nothing. And one who has God plus everything has no more than one who has God alone."
Another of Israel's poets put the same idea this way: "Earth has nothing I desire besides you . . . God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever . . . it is good to be near God." (Psalm 73:25-28)
The greatest thing in the world is to know that God loves us. He is our Father and we are His beloved. The second greatest thing is to know that we need nothing more. Then, and only then, can we say, "I shall not want." (Psalm 23:1 KJV)
Picture posted by Laurie Martin ©VictorZastol'skiy/AdobeStock on 14 August 2019
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https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/cbt-viable-treatment-children-ocd-and-hoarding-symptoms
PHOTO:
We gather, harbor, and store things until we have no places to put
them. Yet we must always have more - The Barbie Doll Law: Accessories
once considered optional become mandatory, creating needs and wants
never had before. Things that used to be add-on become must-haves - a
limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.
Picture posted by nemopan.com on 23 August 2015 at 15:25:13
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https://www.nemopan.com/pan_overseas/9598316
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/gurmit-singh-irene-ang-defend-use-of.html
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https://www.nemopan.com/pan_overseas/9598316
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/gurmit-singh-irene-ang-defend-use-of.html
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn that all the things that we have accumulated will be
rubbish. Still we continually seek more ‘stuff,’ for we've been deceived
into believing that acquisition and accumulation lead to happiness. The
belief that ‘just one more thing’ will make us happy lingers in our
minds.
We gather, harbour, and store things until we have no places to put them. Yet we must always have more. Accessories once considered optional become mandatory, creating needs and wants never had before. Things that used to be add-on become must-haves - a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.
Lord, we pray to stop our quest for all our doodads, gimcracks and gewgaws. Because we buy well beyond our ability to pay. The only limiting factor is our imagination and credit card limit, which can always be extended.
We need Your help to overcome this problem. Though we buy (and buy, and buy) enough is never enough. We must have one more gadget, or its upgrade, a compulsion that has no cure on earth.
Lord, You are the healing from above. The happiness we are seeking in all our ‘getting’ is truly found only in loving and being loved by God. ‘Blessed are those you choose and bring near . . . We are filled with the good things of your house . . .’ as in Psalm 65:4. Only In Your love can we find full satisfaction.
All our wanting and getting is nothing more than a symptom of the heart's deepest desire - the desire for God himself. We were made to be filled and flooded with God alone; there is thus an infinite space within us that no number of toys or other joys can fill. Only infinite Love will do.
Lord, You are not just one more good thing among others. You are the cause of all good, the ‘giver of every good and perfect gift’ - the source of ‘the good life’ and the happiness we seek.
We learn that ‘One who has God has everything. And one who has everything except God has nothing. And one who has God plus everything has no more than one who has God alone.’
May we follow what Israel's poets said: ‘Earth has nothing I desire besides you . . . God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever . . . it is good to be near God.’ (Psalm 73:25-28)
We pray for Your help to realise that the greatest thing in the world is to know that You loves us. You are our Father and we are Your beloved. The second greatest thing is to know that we need nothing more. Then, and only then, can we say, ‘I shall not want’, like the Psalmist in Psalm 23:1.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
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We gather, harbour, and store things until we have no places to put them. Yet we must always have more. Accessories once considered optional become mandatory, creating needs and wants never had before. Things that used to be add-on become must-haves - a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.
Lord, we pray to stop our quest for all our doodads, gimcracks and gewgaws. Because we buy well beyond our ability to pay. The only limiting factor is our imagination and credit card limit, which can always be extended.
We need Your help to overcome this problem. Though we buy (and buy, and buy) enough is never enough. We must have one more gadget, or its upgrade, a compulsion that has no cure on earth.
Lord, You are the healing from above. The happiness we are seeking in all our ‘getting’ is truly found only in loving and being loved by God. ‘Blessed are those you choose and bring near . . . We are filled with the good things of your house . . .’ as in Psalm 65:4. Only In Your love can we find full satisfaction.
All our wanting and getting is nothing more than a symptom of the heart's deepest desire - the desire for God himself. We were made to be filled and flooded with God alone; there is thus an infinite space within us that no number of toys or other joys can fill. Only infinite Love will do.
Lord, You are not just one more good thing among others. You are the cause of all good, the ‘giver of every good and perfect gift’ - the source of ‘the good life’ and the happiness we seek.
We learn that ‘One who has God has everything. And one who has everything except God has nothing. And one who has God plus everything has no more than one who has God alone.’
May we follow what Israel's poets said: ‘Earth has nothing I desire besides you . . . God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever . . . it is good to be near God.’ (Psalm 73:25-28)
We pray for Your help to realise that the greatest thing in the world is to know that You loves us. You are our Father and we are Your beloved. The second greatest thing is to know that we need nothing more. Then, and only then, can we say, ‘I shall not want’, like the Psalmist in Psalm 23:1.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
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Chapter 27 - Reflection - Number Our Days - A River Runs through Us,
PHOTO: I read in an Old fashioned Book
That People "thirst no more" -
- Emily Dickinson
I love to stroll alongside Idaho's brooks and streams that run like veins of silver through this beautiful land. But in all my days - and I've been around awhile - I've never seen a river like the one Ezekiel saw. (Ezekiel 47:1-13)
That People "thirst no more" -
- Emily Dickinson
I love to stroll alongside Idaho's brooks and streams that run like veins of silver through this beautiful land. But in all my days - and I've been around awhile - I've never seen a river like the one Ezekiel saw. (Ezekiel 47:1-13)
The prophet, in a vision, was touring the temple in Jerusalem, accompanied by an angelic companion, when he came upon a rivulet flowing from under the threshold of the temple - just a trickle. Ezekiel traced the tiny stream to its source and discovered a spring bubbling up from the ground from under the brazen altar, the place of sacrifice.
Ezekiel's companion then led him outside the walls of the city and downstream to the place where the river flowed off the flanks of Mount Zion toward the east. The angel had a measuring stick in his hand, and as he walked he measured off the distance.
Ezekiel and his friend walked a little less than a quarter of a mile, and the angel led Ezekiel into the water. It was ankle-deep.
The angel then paced off the same distance and led Ezekiel into the water. It was knee-deep.
He measured off the distance again and led Ezekiel into the river. The water was up to his waist.
The angel measured off the distance and led Ezekiel into the river again. The water was over his head, a river "deep enough to swim in - a river that no-one could cross."
Then Ezekiel saw the region to which the river flowed: a dead sea that was made alive! Great schools of fish were swimming in its waters; fishermen were crowding its banks; trees were growing in profusion along its shores - "because the water from the sanctuary flows to them."
First a sanctuary, then an altar, and then a stream trickling out from under the altar that gets wider and deeper as it flows - an inexhaustible, copious (abundant) supply that takes away bitterness and makes the land sweet and fruitful. All because a river flows through it.
There are no rivers on earth like Ezekiel's stream - no streams that begin as a trickle and get wider and deeper without tributaries or underground springs. We ask ourselves, as Ezekiel's companion asked, "Do you see this?"
If we take the trouble to trace the little stream to its source, we find an altar, a place of sacrifice on which the Lamb of God was slain. Underneath the altar there is a spring that bubbles up from the ground, a hidden source, a fountain of life.
Jesus said, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:37-38) He alone is the living water for which we thirst, a fountain in the heart that becomes a river that flows deep and wide, a river that rises and floods, that empties into our dead seas, that dispels our dearth, filling our day with singing and laughter. "Where the river flows there is life!"
Are you weary in your love? Do you need new tenderness, compassion, and concern for those around you? Stoop down and drink from the hidden springs of God's love. Deepen your union with Him by prayer and devotion. He will be a spring of living water, of enduring, self-effacing love, rising up in you.
Are there demands on your time and energy that drain you until you have nothing left to give? Keep opening your heart to God. Pray over His Word and meditate on it day and night. New thoughts will spring up, fruit for food and leaves for healing. All your fresh springs are in Him. (Ezekiel 47:12 and Psalm 87:7)
Are you weary of the struggle in your spiritual life? Do you seek a quiet, more restful progress, or a refreshment for the wilderness and waste places of your life? This too comes from God, for the life we live is not ours, but His. He is in us, a never-ending source of righteousness, joy, and peace. "Where [God's] river flows there is life!" There is no other source.
In C. S. Lewis's The Silver Chair, Jill finds herself lost and very thirsty, and looking for a stream. She finds a brook, but she also finds the lion, Aslan, lying beside it. Aslan assures her she may come and drink.
"May I - could I - would you mind going away while I [drink]?" said Jill.
The lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.
The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.
"Will you promise not to - do anything to me, if I do come?" said Jill.
"I make no promise," said the Lion.
Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.
"Do you eat girls?" she said.
"I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.
:"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.
"Oh, dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."
"There is no other stream," said the Lion.
"Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life." (Revelation 22:17) There is no cost, for Love paid the price on Calvary. There is only one requirement: We must thirst. Everyone who thirst,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance. (Isaiah 55:1-2 NKJV)
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PHOTO:
C. S. Lewis's The Silver Chair, Jill finds herself lost and very
thirsty, and looking for a stream. She finds a brook, but she also finds
the lion, Aslan, lying beside it. Aslan assures her she may come and
drink.
Picture posted by aabdcpro.com
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PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn that a stream trickling out from under the altar in a
sanctuary gets wider and deeper as it flows - an inexhaustible, copious
supply that takes away bitterness and makes the land sweet and fruitful.
All because a river flows through it.
Lord, we learn that the Ezekiel’s stream is unlike other rivers on earth. No other streams begin as a trickle and get wider and deeper without tributaries or underground springs.
If we take the trouble to trace the little stream to its source, we find an altar, a place of sacrifice on which the Lamb of God was slain. Underneath the altar there is a spring that bubbles up from the ground, a hidden source, a fountain of life.
Thank You for allowing us to come to Him and drink if anyone of us is thirsty. And whoever believes in Jesus, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.
Jesus alone is the living water for which we thirst, a fountain in the heart that becomes a river that flows deep and wide, a river that rises and floods, that empties into our dead seas, that dispels our dearth, filling our day with singing and laughter. Where the river flows there is life.
We may be weary in our love. We may need new tenderness, compassion, and concern for those around us. Thank You for offering us the opportunity to stoop down and drink from the hidden springs of God's love. May we deepen our union with Him by prayer and devotion. May He be a spring of living water, of enduring, self-effacing love, rising up in us.
There may be demands on our time and energy that drain us until we have nothing left to give, Lord, help us to open our heart to You, and pray over Your Word and meditate on it day and night. May new thoughts spring up, fruit for food and leaves for healing. All our fresh springs are in You.
Lord, we may be weary of the struggle in our spiritual live. We may be seeking a quiet, more restful progress, or a refreshment for the wilderness and waste places of our life. This too comes from You, for the life we live is not ours, but Yours. You are in us, a never-ending source of righteousness, joy, and peace. Where Your river flows there is life. There is no other source.
Lord, we are thirsty, and we come to You, and wish to take the free gift of the water of life. There is no cost, for Love paid the price on Calvary. May we met the only one requirement: We must thirst. Then we will come to the waters, buy and eat without money and without price. May we eat what is good and satisfying. We pray that our soul will delight itself in abundance.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
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https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/09/reflection-number-our-days-river-runs.html
Lord, we learn that the Ezekiel’s stream is unlike other rivers on earth. No other streams begin as a trickle and get wider and deeper without tributaries or underground springs.
If we take the trouble to trace the little stream to its source, we find an altar, a place of sacrifice on which the Lamb of God was slain. Underneath the altar there is a spring that bubbles up from the ground, a hidden source, a fountain of life.
Thank You for allowing us to come to Him and drink if anyone of us is thirsty. And whoever believes in Jesus, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.
Jesus alone is the living water for which we thirst, a fountain in the heart that becomes a river that flows deep and wide, a river that rises and floods, that empties into our dead seas, that dispels our dearth, filling our day with singing and laughter. Where the river flows there is life.
We may be weary in our love. We may need new tenderness, compassion, and concern for those around us. Thank You for offering us the opportunity to stoop down and drink from the hidden springs of God's love. May we deepen our union with Him by prayer and devotion. May He be a spring of living water, of enduring, self-effacing love, rising up in us.
There may be demands on our time and energy that drain us until we have nothing left to give, Lord, help us to open our heart to You, and pray over Your Word and meditate on it day and night. May new thoughts spring up, fruit for food and leaves for healing. All our fresh springs are in You.
Lord, we may be weary of the struggle in our spiritual live. We may be seeking a quiet, more restful progress, or a refreshment for the wilderness and waste places of our life. This too comes from You, for the life we live is not ours, but Yours. You are in us, a never-ending source of righteousness, joy, and peace. Where Your river flows there is life. There is no other source.
Lord, we are thirsty, and we come to You, and wish to take the free gift of the water of life. There is no cost, for Love paid the price on Calvary. May we met the only one requirement: We must thirst. Then we will come to the waters, buy and eat without money and without price. May we eat what is good and satisfying. We pray that our soul will delight itself in abundance.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture saved by JillTurrentineDesign to travel
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Chapter 28 - Reflection - Number Our Days - The Sound of Silence,
PHOTO: Ultimate peace is silent through the density of life.
- C. S. Lewis
Silence, I've come to believe, is the answer to many of life's contradictions, so I'm learning to say less these days.
Silence was often our Lord's way. In the face of severe provocation, He "remained silent and gave no answer." (Mark 14:61) Jesus could have answered His critics, but "like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth." (Isaiah 53:7 NASB)
- C. S. Lewis
Silence, I've come to believe, is the answer to many of life's contradictions, so I'm learning to say less these days.
Silence was often our Lord's way. In the face of severe provocation, He "remained silent and gave no answer." (Mark 14:61) Jesus could have answered His critics, but "like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth." (Isaiah 53:7 NASB)
There is awesome power in silence, especially in those overwhelmingly bad situations in which we are subject to harsh words from those we love. There, however, silence is most difficult, for loved ones have the greatest power to wound us. Yet, there silence is most essential, for we owe our own loved ones the greatest measure of forbearance (patient self-control; restraint and tolerance).
Silence forestalls angry reactions and bitter words that we may later regret and others may not forget. Silence gives us time to slow our thoughts and reorder them, perhaps to remind ourselves that the one who wounded us is weary, or worried, or otherwise out of sorts (not oneself). Silence gives us time to forgive.
Silence is also a means by which we may help others see themselves. As their voices reverberate in the quietness we offer, they may hear their unkind words and regret them. When we step aside and wait in stillness, we give God an opportunity to work through us. When we take up our own cause, we may frustrate His ultimate intention to use us to bring spiritual healing and health to others.
Silence can be the gentle answer that turns away anger. (Proverbs 15:1) Defensive reactions make things worse: they stir up anger. Restraint and silence relieve tension and restore peace. As James assures us, "Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." (James 3:18) Others begin to grow toward goodness through our example.
Finally, calm, unruffled silence is an eloquent and gracious reflection of God's unconditional love. Clement of Rome, a first century Christian, wrote, "Let [those who belong to Christ] demonstrate by silence the gentleness of their tongue; [and thus] let them show His love." (1 Clement 21:7)
Picture posted by Elizabeth Gadd Photography on Friday, 07 May 2021 at 10:46 pm
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PHOTO: Silence was often our Lord's way. In the face of severe provocation, He "remained silent and gave no answer." (Mark 14:61) Jesus could have answered His critics, but "like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth." (Isaiah 53:7 NASB)
Picture posted by Posterazzi.com
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PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, help us to learn to say less because silence is the answer to
many life’s contradictions. C. S. Lewis wrote that ultimate peace is
silent through the density of life.
We have reason to believe that is true because silence was often our Lord's way. In the face of severe provocation, He ‘remained silent and gave no answer.’ Jesus could have answered His critics, but ‘like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.’
Lord, help us to realise that there is awesome power in silence, especially in those overwhelmingly bad situations in which we are subject to harsh words from those we love. There, silence is most difficult, for loved ones have the greatest power to wound us. Yet, there silence is most essential, for we owe our own loved ones the greatest measure of forbearance.
May our silence forestall angry reactions and bitter words that we may later regret and others may not forget. May Silence gives us time to slow our thoughts and reorder them, perhaps to remind ourselves that the one who wounded us is weary, or worried, or otherwise out of sorts. Also, silence may give us time to forgive.
Lord, may our silence be a means by which we may help others see themselves. As their voices reverberate in the quietness we offer, they may hear their unkind words and regret them. When we step aside and wait in stillness, we give God an opportunity to work through us. When we take up our own cause, we may frustrate His ultimate intention to use us to bring spiritual healing and health to others.
We pray that silence can be the gentle answer that turns away anger. Defensive reactions make things worse: they stir up anger. Restraint and silence relieve tension and restore peace. As James assures us, ‘Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.’ May others begin to grow toward goodness through our example.
Lord, may our calm, unruffled silence be an eloquent and gracious reflection of God's unconditional love. Just as Clement of Rome, a first century Christian, wrote, ‘Let [those who belong to Christ] demonstrate by silence the gentleness of their tongue; [and thus] let them show His love.’
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Elizabeth Gadd Photography on Sunday, 11 July 2021 at 11:00 am - "Mystical Meadows"
We have reason to believe that is true because silence was often our Lord's way. In the face of severe provocation, He ‘remained silent and gave no answer.’ Jesus could have answered His critics, but ‘like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.’
Lord, help us to realise that there is awesome power in silence, especially in those overwhelmingly bad situations in which we are subject to harsh words from those we love. There, silence is most difficult, for loved ones have the greatest power to wound us. Yet, there silence is most essential, for we owe our own loved ones the greatest measure of forbearance.
May our silence forestall angry reactions and bitter words that we may later regret and others may not forget. May Silence gives us time to slow our thoughts and reorder them, perhaps to remind ourselves that the one who wounded us is weary, or worried, or otherwise out of sorts. Also, silence may give us time to forgive.
Lord, may our silence be a means by which we may help others see themselves. As their voices reverberate in the quietness we offer, they may hear their unkind words and regret them. When we step aside and wait in stillness, we give God an opportunity to work through us. When we take up our own cause, we may frustrate His ultimate intention to use us to bring spiritual healing and health to others.
We pray that silence can be the gentle answer that turns away anger. Defensive reactions make things worse: they stir up anger. Restraint and silence relieve tension and restore peace. As James assures us, ‘Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.’ May others begin to grow toward goodness through our example.
Lord, may our calm, unruffled silence be an eloquent and gracious reflection of God's unconditional love. Just as Clement of Rome, a first century Christian, wrote, ‘Let [those who belong to Christ] demonstrate by silence the gentleness of their tongue; [and thus] let them show His love.’
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Elizabeth Gadd Photography on Sunday, 11 July 2021 at 11:00 am - "Mystical Meadows"
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PHOTO: Now
let me tell you that the will of God is all that is necessary, and what
it does not give you is of no use to you at all. My friends, you lack
nothing. You would be very ashamed if you knew what the experiences you
call setbacks, upheavals, pointless disturbances, and tedious annoyances
really are. You would realize that your complaints about them are
nothing more nor less than blasphemies - though that never occurs to
you. Nothing happens to you except by the will of God, and yet [God's]
beloved children curse it because they do not know it for what it is.
- Jean-Pierre De Caussade,
Abandonment fo Divine Providence
King David fled from Jerusalem, forced out by a disloyal son. (2 Samuel 15) Feigning allegiance to his father, Absalom had gathered an army of supporters and was marching against the city to seize control of the throne. David withdrew to spare his people the horrors of a prolonged siege.
David's calamities accumulated as he retreated. He discovered that his trusted friend and wise counselor, Ahithophel, had betrayed him. He was forced to send his loyal friend, Hushai, back to Jerusalem because he was too old to endure the rigors of a forced march. He was told the Mephibosheth, to whom David had shown great kindness, was among the conspirators.
For the sake of his people, David sent Zadok, his beloved priest and loyal friend, back to Jerusalem with the ark of God. With the departure of the ark, David mused, "If I find favor in the Lord's eye, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again." But if not, "then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him." (2 Samuel 15:25-26)
Perhaps, like David, you have lost control of your life. You home, your finances, your freedom, your future now lie in hands other than your own. Someone - perhaps someone you loved and trusted - has taken control, or so it seems.
You need to remember that even if power has been wrested from your hands, there are other hands at work. Behind every human act lies the actions of One whose will is indomitable (invincible) and whose power is supreme. He gives and takes what He will, when He wills it. He is the High King of heaven! No one can act without His permission; no one can frustrate His control.
"What do you understand by the providence of God?" the Heidelberg Catechism asks, then answers: "God's providence is the almighty and ever-present power, whereby, as with His own hand, He still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures, and so governs them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed all things come not by chance but by His fatherly hand."
It is not human caprice (whim) that has overturned your plans, but God's sovereign will, for nothing and no one can frustrate His loving intention toward you and His resolve to bring eternal gain out of displacement and the loss of earthly possessions.
Tertullian, a third century Christians, wrote, "[Do not regret] a thing which has been taken away, and taken away by the Lord God, without whose will neither does a leaf glide down from a tree nor a sparrow of one farthing's worth fall to the earth."
God's ways are too deep, too lofty, too wise for us to understand, but we can know that His will is "good, pleasing, and perfect." (Romans 12:2) Perfect, because His plan is greater than mere preservation of our goods. It is to make us good children - gracious in loss and upheaval, confident in our heavenly Father's prudence and care, peaceful in the certainty of His love.
But this goodness grows from acceptance, because we cannot know that God's will is good and perfect, and we will not find it pleasing, until we have offered up our privileges, possessions, our circumstances - indeed ourselves - to God. (Romans 12:1-2) We must dare to look up to Him and say, "I accept this circumstance and all I have lost as you have planned it. I refuse nothing that seems good to you."
Thus we echo David's words: "I am ready; let [God] do to me whatever seems good to him," and put ourselves in His fatherly hands.
To have, each day, the thing I wish,
Lord, that seems best to me;
But not to have the thing I wish,
Lord, that seems best to Thee.
Most truly, then, Thy will is done,
When mine, O Lord, is crossed;
It is good to see my plans o'erthrown,
My ways in Thine all lost.
- Horatio Bonar
- Jean-Pierre De Caussade,
Abandonment fo Divine Providence
King David fled from Jerusalem, forced out by a disloyal son. (2 Samuel 15) Feigning allegiance to his father, Absalom had gathered an army of supporters and was marching against the city to seize control of the throne. David withdrew to spare his people the horrors of a prolonged siege.
David's calamities accumulated as he retreated. He discovered that his trusted friend and wise counselor, Ahithophel, had betrayed him. He was forced to send his loyal friend, Hushai, back to Jerusalem because he was too old to endure the rigors of a forced march. He was told the Mephibosheth, to whom David had shown great kindness, was among the conspirators.
For the sake of his people, David sent Zadok, his beloved priest and loyal friend, back to Jerusalem with the ark of God. With the departure of the ark, David mused, "If I find favor in the Lord's eye, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again." But if not, "then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him." (2 Samuel 15:25-26)
Perhaps, like David, you have lost control of your life. You home, your finances, your freedom, your future now lie in hands other than your own. Someone - perhaps someone you loved and trusted - has taken control, or so it seems.
You need to remember that even if power has been wrested from your hands, there are other hands at work. Behind every human act lies the actions of One whose will is indomitable (invincible) and whose power is supreme. He gives and takes what He will, when He wills it. He is the High King of heaven! No one can act without His permission; no one can frustrate His control.
"What do you understand by the providence of God?" the Heidelberg Catechism asks, then answers: "God's providence is the almighty and ever-present power, whereby, as with His own hand, He still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures, and so governs them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed all things come not by chance but by His fatherly hand."
It is not human caprice (whim) that has overturned your plans, but God's sovereign will, for nothing and no one can frustrate His loving intention toward you and His resolve to bring eternal gain out of displacement and the loss of earthly possessions.
Tertullian, a third century Christians, wrote, "[Do not regret] a thing which has been taken away, and taken away by the Lord God, without whose will neither does a leaf glide down from a tree nor a sparrow of one farthing's worth fall to the earth."
God's ways are too deep, too lofty, too wise for us to understand, but we can know that His will is "good, pleasing, and perfect." (Romans 12:2) Perfect, because His plan is greater than mere preservation of our goods. It is to make us good children - gracious in loss and upheaval, confident in our heavenly Father's prudence and care, peaceful in the certainty of His love.
But this goodness grows from acceptance, because we cannot know that God's will is good and perfect, and we will not find it pleasing, until we have offered up our privileges, possessions, our circumstances - indeed ourselves - to God. (Romans 12:1-2) We must dare to look up to Him and say, "I accept this circumstance and all I have lost as you have planned it. I refuse nothing that seems good to you."
Thus we echo David's words: "I am ready; let [God] do to me whatever seems good to him," and put ourselves in His fatherly hands.
To have, each day, the thing I wish,
Lord, that seems best to me;
But not to have the thing I wish,
Lord, that seems best to Thee.
Most truly, then, Thy will is done,
When mine, O Lord, is crossed;
It is good to see my plans o'erthrown,
My ways in Thine all lost.
- Horatio Bonar
Picture posted by Jen Eclipse on 17 November 2012 at 09:05 pm - Running From Pain
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4x3QR08wsGQo30BjeJLls9Zn6LlylAcs4k8VnvCBMh4kxHhc_h7AIur1c24RtEcf2WweZvuME775-6_3MbYA4_23F6P4Gr9KmDaTwKqKKewZEb5k-dAjkmuIa0ezb_SMK_z-Wk9h9Y6o/s560/1031_5bda814c4aedb126839228f1a3d92f09.jpg
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http://www.loverofsadness.net/sad_picture.php?id=1031
PHOTO:
Perhaps, like David, you have lost control of your life. You home, your
finances, your freedom, your future now lie in hands other than your
own. Someone - perhaps someone you loved and trusted - has taken
control, or so it seems.
Picture posted by SuperSwagQueen on Monday, 12 June 2017 at 11:13:35 am SGT - Anguish
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-dsOMBzq2mcSLcWeka6hrkQUzEjqMi-EhCbcerlvQWZmXEId-iNpieqVE6qy3u1EFx49AOcMaRaFt5W-8Km3RXWZCkFbikcp4_saLQel6HsfRbGxcHjvpS4cGaxR05CNph6VSQNbzoQ/s952/0xb4qzdct43z.webp
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https://www.reddit.com/r/Art/comments/6gppj0/anguish_graphite_pencil_a3/
Picture posted by SuperSwagQueen on Monday, 12 June 2017 at 11:13:35 am SGT - Anguish
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-dsOMBzq2mcSLcWeka6hrkQUzEjqMi-EhCbcerlvQWZmXEId-iNpieqVE6qy3u1EFx49AOcMaRaFt5W-8Km3RXWZCkFbikcp4_saLQel6HsfRbGxcHjvpS4cGaxR05CNph6VSQNbzoQ/s952/0xb4qzdct43z.webp
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https://www.reddit.com/r/Art/comments/6gppj0/anguish_graphite_pencil_a3/
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, help us to remember that even if power has been wrested from our
hands, there are other hands at work. Behind every human act lies the
actions of One whose will is indomitable and whose power is supreme. He
gives and takes what He will, when He wills it. He is the High King of
heaven! No one can act without His permission; no one can frustrate His
control.
Lord, help us to realise that it is not human caprice that has overturned our plans, but God's sovereign will, for nothing and no one can frustrate His loving intention toward us and His resolve to bring eternal gain out of displacement and the loss of earthly possessions.
May we not regret a thing which has been taken away, and taken away by the Lord God, without whose will neither does a leaf glide down from a tree nor a sparrow of one farthing's worth fall to the earth.
Lord, Your ways are too deep, too lofty, too wise for us to understand, but we can know that Your will is ‘good, pleasing, and perfect’. Perfect, because Your plan is greater than mere preservation of our goods. It is to make us good children - gracious in loss and upheaval, confident in our heavenly Father's prudence and care, peaceful in the certainty of Your love.
Help us to offer up our privileges, possessions, our circumstances - indeed ourselves - to You. Otherwise we cannot know that Your will is good and perfect, and we will not find it pleasing. The goodness grows from acceptance of Your will. May we dare to look up to You and say, ‘I accept this circumstance and all I have lost as you have planned it. I refuse nothing that seems good to you’.
We pray for Your help to put ourselves in Your fatherly hands.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Waaqayyo Da'ookodha on Thursday, 23 August 2018 at 01:27 am
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhrfVMKc9Gs_QrUoRST_A_NM5wmsduTnV6Gp7I-KXYAPO8g9C4yPU6aZIqwXgSwFB6jtRSkScE16khkoRqsSdkNTHhMVAcr_wuCo3BtG95tSDf7StzdXa7vhwThahxZJDq_224goJ_wi4/s1260/39900370_1913970828663340_4274258999513186304_n_1.png
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https://www.facebook.com/Waaqayyo-Daookodha-971504132910019/photos/a.1740732249320533/1913970815330008
Lord, help us to realise that it is not human caprice that has overturned our plans, but God's sovereign will, for nothing and no one can frustrate His loving intention toward us and His resolve to bring eternal gain out of displacement and the loss of earthly possessions.
May we not regret a thing which has been taken away, and taken away by the Lord God, without whose will neither does a leaf glide down from a tree nor a sparrow of one farthing's worth fall to the earth.
Lord, Your ways are too deep, too lofty, too wise for us to understand, but we can know that Your will is ‘good, pleasing, and perfect’. Perfect, because Your plan is greater than mere preservation of our goods. It is to make us good children - gracious in loss and upheaval, confident in our heavenly Father's prudence and care, peaceful in the certainty of Your love.
Help us to offer up our privileges, possessions, our circumstances - indeed ourselves - to You. Otherwise we cannot know that Your will is good and perfect, and we will not find it pleasing. The goodness grows from acceptance of Your will. May we dare to look up to You and say, ‘I accept this circumstance and all I have lost as you have planned it. I refuse nothing that seems good to you’.
We pray for Your help to put ourselves in Your fatherly hands.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Waaqayyo Da'ookodha on Thursday, 23 August 2018 at 01:27 am
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhrfVMKc9Gs_QrUoRST_A_NM5wmsduTnV6Gp7I-KXYAPO8g9C4yPU6aZIqwXgSwFB6jtRSkScE16khkoRqsSdkNTHhMVAcr_wuCo3BtG95tSDf7StzdXa7vhwThahxZJDq_224goJ_wi4/s1260/39900370_1913970828663340_4274258999513186304_n_1.png
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https://www.facebook.com/Waaqayyo-Daookodha-971504132910019/photos/a.1740732249320533/1913970815330008
Chapter 30 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Fresh Starts,
PHOTO: Time was, I shrank from what was right,
From fear of what was wrong;
I would not brave the sacred fight,
Because the foe was strong.
But now I cast that finer sense
And sorer shame aside;
Such dread of sin was indolence (laziness),
Such aim at heaven was pride.
- John Henry Newman
I read Stephan Donaldson's Lord Foul's Bane last summer, the first volume of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, in which Donaldson tells the story of Thomas Covenant, a young novelist who is inexplicably stricken with leprosy. Although his leprosy is eventually arrested, he's taught that his only hope of survival lies in scrupulous visual self-examination.
Covenant is devastated when his wife abandons and divorces him to protect their son from exposure. Furthermore, people around him cast him in the traditional role of a leper: unclean, outcast, unwanted. Unable to write, he struggles to go on living; and as the pressure of his loneliness mounts, he begins to experience episodes of unconsciousness during which he enters an alternative world known as "the Land."
In the Land, Covenant is fully healed and is greeted as the reincarnation of an ancient hero known as Berek Halfhand. But because he refuses to believe that he has been cured and believes himself tainted and destroyed, Covenant can do nothing for the Land and its people.
The Land has an ancient enemy, Lord Foul the Despiser. Against him stands the Council of Lords, who have dedicated their lives to acquiring the wisdom by which they may stave off his attacks. Yet Thomas is unable to take up his call to face Lord Foul the Despiser and can only give half-hearted support to the council as he bargains his way out of involvement. He is paralyzed by his inability to accept the fact that he has been made thoroughly clean. He is controlled by his unbelief.
I know folks like Thomas - downcast in their sins, struggling in the discouragement and lethargy that grows from over scrupulous self-examination and morbid fixation with their own sin and guilt. Some have given up on themselves and have withdrawn into inertia and isolation. They do little more than watch television, sleep, and eat three meals a day.
I like to remind these dear folks of Peter's three-fold denial and subsequent encounter with Jesus on that beach by the Sea of Galilee. Think of Jesus' cordial greeting to Peter, the warmth of the fire, the hearty meal - and no mention of Peter's failure. (John 21:15-22)
"Do you love me, Peter?" Jesus asked.
Peter, humbled by denial and defeat, could only murmur, "You know that I love you, Lord."
Jesus answered, "Go feed my sheep."
It may be that some of us, humiliated by sin and failure like Peter, question our credibility as Christians. We minutely scrutinize our souls and find ungodliness, and wonder if our struggle with sin has disqualified us and rendered us useless.
The answer is that sin itself does not disqualify us. Forgiveness and renewal are always at hand if we are truly repentant. George MacDonald said that the man or woman "Who, after failure, or a poor success, / Rises up, stronger effort yet renewing - He finds thee, Lord, at length, in his own common room." When we turn from our sin and ask for His help, our Lord is there to welcome us and lift us up.
Repentance, of course, is the essential element. We must be "converted," to use Jesus' word: We must hate our sin, turn from it, and ask for our Lord's forgiveness. (Luke 22:32) We must rise from our fall and begin again. Then, like Peter, full of our Savior's affirmation, we can strengthen our brothers.
It comes to me that what God is after is not perfection (that awaits heaven), but the humility that comes from self-awareness. Failure cures us of our illusion of near-perfection - "aiming at heaven," John Henry Newman would say. "We learn, on the one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven."
We should, of course, strive for "moral excellence," the standard of goodness in the ancient world and Peter's first-word, (2 Peter 1:5 NASB) but we must be content with occasional failure. And we must be patient while God himself chooses and works at those aspects of our character that give Him the greatest pleasure. (Philippians 2:13) In time He will deal with all that shames us.
If someone falls into some error, he does not fret over it, but rising up with a humble spirit, he goes on his way anew rejoicing. Were he to fall a hundred times in the day, he would not despair - he would rather cry out loving to God, appealing to His tender pity. The really devout man has a horror of evil, but he has a still greater love of that which is good; he is more set on doing what is right than avoiding what is wrong. Generous, large-hearted, he is not afraid of danger in serving God, and would rather run the risk of doing His will imperfectly than not strive to serve Him lest he fail in the attempt.
Jesus, as always, has the last word: "I've prayed for you in particular that you not give in or give out. When you have come through the time of testing, turn to your companions and give then a fresh start." (Luke 22:32)
From fear of what was wrong;
I would not brave the sacred fight,
Because the foe was strong.
But now I cast that finer sense
And sorer shame aside;
Such dread of sin was indolence (laziness),
Such aim at heaven was pride.
- John Henry Newman
I read Stephan Donaldson's Lord Foul's Bane last summer, the first volume of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, in which Donaldson tells the story of Thomas Covenant, a young novelist who is inexplicably stricken with leprosy. Although his leprosy is eventually arrested, he's taught that his only hope of survival lies in scrupulous visual self-examination.
Covenant is devastated when his wife abandons and divorces him to protect their son from exposure. Furthermore, people around him cast him in the traditional role of a leper: unclean, outcast, unwanted. Unable to write, he struggles to go on living; and as the pressure of his loneliness mounts, he begins to experience episodes of unconsciousness during which he enters an alternative world known as "the Land."
In the Land, Covenant is fully healed and is greeted as the reincarnation of an ancient hero known as Berek Halfhand. But because he refuses to believe that he has been cured and believes himself tainted and destroyed, Covenant can do nothing for the Land and its people.
The Land has an ancient enemy, Lord Foul the Despiser. Against him stands the Council of Lords, who have dedicated their lives to acquiring the wisdom by which they may stave off his attacks. Yet Thomas is unable to take up his call to face Lord Foul the Despiser and can only give half-hearted support to the council as he bargains his way out of involvement. He is paralyzed by his inability to accept the fact that he has been made thoroughly clean. He is controlled by his unbelief.
I know folks like Thomas - downcast in their sins, struggling in the discouragement and lethargy that grows from over scrupulous self-examination and morbid fixation with their own sin and guilt. Some have given up on themselves and have withdrawn into inertia and isolation. They do little more than watch television, sleep, and eat three meals a day.
I like to remind these dear folks of Peter's three-fold denial and subsequent encounter with Jesus on that beach by the Sea of Galilee. Think of Jesus' cordial greeting to Peter, the warmth of the fire, the hearty meal - and no mention of Peter's failure. (John 21:15-22)
"Do you love me, Peter?" Jesus asked.
Peter, humbled by denial and defeat, could only murmur, "You know that I love you, Lord."
Jesus answered, "Go feed my sheep."
It may be that some of us, humiliated by sin and failure like Peter, question our credibility as Christians. We minutely scrutinize our souls and find ungodliness, and wonder if our struggle with sin has disqualified us and rendered us useless.
The answer is that sin itself does not disqualify us. Forgiveness and renewal are always at hand if we are truly repentant. George MacDonald said that the man or woman "Who, after failure, or a poor success, / Rises up, stronger effort yet renewing - He finds thee, Lord, at length, in his own common room." When we turn from our sin and ask for His help, our Lord is there to welcome us and lift us up.
Repentance, of course, is the essential element. We must be "converted," to use Jesus' word: We must hate our sin, turn from it, and ask for our Lord's forgiveness. (Luke 22:32) We must rise from our fall and begin again. Then, like Peter, full of our Savior's affirmation, we can strengthen our brothers.
It comes to me that what God is after is not perfection (that awaits heaven), but the humility that comes from self-awareness. Failure cures us of our illusion of near-perfection - "aiming at heaven," John Henry Newman would say. "We learn, on the one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven."
We should, of course, strive for "moral excellence," the standard of goodness in the ancient world and Peter's first-word, (2 Peter 1:5 NASB) but we must be content with occasional failure. And we must be patient while God himself chooses and works at those aspects of our character that give Him the greatest pleasure. (Philippians 2:13) In time He will deal with all that shames us.
If someone falls into some error, he does not fret over it, but rising up with a humble spirit, he goes on his way anew rejoicing. Were he to fall a hundred times in the day, he would not despair - he would rather cry out loving to God, appealing to His tender pity. The really devout man has a horror of evil, but he has a still greater love of that which is good; he is more set on doing what is right than avoiding what is wrong. Generous, large-hearted, he is not afraid of danger in serving God, and would rather run the risk of doing His will imperfectly than not strive to serve Him lest he fail in the attempt.
Jesus, as always, has the last word: "I've prayed for you in particular that you not give in or give out. When you have come through the time of testing, turn to your companions and give then a fresh start." (Luke 22:32)
Picture posted by La Obra de la Iglesia
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PHOTO:
People like Thomas - downcast in their sins, struggling in the
discouragement and lethargy that grows from over scrupulous
self-examination and morbid fixation with their own sin and guilt. Some
have given up on themselves and have withdrawn into inertia and
isolation.
Picture posted by Livejournal - Original taken from postmodernism in The Master and Margarita by Elena Martynyuk
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhla6FLy8Wf6mEkXWbF-jrnWK-sP7VLfmRbwWFD6K6gvMUtymxSq6VkVSn9ja7dY9lWpfeDDDkwiB_hiQXwr45MpFbVEYHZp09KiblM7ouySPB7XhOlSnMd14G6aRNq7_TazswyOA0Oya8/s1061/868503_original_1.jpg
https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/postmodernism/12007536/868503/868503_original.jpg
https://atarigrey.livejournal.com/28982.html
Picture posted by Livejournal - Original taken from postmodernism in The Master and Margarita by Elena Martynyuk
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhla6FLy8Wf6mEkXWbF-jrnWK-sP7VLfmRbwWFD6K6gvMUtymxSq6VkVSn9ja7dY9lWpfeDDDkwiB_hiQXwr45MpFbVEYHZp09KiblM7ouySPB7XhOlSnMd14G6aRNq7_TazswyOA0Oya8/s1061/868503_original_1.jpg
https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/postmodernism/12007536/868503/868503_original.jpg
https://atarigrey.livejournal.com/28982.html
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we pray that we will not be like Thomas Covenant in The
Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, who is paralyzed by his
inability to accept the fact that he has been made thoroughly clean. He
is controlled by his unbelief.
May we be not like Thomas, downcast in our sins, struggling in the discouragement and lethargy that grows from over scrupulous self-examination and morbid fixation with our own sin and guilt. We then give up on ourselves and withdraw into inertia and isolation.
It may be that some of us, humiliated by sin and failure like Peter, question our credibility as Christians. We minutely scrutinize our souls and find ungodliness, and wonder if our struggle with sin has disqualified us and rendered us useless.
Thank You Lord, the answer is that sin itself does not disqualify us. Forgiveness and renewal are always at hand if we are truly repentant. When we turn from our sin and ask for Your help, You are there to welcome us and lift us up.
Lord, help us to repent, which is the essential element, and to convert. We ask for your forgiveness, to hate our sin, and turn from it. Help us to rise from our fall and begin again. Then, like Peter, full of our Saviour's affirmation, we can strengthen our brothers.
Lord, we learn that what You are after is not perfection (that awaits heaven), but the humility that comes from self-awareness. Failure cures us of our illusion of near-perfection – ‘aiming at heaven.’
Help us to strive for ‘moral excellence,’ the standard of goodness in the ancient world and Peter's first-word, and to be content with occasional failure. Help us to be patient while You himself chooses and works at those aspects of our character that give You the greatest pleasure. We learn that in time You will deal with all that shames us.
Lord, we pray that if we falls into some error, may we not fret over it, but to rise up with a humble spirit, and go on our ways anew rejoicing. Were we to fall a hundred times in the day, may we not despair – may we rather cry out loving to You, appealing to Your tender pity. For the really devout man has a horror of evil, but he has a still greater love of that which is good; he is more set on doing what is right than avoiding what is wrong. Generous, large-hearted, he is not afraid of danger in serving You, and would rather run the risk of doing Your will imperfectly than not strive to serve You lest he fail in the attempt.
May we be able, as Jesus had prayed for us, not give in or give out. When we have come through the time of testing, turn to our companions and give then a fresh start.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture saved by Brenda Speirs to Church-y Art I Love :)
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https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a3/94/3d/a3943dacb305b49978ae53f6b3fb8433.jpg
https://www.pinterest.es/pin/461267186830666767/
May we be not like Thomas, downcast in our sins, struggling in the discouragement and lethargy that grows from over scrupulous self-examination and morbid fixation with our own sin and guilt. We then give up on ourselves and withdraw into inertia and isolation.
It may be that some of us, humiliated by sin and failure like Peter, question our credibility as Christians. We minutely scrutinize our souls and find ungodliness, and wonder if our struggle with sin has disqualified us and rendered us useless.
Thank You Lord, the answer is that sin itself does not disqualify us. Forgiveness and renewal are always at hand if we are truly repentant. When we turn from our sin and ask for Your help, You are there to welcome us and lift us up.
Lord, help us to repent, which is the essential element, and to convert. We ask for your forgiveness, to hate our sin, and turn from it. Help us to rise from our fall and begin again. Then, like Peter, full of our Saviour's affirmation, we can strengthen our brothers.
Lord, we learn that what You are after is not perfection (that awaits heaven), but the humility that comes from self-awareness. Failure cures us of our illusion of near-perfection – ‘aiming at heaven.’
Help us to strive for ‘moral excellence,’ the standard of goodness in the ancient world and Peter's first-word, and to be content with occasional failure. Help us to be patient while You himself chooses and works at those aspects of our character that give You the greatest pleasure. We learn that in time You will deal with all that shames us.
Lord, we pray that if we falls into some error, may we not fret over it, but to rise up with a humble spirit, and go on our ways anew rejoicing. Were we to fall a hundred times in the day, may we not despair – may we rather cry out loving to You, appealing to Your tender pity. For the really devout man has a horror of evil, but he has a still greater love of that which is good; he is more set on doing what is right than avoiding what is wrong. Generous, large-hearted, he is not afraid of danger in serving You, and would rather run the risk of doing Your will imperfectly than not strive to serve You lest he fail in the attempt.
May we be able, as Jesus had prayed for us, not give in or give out. When we have come through the time of testing, turn to our companions and give then a fresh start.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture saved by Brenda Speirs to Church-y Art I Love :)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6s_c2SZ7y9Mo8tkAqfaF_Q5YLwyDL4wGHI2fU5V6lp3guSw0PFhNt89F-_N5bnyA0dq0gadOYQlJuivOCcs6Y1ShZUFAKkWLgRYLikbb1msuh6aE7sa_v7ZJtRrOecj6Z1i48dYDVVV8/s1061/a3943dacb305b49978ae53f6b3fb8433.jpg
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PHOTO: May I, composed like them
Of Eros (erotic love) and of dust,
Beleaguered (besieged) by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
- W. H. Auden, "September 1, 1939"
I have a friend who has a barn on her farm in which she stores a large quantity of grain. The barn is a handsome structure, well-built, immaculately maintained - and infested with rats! You don't see the beasts in the daylight because they hide, but in the dark they came out to feed and spoil the grain. Turn on the lights suddenly and step into the room and you see them clearly - just before they scamper away to their holes.
C. S. Lewis takes a lesson from the same observation: "If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light."
Of Eros (erotic love) and of dust,
Beleaguered (besieged) by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
- W. H. Auden, "September 1, 1939"
I have a friend who has a barn on her farm in which she stores a large quantity of grain. The barn is a handsome structure, well-built, immaculately maintained - and infested with rats! You don't see the beasts in the daylight because they hide, but in the dark they came out to feed and spoil the grain. Turn on the lights suddenly and step into the room and you see them clearly - just before they scamper away to their holes.
C. S. Lewis takes a lesson from the same observation: "If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light."
In other words, my behavior, when caught off guard, is the best evidence of the sort of person I am. That being the case, I should never excuse my bad behavior simply because I'm suddenly prodded or provoked. What I am under unexpected pressure is what I am. There's no way around it.
It occurs to me that I would be a much better person - or at least would appear to be better - if I could control all my circumstances, or if my circumstances always favored me. But I live in a world that cannot be ruled or controlled, and surprise is the name of the game. Someone or something always jars me unexpectedly and I find myself to be a curmudgeon (a bad-tempered person, especially an old one).
Of all my sins - and they are legion - it's these autonomic (unconscious) sins that bother me most. Just when I think I'm making progress, some embarrassing display makes me believe I've made little or no progress at all. "It's enough to get a body down," as my mother used to say.
What I need to remember is that my sins, even those over which I seem to have no control, no matter how "Augean," are abundantly forgiven, washed away by the blood of the Lamb. They'll never be held against me.
Some years ago I read the myth of Augeas and discovered the derivation of that word "Augean." I knew it meant disgustingly filthy and difficult to cleanse, but I never knew its origin.
Augeas, according to the myth, was the king of Elis, a city-state on the west coast of Peloponnesus, the peninsula forming the southern part of Greece. He owned a stable that contained 3,000 oxen whose stalls hadn't been cleaned for 30 years. Imagine the filth and the smell!
As the legend goes, Hercules, who had to atone for the murder of his wife and children, was forced to perform ten labors, one of which was to clean the Augean stables in a single day. "If you don't complete the task," he was warned, "you will live in the stables and clean them for the rest of your life." Since Hercules was immortal, he was looking at a long stretch of mucking out.
When Hercules saw the stables he was dismayed by the size, filthiness, and stench. But then he noticed that the stables were located between two large rivers. He put his great strength to work and diverted the courses of the rivers so that they flowed through the stables. Within moments they were swept clean.
The story is a myth, of course, but myths by their nature preserve the yearnings of the cultures that embrace and perpetuate them. And the Augean stables offer a reflection of our own longing for someone to wash from our lives the accumulated waste and filth of the years, the memory . . .
Of all that we have done, and been; the shame
Of motives late revealed, and the awareness
Of things ill done and done to others; harm . . .
"What can wash away my sin?" asks the hymn writer. "Nothing but the blood of Jesus." No defilement, however Augean, can withstand it. When sin is humbly confessed, our Savior is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us form all unrighteousness.
But, I ask myself, must I still be saddled with sinful outbursts to the end of my days? No, there will be change, though it will not come swiftly or easily.
For myself, I find the business of sanctification confusing and chaotic rather than a straight line of progress. "Sometimes I'm up; sometimes I'm down," I lament with the spiritual. You would think after almost seventy-five years of being Christians I'd finally get things right, but there are still "rats" that hide in the darkness of my unfinished soul. Yet it's at times of greatest failure that I find it most consoling to realize that change is certain - God has promised it - even though it will always be slow, and partial, and there will be times when I appear to be slipping back. This humbles me and keeps me utterly dependent and clinging to God - which, in the end, may be more important to God than earthly perfection.
Only one thing is necessary, and that's faith - the faith to believe that not even my worst behavior can sever me from God's tenacious love. For God is a master workman who never abandons His projects or leaves them unfinished.
Our work is to long for holiness and to pray for it. God's work is to perfect us at His own pace and in His own way. And He will not give up on any of us until His work is done.
Almighty and most merciful Father, whose clemency I now presume to implore, after a long life of carelessness and wickedness, have mercy upon me. I have committed many trespasses; I have neglected many duties. I have done what Thou hast forbidden, and left undone what Thou hast commanded. Forgive, merciful Lord, my sins, negligences, and ignorances, and enable me, by the Holy Spirit, to amend my life according to thy Holy Word, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.
- From Doctor Johnson's Prayers
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PHOTO: "What can wash away my sin?" asks the hymn writer. "Nothing but the blood of Jesus." No
defilement, however Augean, can withstand it. When sin is humbly
confessed, our Savior is faithful and just to forgive our sins and
cleanse us form all unrighteousness.
Picture posted by Jaime Ripa on 22 March 2018
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https://elpais.com/politica/2018/03/21/actualidad/1521653474_529672.html
Picture posted by Jaime Ripa on 22 March 2018
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https://elpais.com/politica/2018/03/21/actualidad/1521653474_529672.html
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we noticed that we don't see the rats in the daylight because
they hide, but in the dark they came out to feed and spoil the grain.
Turn on the lights suddenly and step into the room and we see them
clearly - just before they scamper away to their holes.
If there are rats in a cellar we are most likely to see them if we go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if we go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before we switch on the light.
Lord, my behaviour, when caught off guard, is the best evidence of the sort of person I am. That being the case, I should never excuse my bad behaviour simply because I'm suddenly prodded or provoked. What I am under unexpected pressure is what I am. There's no way around it.
It occurs to me that I would be a much better person - or at least would appear to be better - if I could control all my circumstances, or if my circumstances always favoured me. But I live in a world that cannot be ruled or controlled, and surprise is the name of the game. Someone or something always jars me unexpectedly and I find myself to be a curmudgeon.
Lord, I pray for Your help with my sins. They are legion - it's these autonomic sins that bother me most. Just when I think I'm making progress, some embarrassing display makes me believe I've made little or no progress at all.
Lord, thank You for having us need to remember that our sins, even those over which we seem to have no control, no matter how ‘Augean,’ are abundantly forgiven, washed away by the blood of the Lamb. They'll never be held against me.
Just like Hercules, we long for someone to wash from our lives the accumulated waste and filth of the years, the memory of all that we have done, and been; the shame of motives late revealed, and the awareness of things ill done and done to others; harm . . .
Lord, thank You for providing the blood of Jesus to wash away our sins. No defilement, however Augean, can withstand it. When sin is humbly confessed, our Saviour is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us form all unrighteousness. Also, there will be change and we will not be saddled with sinful outbursts to the end of our days.
However sanctification is confusing and chaotic rather than a straight line of progress. Sometimes we’re up; sometimes we’re down. There are still ‘rats’ that hide in the darkness of our unfinished soul.
At times of greatest failure, we may find it most consoling to realize that change is certain - You have promised it - even though it will always be slow, and partial, and there will be times when we appear to be slipping back. This humbles us and keeps us utterly dependent and clinging to You - which, in the end, may be more important to You than earthly perfection.
Lord, we pray for that one thing that is necessary, and that's faith - the faith to believe that not even our worst behaviour can sever us from Your tenacious love. For You are a master workman who never abandons Your projects or leaves them unfinished.
Lord, may our work be to long for holiness and to pray for it. Your work is to perfect us at Your own pace and in His own way. And You will not give up on any of us until Your work is done.
We pray: Almighty and most merciful Father, whose clemency I now presume to implore, after a long life of carelessness and wickedness, have mercy upon me. I have committed many trespasses; I have neglected many duties. I have done what Thou hast forbidden, and left undone what Thou hast commanded. Forgive, merciful Lord, my sins, negligences, and ignorances, and enable me, by the Holy Spirit, to amend my life according to thy Holy Word, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen!”
Picture posted by Kadane on 02 January 2013 - I know Who holds tomorrow. And I know Who holds my Hand
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdI1h_e95tD3f3cpidXxYScsOcUm93LDGFFbqg8C-ECXu5RObHmpyI0PWbd-a8cmLwMFEwRphWS_hpmvXKRL_recF9Z_vWQ5YKncKdtFXfSP_-xQ0g2f2coDV7CXtYupbPkuFN-vx7LUc/s1280/d5q1w7y-e9e4be98-66c0-418f-b448-1c7da52ef0a6.png
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https://www.deviantart.com/kadane/art/For-2013-346089310
If there are rats in a cellar we are most likely to see them if we go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if we go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before we switch on the light.
Lord, my behaviour, when caught off guard, is the best evidence of the sort of person I am. That being the case, I should never excuse my bad behaviour simply because I'm suddenly prodded or provoked. What I am under unexpected pressure is what I am. There's no way around it.
It occurs to me that I would be a much better person - or at least would appear to be better - if I could control all my circumstances, or if my circumstances always favoured me. But I live in a world that cannot be ruled or controlled, and surprise is the name of the game. Someone or something always jars me unexpectedly and I find myself to be a curmudgeon.
Lord, I pray for Your help with my sins. They are legion - it's these autonomic sins that bother me most. Just when I think I'm making progress, some embarrassing display makes me believe I've made little or no progress at all.
Lord, thank You for having us need to remember that our sins, even those over which we seem to have no control, no matter how ‘Augean,’ are abundantly forgiven, washed away by the blood of the Lamb. They'll never be held against me.
Just like Hercules, we long for someone to wash from our lives the accumulated waste and filth of the years, the memory of all that we have done, and been; the shame of motives late revealed, and the awareness of things ill done and done to others; harm . . .
Lord, thank You for providing the blood of Jesus to wash away our sins. No defilement, however Augean, can withstand it. When sin is humbly confessed, our Saviour is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us form all unrighteousness. Also, there will be change and we will not be saddled with sinful outbursts to the end of our days.
However sanctification is confusing and chaotic rather than a straight line of progress. Sometimes we’re up; sometimes we’re down. There are still ‘rats’ that hide in the darkness of our unfinished soul.
At times of greatest failure, we may find it most consoling to realize that change is certain - You have promised it - even though it will always be slow, and partial, and there will be times when we appear to be slipping back. This humbles us and keeps us utterly dependent and clinging to You - which, in the end, may be more important to You than earthly perfection.
Lord, we pray for that one thing that is necessary, and that's faith - the faith to believe that not even our worst behaviour can sever us from Your tenacious love. For You are a master workman who never abandons Your projects or leaves them unfinished.
Lord, may our work be to long for holiness and to pray for it. Your work is to perfect us at Your own pace and in His own way. And You will not give up on any of us until Your work is done.
We pray: Almighty and most merciful Father, whose clemency I now presume to implore, after a long life of carelessness and wickedness, have mercy upon me. I have committed many trespasses; I have neglected many duties. I have done what Thou hast forbidden, and left undone what Thou hast commanded. Forgive, merciful Lord, my sins, negligences, and ignorances, and enable me, by the Holy Spirit, to amend my life according to thy Holy Word, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen!”
Picture posted by Kadane on 02 January 2013 - I know Who holds tomorrow. And I know Who holds my Hand
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdI1h_e95tD3f3cpidXxYScsOcUm93LDGFFbqg8C-ECXu5RObHmpyI0PWbd-a8cmLwMFEwRphWS_hpmvXKRL_recF9Z_vWQ5YKncKdtFXfSP_-xQ0g2f2coDV7CXtYupbPkuFN-vx7LUc/s1280/d5q1w7y-e9e4be98-66c0-418f-b448-1c7da52ef0a6.png
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https://www.deviantart.com/kadane/art/For-2013-346089310
Chapter 32 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Things I Do Not Know,
PHOTO: Satan has the intention of detaining us with
unnecessary things and thus keeping us from those
that are necessary. Once he has gained an opening
in you of a handbreadth, he will force in his whole
body together with sacks full of useless questions.
- Martin Luther, Instruction from
The Saints to The Church in Erfurt (1522)
I was looking at some of the clever, wonderful unused books on my library shelves the other day and thinking back to a time when, as a much younger man, I envisioned myself spending twenty years or so of my life ramping up my theological knowledge, and then another twenty getting that knowledge organised. The demonstrable, the provable, the definable loomed large in my mind.
As I've gotten older, however, I've learned to be more comfortable with what I don't know and will never know until I get to heaven. Like Israel's poet, I no longer "concern myself with . . . things too wonderful for me." (Psalm 131:1) I find myself more open to mystery and uncertainty these days; I'm able to embrace more ambiguity. My questions are rarely true or false, but multiple choice. I believe more ardently now than ever before, but in fewer and fewer things.
There are things I believe with all my heart - the Apostles' Creed wraps up most of them - but other, more remote aspects of theology that once dominated my thoughts don't weigh on my mind any more. G. K. Chesterton said that angels fly because they take themselves lightly. I'm trying to learn how to fly.
The main thing for me now is not to know all the answers, but to know God, made real and personal in Jesus. I pray for David's spirit, his quiet soul. (Psalm 131:2) I find that few things are necessary now, really "only one." (Luke 10:42)
A by-product of this shift is that I no longer have the urge to mold people to my theological presuppositions. I can be more tolerant of those that disagree with me; I can let them be. I also find myself more open to Christians who are not exactly my kind. It's with "all the saints" that we know all the dimensions of God's love, Paul reminds us. (Ephesians 3:18) I can learn from all of them.
Something happened to me some years ago that reinforced my thinking along these lines. I was a student then at the Graduate Theological Union, a consortium of seminaries in Berkeley, California. One of the schools was a seminary in which Jesuit priests are prepared. Though not Roman Catholic, I took most of my classes there.
One winter I enrolled in a tutorial with Dr. John Huesman, a Jesuit priest and ranking Hebrew scholar. I expected to learn from Fr. Huesman, but I learned a good deal more than I expected.
One cold, windy afternoon we were sitting at the kitchen table in his tiny apartment reading Isaiah 53. As I began to read the text, I looked into the good doctor's eyes, saw them glisten and tears begin to flow. He was weeping, not over my translation (which doubtlessly grieved him), but over the text.
"David," I said to myself, "you've read these words many times, but not once have you wept over them. You have much to learn from this man."
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Every man I meet is in some way my superior; in that I can learn from him." This is especially true of those whom God calls His own. I can learn from them, even if they're not exactly my kind.
unnecessary things and thus keeping us from those
that are necessary. Once he has gained an opening
in you of a handbreadth, he will force in his whole
body together with sacks full of useless questions.
- Martin Luther, Instruction from
The Saints to The Church in Erfurt (1522)
I was looking at some of the clever, wonderful unused books on my library shelves the other day and thinking back to a time when, as a much younger man, I envisioned myself spending twenty years or so of my life ramping up my theological knowledge, and then another twenty getting that knowledge organised. The demonstrable, the provable, the definable loomed large in my mind.
As I've gotten older, however, I've learned to be more comfortable with what I don't know and will never know until I get to heaven. Like Israel's poet, I no longer "concern myself with . . . things too wonderful for me." (Psalm 131:1) I find myself more open to mystery and uncertainty these days; I'm able to embrace more ambiguity. My questions are rarely true or false, but multiple choice. I believe more ardently now than ever before, but in fewer and fewer things.
There are things I believe with all my heart - the Apostles' Creed wraps up most of them - but other, more remote aspects of theology that once dominated my thoughts don't weigh on my mind any more. G. K. Chesterton said that angels fly because they take themselves lightly. I'm trying to learn how to fly.
The main thing for me now is not to know all the answers, but to know God, made real and personal in Jesus. I pray for David's spirit, his quiet soul. (Psalm 131:2) I find that few things are necessary now, really "only one." (Luke 10:42)
A by-product of this shift is that I no longer have the urge to mold people to my theological presuppositions. I can be more tolerant of those that disagree with me; I can let them be. I also find myself more open to Christians who are not exactly my kind. It's with "all the saints" that we know all the dimensions of God's love, Paul reminds us. (Ephesians 3:18) I can learn from all of them.
Something happened to me some years ago that reinforced my thinking along these lines. I was a student then at the Graduate Theological Union, a consortium of seminaries in Berkeley, California. One of the schools was a seminary in which Jesuit priests are prepared. Though not Roman Catholic, I took most of my classes there.
One winter I enrolled in a tutorial with Dr. John Huesman, a Jesuit priest and ranking Hebrew scholar. I expected to learn from Fr. Huesman, but I learned a good deal more than I expected.
One cold, windy afternoon we were sitting at the kitchen table in his tiny apartment reading Isaiah 53. As I began to read the text, I looked into the good doctor's eyes, saw them glisten and tears begin to flow. He was weeping, not over my translation (which doubtlessly grieved him), but over the text.
"David," I said to myself, "you've read these words many times, but not once have you wept over them. You have much to learn from this man."
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Every man I meet is in some way my superior; in that I can learn from him." This is especially true of those whom God calls His own. I can learn from them, even if they're not exactly my kind.
Picture posted by iStock
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7wNjGElYgqaz0aw5NBBcPin7-Y3_bhkWlcUciwCv97qDdk5vbWomO1JIELBIiLMJJH-SD1G5TJftCfPK-YBkZf5WL4ajzBZr2uxyLHBJ9EvF_wZYJvPSxJv9wENecQTVMyLOHzivDroM/s2048/istockphoto-1005853936-2048x2048_1.png
https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/rendering-of-a-devil-in-hell-picture-id1005853936?s=2048x2048
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/3d-rendering-of-a-devil-in-hell-gm1005853936-271517384
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https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/rendering-of-a-devil-in-hell-picture-id1005853936?s=2048x2048
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/3d-rendering-of-a-devil-in-hell-gm1005853936-271517384
PHOTO:
The main thing for me now is not to know all the answers, but to know
God, made real and personal in Jesus. I pray for David's spirit, his
quiet soul. (Psalm 131:2) I find that few things are necessary now, really "only one." (Luke 10:42)
Original drawing by Heinrich Hofmann
Picture posted by phillipmedhurst in Art, Bible, Gospel, Jesus Christ, Life of Christ, Prints on Thursday, 29 June 2017
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglNJCfGsbeUBUPzxyHwB1aeD4GNqyuJzbc8NQ7KLED5n6CC-xB2ALrH4-ZITCZklVddz71HmfpaRlN1CEEHOEdXf87_jeaTcseKsvqNOYJ-eHkj1WDdM6Kgh-UULwXHeso4g47HazIxMQ/s1099/wp-image-1009292710_1.jpg
https://thebowyerbiblegospels.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/wp-image-1009292710.jpg
https://thebowyerbiblegospels.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/phillip-medhurst-presents-drawings-of-christ-by-heinrich-hofmann-colourised-16-the-ascension-of-jesus/
Original drawing by Heinrich Hofmann
Picture posted by phillipmedhurst in Art, Bible, Gospel, Jesus Christ, Life of Christ, Prints on Thursday, 29 June 2017
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglNJCfGsbeUBUPzxyHwB1aeD4GNqyuJzbc8NQ7KLED5n6CC-xB2ALrH4-ZITCZklVddz71HmfpaRlN1CEEHOEdXf87_jeaTcseKsvqNOYJ-eHkj1WDdM6Kgh-UULwXHeso4g47HazIxMQ/s1099/wp-image-1009292710_1.jpg
https://thebowyerbiblegospels.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/wp-image-1009292710.jpg
https://thebowyerbiblegospels.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/phillip-medhurst-presents-drawings-of-christ-by-heinrich-hofmann-colourised-16-the-ascension-of-jesus/
PHOTO: "Dear Lord, we learn from Martin Luther that Satan has the intention of detaining us with unnecessary things and thus keeping us from those that are necessary. Once he has gained an opening in you of a handbreadth, he will force in his whole body together with sacks full of useless questions.
We also learn that angels fly because they take themselves lightly. We’re trying to learn how to fly.
Thank You Lord, for letting realise that the main thing for us now is not to know all the answers, but to know You, made real and personal in Jesus. We pray for David's spirit, his quiet soul. Few things are necessary now, really ‘only one.’
Lord, we pray that we no longer have the urge to mould people to our theological presuppositions. May we be more tolerant of those that disagree with us; and we can let them be. May we be more open to Christians who are not exactly our kind. It's with "all the saints" that we know all the dimensions of Your love, as Paul reminds us. And we can learn from all of them.
May every man we meet is in some way our superior; in that we can learn from him, especially those whom You calls Your own. May we learn from them, even if they're not exactly our kind.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Artwork by Heinrich Hofmann - The temptation of jesus (Luke 4:1-13)
Picture posted by phillipmedhurst on Thursday, 15 June 2017 - Art, Bible, Gospel, Jesus Christ, Life of Christ
gif file generated by Animated Images Effects Generator at http://www.webestools.com/animated-images-effect-generator-effects-gif-images-picture-blog-gif-fx-images-animated-effect.html
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https://thebowyerbiblegospels.wordpress.com/2017/06/15/phillip-medhurst-presents-drawings-of-christ-by-heinrich-hofmann-colourised-03-the-temptation-of-jesus/
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https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2019/12/reflection-joy-to-world.html
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/07/reflection-spiritual-journey-keep-our.html
Picture posted by phillipmedhurst on Thursday, 15 June 2017 - Art, Bible, Gospel, Jesus Christ, Life of Christ
gif file generated by Animated Images Effects Generator at http://www.webestools.com/animated-images-effect-generator-effects-gif-images-picture-blog-gif-fx-images-animated-effect.html
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https://thebowyerbiblegospels.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/03-heinrich-hofmann-weiche-von-mir-satan-kommet-zu-mir-bild-4-original-drawing-in-pencil-luke-4_1-13.jpg - (weiche-von-mir-satan.jpg)
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https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2019/12/reflection-joy-to-world.html
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/07/reflection-spiritual-journey-keep-our.html
Chapter 33 - Reflection - Number Our Days - The Hill Difficulty,
PHOTO: He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. - Isaiah 49:10
There is a glacial lake that lies high in a fold of Jug Handle Peak in the mountains north of our home in Boise. It's a dot in the map, but a place of rare beauty and tranquility for me.
The route to the lake takes me up a steep, exposed ridge through boulders and scree. It's a strenuous ascent - hard on my old heart and legs. In the summer, the sun beats down mercilessly on my head, and there's no shade to be found anywhere. At the bottom of the climb, however, there's a brook - a spring that seeps out of soft, mossy earth and flows through a lush meadow crammed with flowers that bloom in wild profusion. It's a quiet place to hydrate myself and prepare for the hard climb that lies ahead.
This reminds me of the moment in The Pilgrim's Progress when Christian and his fellow-travelers find themselves at the foot of another steep ascent, the Hill Difficulty, at the bottom of which there is a spring. "Christian now went to the spring and drank thereof to refresh himself, and then began to go up the hill."
There is a glacial lake that lies high in a fold of Jug Handle Peak in the mountains north of our home in Boise. It's a dot in the map, but a place of rare beauty and tranquility for me.
The route to the lake takes me up a steep, exposed ridge through boulders and scree. It's a strenuous ascent - hard on my old heart and legs. In the summer, the sun beats down mercilessly on my head, and there's no shade to be found anywhere. At the bottom of the climb, however, there's a brook - a spring that seeps out of soft, mossy earth and flows through a lush meadow crammed with flowers that bloom in wild profusion. It's a quiet place to hydrate myself and prepare for the hard climb that lies ahead.
This reminds me of the moment in The Pilgrim's Progress when Christian and his fellow-travelers find themselves at the foot of another steep ascent, the Hill Difficulty, at the bottom of which there is a spring. "Christian now went to the spring and drank thereof to refresh himself, and then began to go up the hill."
Perhaps you, too, stand at the foot of Hill Difficulty facing an impossibly high mountain to be climbed, a challenge that cannot be met through mere strength or wisdom. Perhaps your mountain is the care of an aging or disabled spouse, a difficult financial decision - one on which your earthly future depends - or a painful recovery from a surgical procedure. The demands seem insurmountable.
Before you do anything else, visit the spring that is God himself. Come to Him with all your weakness, weariness, helplessness, failures, doubt, and fear. Drink deeply of His power and wisdom; fill yourself full of His everlasting love. (Dehydration imperils the body and soul.) Ask for faith and hardy endurance to face and surmount the difficulty. (To ask is to receive.)
Whatever we have to do, God must perfect it. He knows all our circumstances and supplies us ahead of time with a store of comfort, of spiritual strengthening and consolation, that we may have ready at hand, that we can resort to and lay up in our heart as an antidote against despair.
We drink from the spring from which our Lord himself drank when He stood at the foot of Hill Calvary - "a brook beside the way." (Psalm 110:7) Then, rested and refreshed, having set the Lord before us, we can rise and face the difficulty that looms ahead.
The mountain may remain, as demanding as ever. But forearmed with prevenient (formal) grace - God's goodness and mercy that precedes all human effort - we can ascend with steady faith, hope, and love.
Picture saved by 9246Shhk to bloemveld
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https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/675469644092488221/
PHOTO: Before you do anything else,
visit the spring that is God himself. Come to Him with all your
weakness, weariness, helplessness, failures, doubt, and fear. Drink
deeply of His power and wisdom; fill yourself full of His everlasting
love. (Dehydration imperils the body and soul.) Ask for faith and hardy
endurance to face and surmount the difficulty. (To ask is to receive.)
Picture posted by Erinsmagala Photography on 03 March 2019
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_Am3nyRncxuckhkphGUmIid6m3-_Md73A4ctz0J3dL-hkDmvEPW4zUj0d2TxdCqns1dMqF1ChRwLqe2ZobSvbVWOolIGwcIarQMUNBj5sT5SUGtl25MFnEvshxW7GAf4oPd8fC4ULCdlFIT6uEQnl_1Iolh6El_XwnVlLimGSsv-Wt5BjHmccV3Oz=s2048
https://erinsmagala.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/mount-juliet-tn-senior-portrait-photographer.jpg
https://erinsmagala.com/senior-pictures-in-nashville-tn-mikaylla/
Picture posted by Erinsmagala Photography on 03 March 2019
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_Am3nyRncxuckhkphGUmIid6m3-_Md73A4ctz0J3dL-hkDmvEPW4zUj0d2TxdCqns1dMqF1ChRwLqe2ZobSvbVWOolIGwcIarQMUNBj5sT5SUGtl25MFnEvshxW7GAf4oPd8fC4ULCdlFIT6uEQnl_1Iolh6El_XwnVlLimGSsv-Wt5BjHmccV3Oz=s2048
https://erinsmagala.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/mount-juliet-tn-senior-portrait-photographer.jpg
https://erinsmagala.com/senior-pictures-in-nashville-tn-mikaylla/
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/10/reflection-number-our-days-hill.html
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we pray for Your help when we stand at the foot of ‘Hill
Difficulty’ facing an impossibly high mountain to be climbed, a
challenge that cannot be met through mere strength or wisdom. Perhaps
our mountain is the care of an aging or disabled spouse, a difficult
financial decision - one on which our earthly future depends - or a
painful recovery from a surgical procedure. And the demands seem
insurmountable.
Bring us to visit the spring that is You, God, and drank thereof to refresh ourselves, before we began to go up the hill. May we come to You with all our weakness, weariness, helplessness, failures, doubt, and fear. Drink deeply of Your power and wisdom; fill ourselves full of Your everlasting love. We ask for faith and hardy endurance to face and surmount the difficulty.
Lord, whatever we have to do, You must perfect it. You knows all our circumstances and supplies us ahead of time with a store of comfort, of spiritual strengthening and consolation, that we may have ready at hand, that we can resort to and lay up in our heart as an antidote against despair.
May we drink from the spring from which our Lord himself drank when He stood at the foot of Hill Calvary – ‘a brook beside the way.’ Then, rested and refreshed, having set the Lord before us, we can rise and face the difficulty that looms ahead.
The mountain of difficulty may remain, as demanding as ever. But forearmed with prevenient grace - Your goodness and mercy that precedes all human effort - we can ascend with steady faith, hope, and love.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Wood engraving by David Scott - Christian reaches the Cross, illustration for Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress
Picture posted by George P. Landow, The Victorian Web on 29 March 2014
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizxhFkmcHvLoHhezQwJlb-d_m5zsvgcO6gHR-YiukjP3e8edNJXv6erPSdR705eyFyKmHnpyT6zVcqgQ3VVP6DpvVVRhMA-VRjbRsRgi9hBCbsZgeQAmIGN6r69NH8yUKa79eEKp8r6Sb9Z_sgn9PqguQMmD0no3SP_IIISy7Y29W50gre8e-6soPU=s1000
Bring us to visit the spring that is You, God, and drank thereof to refresh ourselves, before we began to go up the hill. May we come to You with all our weakness, weariness, helplessness, failures, doubt, and fear. Drink deeply of Your power and wisdom; fill ourselves full of Your everlasting love. We ask for faith and hardy endurance to face and surmount the difficulty.
Lord, whatever we have to do, You must perfect it. You knows all our circumstances and supplies us ahead of time with a store of comfort, of spiritual strengthening and consolation, that we may have ready at hand, that we can resort to and lay up in our heart as an antidote against despair.
May we drink from the spring from which our Lord himself drank when He stood at the foot of Hill Calvary – ‘a brook beside the way.’ Then, rested and refreshed, having set the Lord before us, we can rise and face the difficulty that looms ahead.
The mountain of difficulty may remain, as demanding as ever. But forearmed with prevenient grace - Your goodness and mercy that precedes all human effort - we can ascend with steady faith, hope, and love.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Wood engraving by David Scott - Christian reaches the Cross, illustration for Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress
Picture posted by George P. Landow, The Victorian Web on 29 March 2014
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizxhFkmcHvLoHhezQwJlb-d_m5zsvgcO6gHR-YiukjP3e8edNJXv6erPSdR705eyFyKmHnpyT6zVcqgQ3VVP6DpvVVRhMA-VRjbRsRgi9hBCbsZgeQAmIGN6r69NH8yUKa79eEKp8r6Sb9Z_sgn9PqguQMmD0no3SP_IIISy7Y29W50gre8e-6soPU=s1000
https://victorianweb.org/art/illustration/scott/4.jpg - (Christian_4.jpg)
Chapter 34 - Reflection - Number Our Days - A Ruin! A Ruin! A Ruin!,
PHOTO: He took the silver and the gold,
To make me rich in grace;
He quenched earth's lights that I might see
The shining of his face.
- F. B. Meyer
I was hiking in the mountains south of our home in Boise several months ago and came across the ruins of the Golden Chariot Mine, one of the richest gold mines in the Owyhee Mountains of Idaho. I had read that it was the cause of a bitter war that raged underground for weeks - a bloody gun battle in which a number of men lost their lives. The gold still lies in a rich vein that runs under War Eagle Mountain, yet the mine, an all that men gave their lives for there, remains in ruins.
"A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin," Ezekiel exclaims, using the strongest superlative in the Hebrew language. "It will not be restored until he comes to whom it rightfully belongs." (Ezekiel 21:18-27)
This prophecy was directed against Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and was a prediction of the siege of Jerusalem and its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar and his army.
Jerusalem was impregnable, or so Zedekiah believed, his place of ultimate safety. Its walls would never fall. Yet, as the prophecy foretold, the city in which he placed his trust would be reduced to ruins and would not be fully restored, "until He comes to whom it rightfully belongs."
This reference goes back a thousand years or more to Jacob's ancient prophecy: "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his." (Genesis 49:10) This is the promise of Israel's Messiah, the one to whom the kingdom rightfully belonged. It was this reminder and the destruction of the city of Jerusalem that awakened God's people once again to their need for His wise and righteous rule and His promise that He would restore the city's glory and beauty.
Ruin comes to all of us so that God may build a better thing. He shakes what can be shaken, so that what cannot be shaken may remain. This is the hidden meaning of the devastation that brings down the things we've given our lives to build up and to maintain.
When we fall into ruin, God has graciously provided a way to rebuild. We may live with the results of our sin, but sin repented of draws us back into God's great heart and enables Him to restore us. The grace of men is a sometime thing; the grace of God endures forever.
God's grace is determined by His interest in us. He uses everything for our greater good, even our ruin. This is what theologians call "the economy of salvation." God wastes nothing, not even our sin. "God knows how to draw glory even from our faults. Not to be downcast after committing a fault is one of the marks of true sanctity."
We must not let our defeats defeat us, for our defilement and God's forgiving grace can become the means by which we are drawn into an intimacy with our Lord in greater measure than before. Our sin - repented of and put away - can result in greater results for the kingdom of God than anything we could have accomplished otherwise. Grace takes our most depraved and black-hearted sin and turns it into something beautiful for Him. That, and not our sin, is the final word.
God rids our hearts of past sorrow, even as His goodness and love treat our sins as if they had never happened. And then, as David assures us, "He leads us in paths of righteousness."
The retirement funds we've accumulated with so much care are lost that we may acquire better riches. The reputation we've established for integrity and restraint is shattered that we may despair of our own goodness and find our righteousness in Christ. The friendships we've cultivated lie in ruins that we may gain a truer Friend. The love of our life is taken away that a greater Love may possess us. And then there is aging, the thing that eventually ruins all of us. We are brought down, rendered useless, stripped of pretense and defenses so God can build from the ground up. As George MacDonald said, we learn "to live without earthly provision or precaution." God becomes our sole good, the only thing we desire.
In the end our ruination will have become the best thing that ever happened to us, for it will have turned us to the One to whom we rightfully belong - and in so doing we are restored.
I am alone in the dark, and I am thinking
what darkness would be mine if I could see
the ruin I wrought in every place I wandered
and if I could not be aware of One who follows after me.
Whom do I love, O God, when I love Thee?
The great Undoer who has torn apart
the walls I built against a human heart,
the Mender who has sewn together the hedges
through which I broke when I went seeking ill,
the Love who follows and forgives me still.
Fumbler and fool that I am, with things around me
and of fragile make the souls, how I am blessed
to hear behind me footsteps of a Savior!
I sing to the east, I sing to the lighted west:
God is my repairer of fences, turning my paths into rest.
- Jessica Powers, "Repairer of Fences" (Isaiah 58:12)
To make me rich in grace;
He quenched earth's lights that I might see
The shining of his face.
- F. B. Meyer
I was hiking in the mountains south of our home in Boise several months ago and came across the ruins of the Golden Chariot Mine, one of the richest gold mines in the Owyhee Mountains of Idaho. I had read that it was the cause of a bitter war that raged underground for weeks - a bloody gun battle in which a number of men lost their lives. The gold still lies in a rich vein that runs under War Eagle Mountain, yet the mine, an all that men gave their lives for there, remains in ruins.
"A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin," Ezekiel exclaims, using the strongest superlative in the Hebrew language. "It will not be restored until he comes to whom it rightfully belongs." (Ezekiel 21:18-27)
This prophecy was directed against Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and was a prediction of the siege of Jerusalem and its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar and his army.
Jerusalem was impregnable, or so Zedekiah believed, his place of ultimate safety. Its walls would never fall. Yet, as the prophecy foretold, the city in which he placed his trust would be reduced to ruins and would not be fully restored, "until He comes to whom it rightfully belongs."
This reference goes back a thousand years or more to Jacob's ancient prophecy: "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his." (Genesis 49:10) This is the promise of Israel's Messiah, the one to whom the kingdom rightfully belonged. It was this reminder and the destruction of the city of Jerusalem that awakened God's people once again to their need for His wise and righteous rule and His promise that He would restore the city's glory and beauty.
Ruin comes to all of us so that God may build a better thing. He shakes what can be shaken, so that what cannot be shaken may remain. This is the hidden meaning of the devastation that brings down the things we've given our lives to build up and to maintain.
When we fall into ruin, God has graciously provided a way to rebuild. We may live with the results of our sin, but sin repented of draws us back into God's great heart and enables Him to restore us. The grace of men is a sometime thing; the grace of God endures forever.
God's grace is determined by His interest in us. He uses everything for our greater good, even our ruin. This is what theologians call "the economy of salvation." God wastes nothing, not even our sin. "God knows how to draw glory even from our faults. Not to be downcast after committing a fault is one of the marks of true sanctity."
We must not let our defeats defeat us, for our defilement and God's forgiving grace can become the means by which we are drawn into an intimacy with our Lord in greater measure than before. Our sin - repented of and put away - can result in greater results for the kingdom of God than anything we could have accomplished otherwise. Grace takes our most depraved and black-hearted sin and turns it into something beautiful for Him. That, and not our sin, is the final word.
God rids our hearts of past sorrow, even as His goodness and love treat our sins as if they had never happened. And then, as David assures us, "He leads us in paths of righteousness."
The retirement funds we've accumulated with so much care are lost that we may acquire better riches. The reputation we've established for integrity and restraint is shattered that we may despair of our own goodness and find our righteousness in Christ. The friendships we've cultivated lie in ruins that we may gain a truer Friend. The love of our life is taken away that a greater Love may possess us. And then there is aging, the thing that eventually ruins all of us. We are brought down, rendered useless, stripped of pretense and defenses so God can build from the ground up. As George MacDonald said, we learn "to live without earthly provision or precaution." God becomes our sole good, the only thing we desire.
In the end our ruination will have become the best thing that ever happened to us, for it will have turned us to the One to whom we rightfully belong - and in so doing we are restored.
I am alone in the dark, and I am thinking
what darkness would be mine if I could see
the ruin I wrought in every place I wandered
and if I could not be aware of One who follows after me.
Whom do I love, O God, when I love Thee?
The great Undoer who has torn apart
the walls I built against a human heart,
the Mender who has sewn together the hedges
through which I broke when I went seeking ill,
the Love who follows and forgives me still.
Fumbler and fool that I am, with things around me
and of fragile make the souls, how I am blessed
to hear behind me footsteps of a Savior!
I sing to the east, I sing to the lighted west:
God is my repairer of fences, turning my paths into rest.
- Jessica Powers, "Repairer of Fences" (Isaiah 58:12)
Picture posted by Alexa
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhesSi5Z8wRQPFFMknrhKDXzXJkEx4gJ3couMWJoa0Xfmfrv87bcsVA7SSVcB4XS-ObcyIOm0JrsWGsYBmLOAxdwAEtpXb9LBh13g_vkWsPzS8alz6zwVRJU-Aj4NtUo0LDUcnPISuPcl3dMA1nQxQ3Egn6AJHIAVYkBx8KCWI4xVSLnkRqi8-sREr0=s1350
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PHOTO: "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his." (Genesis 49:10) It was
this reminder and the destruction of the city of Jerusalem that
awakened God's people once again to their need for His wise and
righteous rule and His promise that He would restore the city's glory
and beauty.Artwork by Steve Goad uploaded by fineartamerica.com on 03 March 2021 - Lion of the Tribe of Judah
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjLyVxmGpStzJa5YGX9mPMgQ2pRVSEsIlkr0xdGBW4yCxkK8Rb5r_6DP3QIDtNjm1RzFZp4Byr1Ds1TurTE6DzSQ8odMu4_w9YHgTET9BJ9qdfQuITM0BcGNLc8gEv4uRR5453p5ZAwKqVuw490M71VfoK11_GfibpgP9eJpGNIlpGzoSQUYAYXikV=s900
https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/3/lion-of-the-tribe-of-judah-steve-goad.jpg
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/lion-of-the-tribe-of-judah-steve-goad.html
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn that ruin comes to all of us so that You may build a
better thing. You shake what can be shaken, so that what cannot be
shaken may remain. There will be devastation that brings down the things
we've given our lives to build up and to maintain.We may live with the results of our sin, but sin repented of draws us back into Your great heart and enables You to restore us. When we fall into ruin, You have graciously provided a way to rebuild. The grace of men is a sometime thing; but Your grace endures forever.
Lord, we learn that Your grace is determined by Your interest in us. You use everything for our greater good, even our ruin. You waste nothing, not even our sin. You know how to draw glory even from our faults. We are consoled not to be downcast after committing a fault because it is one of the marks of true sanctity.
Lord, we pray we will not let our defeats defeat us, for our defilement and Your forgiving grace can become the means by which we are drawn into an intimacy with You, in greater measure than before. Our sin - repented of and put away - can result in greater results for the kingdom of God than anything we could have accomplished otherwise. Grace takes our most depraved and black-hearted sin and turns it into something beautiful for You. That, and not our sin, is the final word.
Lord, may You rids our hearts of past sorrow, even as Your goodness and love treat our sins as if they had never happened. And then, as David assures us, You will leads us in paths of righteousness.
The retirement funds we've accumulated with so much care are lost that we may acquire better riches. The reputation we've established for integrity and restraint is shattered that we may despair of our own goodness and find our righteousness in Christ. The friendships we've cultivated lie in ruins that we may gain a truer Friend. The love of our life is taken away that a greater Love may possess us. And then there is aging, the thing that eventually ruins all of us. We are brought down, rendered useless, stripped of pretense and defenses so that You can build from the ground up. May we learn ‘to live without earthly provision or precaution.’ You become our sole good, the only thing we desire.
In the end, may our ruination have become the best thing that ever happened to us, for it will have turned us to You, to whom we rightfully belong - and in so doing we are restored.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by gb62da on 26 February 2015 - A leafy bower
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirs5glzAnK_xfwVrlCUwN71te5ottMVDkJhsMY9Y0w5jPMbeK3Ai3VZMrzHIgjdQ9vEho5FF6i_-0ayCVeAfNtZoLo7xbGSjIrqnMRuNpqm3e018obpJn_NDIZvnJyt-OBiOCT15mSe2o/s2048/d8jjpw4-012602d0-1b93-4985-b3af-f104c8147340.jpg
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https://www.deviantart.com/gb62da/art/A-leafy-bower-516562132
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/01/erotic-fantasy-comics-art-iv-warning.html
PHOTO: If "the nightingale sings best with a thorn
against her breast," why not we?
- Susan Gilbert Dickinson in a letter to Emily Dickinson (1861)
Suffering is exact. We don't grieve in general or in the abstract, but in specific, concrete ways. Most of the consolation we receive, however, is loaded with generalizations and abstractions, as anyone who has ever received a sympathy card knows. "It's all for the best," our friends assure us. Or, "It will turn out for good."
Such comfort, however well-meant, is ineffective. When I suffer, I crave an answer as precise as my pain. In what sense is my suffering for the best? And what is the good, if any, to which my suffering will be turned?
God is fair and just, although the final explanation for evil and injustice awaits heaven. (Genesis 18:25, Psalm 94:3) I cannot know every purpose for which God permits trouble to come my way, and I would be foolish to give an unequivocal (indisputable) answer to the question, "Why suffering?" Yet my afflictions are not meaningless. They are part of the specific good God has determined to do: namely, to turn me to His Word for Hid discipline and instruction that He may enlighten and deepen me.
The psalmist's argument in Psalm 94 is clear: "How long will the wicked [go unpunished]?" he asks. And God answers: "Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches man lack knowledge [of their evil]?" (Psalm 94:3, 10, emphasis added) God will discipline the ungodly in due time, He insists; but first He must discipline and teach His own children. A good father begins with his own family. (1 Peter 4:17)
against her breast," why not we?
- Susan Gilbert Dickinson in a letter to Emily Dickinson (1861)
Suffering is exact. We don't grieve in general or in the abstract, but in specific, concrete ways. Most of the consolation we receive, however, is loaded with generalizations and abstractions, as anyone who has ever received a sympathy card knows. "It's all for the best," our friends assure us. Or, "It will turn out for good."
Such comfort, however well-meant, is ineffective. When I suffer, I crave an answer as precise as my pain. In what sense is my suffering for the best? And what is the good, if any, to which my suffering will be turned?
God is fair and just, although the final explanation for evil and injustice awaits heaven. (Genesis 18:25, Psalm 94:3) I cannot know every purpose for which God permits trouble to come my way, and I would be foolish to give an unequivocal (indisputable) answer to the question, "Why suffering?" Yet my afflictions are not meaningless. They are part of the specific good God has determined to do: namely, to turn me to His Word for Hid discipline and instruction that He may enlighten and deepen me.
The psalmist's argument in Psalm 94 is clear: "How long will the wicked [go unpunished]?" he asks. And God answers: "Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches man lack knowledge [of their evil]?" (Psalm 94:3, 10, emphasis added) God will discipline the ungodly in due time, He insists; but first He must discipline and teach His own children. A good father begins with his own family. (1 Peter 4:17)
Affliction, when we accept it with humility, can be instructive, a discipline that leads us to a deeper, fuller life. "Before I was afflicted I went astray," the psalmist says, "but now I obey your word." And again, "It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees." Peter would agree. Affliction, he says, leads us to live no longer for ourselves, but "for the will of God." (Psalm 119:67-71; 1 Peter 4:2)
Pain, far from being an obstacle to our spiritual growth, can be the condition of it - if we're trained by it. It pushes us closer to God and into His Word. It is the means by which He graciously shapes us to be like His Son, gradually giving us the compassion, contentment, tranquility, and courage we long and pray for. Without pain, God could never make the most of our lives.
Poets have wronged poor storms: such days are best;
They purge the air without, within the breast.
That's why Job, who suffered more than anyone I can name, exclaimed in the midst of his troubles, "Blessed is the man whom God corrects," though admittedly, he, like us, found it hard to sustain that thesis at all times. (Job 5:17)
Are you one whom God has set apart today to instruct through suffering and pain? Endure His discipline patiently. He can make the trial a blessing using it to draw you into His heart and into His Word, teaching you the lessons He intends you to learn, working in you the grace He means to bestow, giving you "respite from days of trouble." (Psalm 94:13) This is the "good" to which your suffering can be turned. (Romans 8:28, 29)
God is making more out of you than you ever thought possible.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. - James 1:2-3
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https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB17NoNXifrK1RjSspbq6A4pFXae/Beibehang-Custom-wallpaper-mural-nature-scenery-woods-park-green-road-deer-flowers-3d-landscape-wall-wallpaper.jpg
https://aliexpress.ru/item/32942864429.html?sku_id=66253880080
PHOTO:
Pain, far from being an obstacle to our spiritual growth, can be the
condition of it - if we're trained by it. It pushes us closer to God and
into His Word. It is the means by which He graciously shapes us to be
like His Son, gradually giving us the compassion, contentment,
tranquility, and courage we long and pray for. Without pain, God could
never make the most of our lives.
Picture posted by Editorial Team on 07 February 2017 - God Shouts to Us in Our Pain
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzBkA9AcSkY1nl-2gVTLBB4Hbgbxd77Wny-ioX79TmKUMGKo4D0ZpbTAtG938v6XxdPFCU888sjq7rmUv61FHRogHhMdT-bSXc_ZgKBDJp5m-ft705Ve4kl4a0WSeOrqHr4MLsu-ei4HjXOYjTFJxuJ4V-OGfs1RUw8MWjtcTDrHSO5BA3oIOzCkfR=s1000
https://hallelujah.co.ke/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/76818604.jpg
https://hallelujah.co.ke/god-shouts-us-pain/
Picture posted by Editorial Team on 07 February 2017 - God Shouts to Us in Our Pain
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https://hallelujah.co.ke/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/76818604.jpg
https://hallelujah.co.ke/god-shouts-us-pain/
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn that God is fair and just, although the final
explanation for evil and injustice awaits heaven. We cannot know every
purpose for which God permits trouble to come our way, and we would be
foolish to give an unequivocal answer to the question.
Meanwhile, suffering is exact. We don't grieve in general or in the abstract, but in specific, concrete ways. Most of the consolation we receive, however, is loaded with generalizations and abstractions, as anyone who has ever received a sympathy card knows.
Such comfort, however well-meant, is ineffective. When we suffer, we crave an answer as precise as our pain. In what sense is our suffering for the best? And what is the good, if any, to which our suffering will be turned?
Meanwhile, suffering is exact. We don't grieve in general or in the abstract, but in specific, concrete ways. Most of the consolation we receive, however, is loaded with generalizations and abstractions, as anyone who has ever received a sympathy card knows.
Such comfort, however well-meant, is ineffective. When we suffer, we crave an answer as precise as our pain. In what sense is our suffering for the best? And what is the good, if any, to which our suffering will be turned?
Lord, even the psalmist asked ‘how long will the wicked go unpunished.’ We learn that God will discipline the ungodly in due time. But first He must discipline and teach His own children. A good father begins with his own family.
Thank You Lord, affliction, when we accept it with humility, can be instructive, a discipline that leads us to a deeper, fuller life.
We learn too, affliction leads us to live no longer for ourselves, but ‘for the will of God.’ Pain, far from being an obstacle to our spiritual growth, can be the condition of it - if we're trained by it. It pushes us closer to God and into His Word.
Lord, we learn that pain is the means by which You graciously shapes us to be like Your Son, gradually giving us the compassion, contentment, tranquillity, and courage we long and pray for. Without pain, You could never make the most of our lives.
Lord, we pray that we can be like Job, who suffered more than anyone, exclaimed in the midst of his troubles, ‘Blessed is the man whom God corrects,’ though admittedly, he, like us, found it hard to sustain that thesis at all times.
Lord, if we have been set apart today to be instructed through suffering and pain, help us to endure Your discipline patiently. May the trial be a blessing using it to draw us into Your heart and into Your Word, teaching us the lessons You intend us to learn, working in us the grace You mean to bestow, giving us ‘respite from days of trouble.’ May this be the ‘good’ to which our suffering can be turned.
Lord, thank You for making more out of us than we ever thought possible. Help us to consider it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds, because we know that the testing of our faith develops perseverance.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by AliExpress
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https://aliexpress.ru/item/32820313272.html?sku_id=64827962966
Chapter 36 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Nothing to Lose,
PHOTO: The delicate seed-globe must break up now -
it gives and gives till it has nothing left.
- Lilias Trotter, Parables of the Cross
Salsifies grow in delicate profusion in the fields near our place in the mountains of Idaho. From June to August the plants produce spiked yellow flowers that open each morning and go to sleep at noon. In the late summer the flowers close up for good and swell into green pods that burst into puffballs. Then the wind blows the seeds away and there's nothing left but a bare stem.
It strikes me that aging is somewhat like that: Time blow on us, and we lose bits and pieces of ourselves until there's nothing left to lose.
But I'm also reminded that a salsify comes to fruition by surrendering itself. It dies that it might bear much fruit, though it has no idea when or where its seeds will fall. Jesus states the case plainly: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate . . . his own life - he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26, emphasis added)
To hate ourselves is not to despise ourselves, but to love and give in such measure that it looks as though we're taking no thought for ourselves, an idea at odds with the wisdom of our age - or of any age for that matter. The fundamental dictum of the human race is to look out for "number one." But Jesus teaches us to give up our lives - forget about them. This is the point of the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, and most of Jesus' parables. And it is illustrated by His entire life, by the Incarnation, by His willingness to empty himself and, ultimately, to give himself up to death for our sake.
We find ourselves by giving ourselves away. "Whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it," Jesus assures us. (Mark 8:35) And Paul, writing of Jesus' willingness to empty himself of self, concludes, "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place." (Philippians 2:9)
This is the way to joy, to meaning and purpose, to peace of mind, to tranquility and rest. This is deliverance from the dullness, dreariness, and emptiness of a self-centered existence, deliverance from the vague unhappiness and restlessness that overwhelm us when we live solely for ourselves.
Furthermore, this is the way to sustain the greatest influence on others. "All who would . . . multiply [God's] kingdom must do so through surrender and sacrifice," says Elisabeth Elliot. And in my own experience, those who have had the greatest impact on me are not the brightest and the best but those who have given themselves in love, self-surrender, and sacrifice. These are the men and women who have imparted new life to me.
Lilias Trotter, in her book Parables of the Cross, painted a watercolor of a dandelion seed-globe that "long ago surrendered its golden petals, and has reached its crowning stage of dying." Over the top of the dandelion seed-globe she wrote, "I am now ready to be offered." She was quoting Paul: "For I now ready to be offered," or literally, "I am already being poured out like a drink offering." (2 Timothy 4:6) The drink offering was a goblet of wine poured on the altar of sacrifice. Poof! A flash of luminous flame, and nothing is left but sweet aroma.
Miss Trotter continued: "[The dandelion] stands ready, holding up its little life, not knowing when or where or how the wind that bloweth where it listeth (John 3:8 KJV, The wind that blows where it wishes) may carry it away. It holds itself no longer for its own keeping, only as something to be given."
Measure thy life by loss and not by gain,
Not by the wine drunk, but by the wine poured forth,
For love's strength standeth in love's sacrifice,
And he who suffers most has most to give.
Picture posted by Podserve
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHOg8FuPSW4Yny2AJ7YApQsaQ8AVBE6VSOyUC1dXNTZAMB02uTcsLsF2cjRlZy5fNGvmqPV5R-Jx0AwQ5TLUwcjBL96s-q6MUzFFR5rRiUnK8o_LjBXcim7v89z8Jgy6j7-UoDh4CZs4RbyH-JVwZQqMWH7cVhQkHdlkq1NElkgfvFI1w8mo7OV5zp=s1400
https://media.podserve.fm/media/user_5760/logos/CC1FF79A-F650-4B65-8BFF-B7DB67424758_hiRbh6N.jpg
https://www.podserve.fm/w/ensimplespalabras_con_LillyyJoel/42305
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-counting-days.html
it gives and gives till it has nothing left.
- Lilias Trotter, Parables of the Cross
Salsifies grow in delicate profusion in the fields near our place in the mountains of Idaho. From June to August the plants produce spiked yellow flowers that open each morning and go to sleep at noon. In the late summer the flowers close up for good and swell into green pods that burst into puffballs. Then the wind blows the seeds away and there's nothing left but a bare stem.
It strikes me that aging is somewhat like that: Time blow on us, and we lose bits and pieces of ourselves until there's nothing left to lose.
But I'm also reminded that a salsify comes to fruition by surrendering itself. It dies that it might bear much fruit, though it has no idea when or where its seeds will fall. Jesus states the case plainly: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate . . . his own life - he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26, emphasis added)
To hate ourselves is not to despise ourselves, but to love and give in such measure that it looks as though we're taking no thought for ourselves, an idea at odds with the wisdom of our age - or of any age for that matter. The fundamental dictum of the human race is to look out for "number one." But Jesus teaches us to give up our lives - forget about them. This is the point of the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, and most of Jesus' parables. And it is illustrated by His entire life, by the Incarnation, by His willingness to empty himself and, ultimately, to give himself up to death for our sake.
We find ourselves by giving ourselves away. "Whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it," Jesus assures us. (Mark 8:35) And Paul, writing of Jesus' willingness to empty himself of self, concludes, "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place." (Philippians 2:9)
This is the way to joy, to meaning and purpose, to peace of mind, to tranquility and rest. This is deliverance from the dullness, dreariness, and emptiness of a self-centered existence, deliverance from the vague unhappiness and restlessness that overwhelm us when we live solely for ourselves.
Furthermore, this is the way to sustain the greatest influence on others. "All who would . . . multiply [God's] kingdom must do so through surrender and sacrifice," says Elisabeth Elliot. And in my own experience, those who have had the greatest impact on me are not the brightest and the best but those who have given themselves in love, self-surrender, and sacrifice. These are the men and women who have imparted new life to me.
Lilias Trotter, in her book Parables of the Cross, painted a watercolor of a dandelion seed-globe that "long ago surrendered its golden petals, and has reached its crowning stage of dying." Over the top of the dandelion seed-globe she wrote, "I am now ready to be offered." She was quoting Paul: "For I now ready to be offered," or literally, "I am already being poured out like a drink offering." (2 Timothy 4:6) The drink offering was a goblet of wine poured on the altar of sacrifice. Poof! A flash of luminous flame, and nothing is left but sweet aroma.
Miss Trotter continued: "[The dandelion] stands ready, holding up its little life, not knowing when or where or how the wind that bloweth where it listeth (John 3:8 KJV, The wind that blows where it wishes) may carry it away. It holds itself no longer for its own keeping, only as something to be given."
Measure thy life by loss and not by gain,
Not by the wine drunk, but by the wine poured forth,
For love's strength standeth in love's sacrifice,
And he who suffers most has most to give.
Picture posted by Podserve
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHOg8FuPSW4Yny2AJ7YApQsaQ8AVBE6VSOyUC1dXNTZAMB02uTcsLsF2cjRlZy5fNGvmqPV5R-Jx0AwQ5TLUwcjBL96s-q6MUzFFR5rRiUnK8o_LjBXcim7v89z8Jgy6j7-UoDh4CZs4RbyH-JVwZQqMWH7cVhQkHdlkq1NElkgfvFI1w8mo7OV5zp=s1400
https://media.podserve.fm/media/user_5760/logos/CC1FF79A-F650-4B65-8BFF-B7DB67424758_hiRbh6N.jpg
https://www.podserve.fm/w/ensimplespalabras_con_LillyyJoel/42305
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-counting-days.html
PHOTO:
Salsifies grow in delicate profusion in the fields in the mountains of
Idaho. From June to August the plants produce spiked yellow flowers that
open each morning and go to sleep at noon. In the late summer the
flowers close up for good and swell into green pods that burst into
puffballs. Then the wind blows the seeds away and there's nothing left
but a bare stem.
Picture posted by Br. Alfred Brousseau, Saint Mary's College - The scientific name of yellow salsify is Tragopogon dubius Scop
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjAZ0mmCRl5azyWxdY4-Qt4xjIgzf3twYuxYbwvtipIbxotaH7oss0kQ3MM5heJokNqNgFDIoclJaZ8TXPiF29zV-tijRFVuuf5xEipx5tMufYkYHaJQIEUlCcCjUdFrqfFdYWS9WSSBoC4Dd4WayKew0LFQbeys99yYf1sJLVgSCgJuNrg20-48twU=s446
https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/tradub/flower&fruit.jpg
https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/tradub/all.html
Picture posted by Br. Alfred Brousseau, Saint Mary's College - The scientific name of yellow salsify is Tragopogon dubius Scop
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjAZ0mmCRl5azyWxdY4-Qt4xjIgzf3twYuxYbwvtipIbxotaH7oss0kQ3MM5heJokNqNgFDIoclJaZ8TXPiF29zV-tijRFVuuf5xEipx5tMufYkYHaJQIEUlCcCjUdFrqfFdYWS9WSSBoC4Dd4WayKew0LFQbeys99yYf1sJLVgSCgJuNrg20-48twU=s446
https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/tradub/flower&fruit.jpg
https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/tradub/all.html
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn that salsifies grow in delicate profusion in the fields
producing spiked yellow flowers that open each morning and go to sleep
at noon. In the late summer the flowers close up for good and swell into
green pods that burst into puffballs. Then the wind blows the seeds
away and there's nothing left but a bare stem.
Our aging is somewhat like that: Time blow on us, and we lose bits and pieces of ourselves until there's nothing left to lose.
We are reminded that a salsify comes to fruition by surrendering itself. It dies that it might bear much fruit, though it has no idea when or where its seeds will fall. Jesus states the case plainly: ‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate . . . his own life - he cannot be my disciple.’
Lord we learn that To hate ourselves is not to despise ourselves, but to love and give in such measure that it looks as though we're taking no thought for ourselves.
This idea is at odds with the wisdom of our age - or of any age because the fundamental dictum of the human race is to look out for ‘number one.’ May we learn from what Jesus taught us - to give up our lives - forget about them. This is illustrated by His entire life, by the Incarnation, by His willingness to empty himself and, ultimately, to give himself up to death for our sake.
Jesus assures us that we find ourselves by giving ourselves away. ‘Whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.’ Jesus' willingness to empty himself of self, had Paul concluding ‘Therefore God exalted him to the highest place’
We pray for Your help to learn that this is the way to joy, to meaning and purpose, to peace of mind, to tranquillity and rest. This is deliverance from the dullness, dreariness, and emptiness of a self-centred existence, deliverance from the vague unhappiness and restlessness that overwhelm us when we live solely for ourselves.
Help us to learn that this is the way to sustain the greatest influence on others. Because ‘all who would . . . multiply [God's] kingdom must do so through surrender and sacrifice.’ Those who have had the greatest impact on us are not the brightest and the best but those who have given themselves in love, self-surrender, and sacrifice. These are the men and women who have imparted new life to us.
May we offer ourselves, like a dandelion seed-globe that ‘long ago surrendered its golden petals, and has reached its crowning stage of dying.’ And be able to be like Paul, who was ‘already being poured out like a drink offering.’
We will then be like the dandelion which stands ready, holding up its little life, not knowing when or where or how the wind blows where it wishes, and carry it away. It holds itself no longer for its own keeping, only as something to be given.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Voronin76, Shuttertock
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiDVrz6eDuHq1b3qs1F5mcinqpvja2RgjERGMmxCYTc9KLanXPu8E4FC4FhfXa7dZdBXkxA9R6Oi8RAKOX9QG54pzYVLezQGeMeuyi1uUx9-Wrgd09QQKGYfUpp5AViHMzIPuiverVI-L3mqL1kyTiWQFYrUj4JlPjP5xRAudDb-uOSp6N5v2cOd0I3=s1500
https://image.shutterstock.com/shutterstock/photos/143913277/display_1500/stock-photo-the-beautiful-woman-in-flowers-of-cherry-143913277.jpg
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-woman-flowers-cherry-143913277
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-counting-days.html
Our aging is somewhat like that: Time blow on us, and we lose bits and pieces of ourselves until there's nothing left to lose.
We are reminded that a salsify comes to fruition by surrendering itself. It dies that it might bear much fruit, though it has no idea when or where its seeds will fall. Jesus states the case plainly: ‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate . . . his own life - he cannot be my disciple.’
Lord we learn that To hate ourselves is not to despise ourselves, but to love and give in such measure that it looks as though we're taking no thought for ourselves.
This idea is at odds with the wisdom of our age - or of any age because the fundamental dictum of the human race is to look out for ‘number one.’ May we learn from what Jesus taught us - to give up our lives - forget about them. This is illustrated by His entire life, by the Incarnation, by His willingness to empty himself and, ultimately, to give himself up to death for our sake.
Jesus assures us that we find ourselves by giving ourselves away. ‘Whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.’ Jesus' willingness to empty himself of self, had Paul concluding ‘Therefore God exalted him to the highest place’
We pray for Your help to learn that this is the way to joy, to meaning and purpose, to peace of mind, to tranquillity and rest. This is deliverance from the dullness, dreariness, and emptiness of a self-centred existence, deliverance from the vague unhappiness and restlessness that overwhelm us when we live solely for ourselves.
Help us to learn that this is the way to sustain the greatest influence on others. Because ‘all who would . . . multiply [God's] kingdom must do so through surrender and sacrifice.’ Those who have had the greatest impact on us are not the brightest and the best but those who have given themselves in love, self-surrender, and sacrifice. These are the men and women who have imparted new life to us.
May we offer ourselves, like a dandelion seed-globe that ‘long ago surrendered its golden petals, and has reached its crowning stage of dying.’ And be able to be like Paul, who was ‘already being poured out like a drink offering.’
We will then be like the dandelion which stands ready, holding up its little life, not knowing when or where or how the wind blows where it wishes, and carry it away. It holds itself no longer for its own keeping, only as something to be given.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Voronin76, Shuttertock
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiDVrz6eDuHq1b3qs1F5mcinqpvja2RgjERGMmxCYTc9KLanXPu8E4FC4FhfXa7dZdBXkxA9R6Oi8RAKOX9QG54pzYVLezQGeMeuyi1uUx9-Wrgd09QQKGYfUpp5AViHMzIPuiverVI-L3mqL1kyTiWQFYrUj4JlPjP5xRAudDb-uOSp6N5v2cOd0I3=s1500
https://image.shutterstock.com/shutterstock/photos/143913277/display_1500/stock-photo-the-beautiful-woman-in-flowers-of-cherry-143913277.jpg
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-woman-flowers-cherry-143913277
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-counting-days.html
Chapter 37 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Seize the Day!,
PHOTO: Since life fleets, all is change; the
Past gone, seize to-day!
- Robert Browning, "Rabbi Ben Ezra"
"Light is sweet," the writer of Ecclesiastes says, "and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all." (Ecclesiastes 11:7-8) But remember, the chilly winter of age and infirmity is coming, when . . .
If aging doesn't take us, accidental death is always a possibility, when . . .
Jeremy Taylor, a seventeenth-century Anglican bishop, describes the aging process this way: "At the end of seven years our teeth fall and die before us." This childhood event, he declares, is the first intimation of our mortality, and, the Tooth Fairy notwithstanding, a "formal prologue to [death]."
Taylor then works his way through other intimations of death as age "takes our bodies in pieces, weakening some parts and loosing others." We "taste the grave" as first those parts "that served for ornament" and then those "that served for necessity become useless." Baldness, he claims, is more than a blow to male vanity; it is "but a dressing to our funerals, the proper ornament of mourning."
He continues: "Gray hairs, rotten teeth, dim eyes, trembling joints, short breath, stiff limbs, wrinkled skin, short memory" are all reminders of impending death. Thus God "makes us see death everywhere . . . the expectation of every single person."
So the wise writer of Ecclesiastes counsels us: enjoy life while you're young, but remember God, for if you forget Him, you'll find no pleasure in you latter days. God is necessary if you want to enjoy good old age.
So, I must fear Him now - give Him my worship, love, and devotion - and follow Him in obedience "for this is the whole duty of man," or, to quote the wise man precisely, "This is all there is to man."
We were put here on earth to know God and for no other reason. If we do not know Him, not matter what else we have done, our lives are a failure. Thus, barrister William Law concludes, "If you have not chosen God, it will make no difference in the end what you have chosen, for you will have missed the purpose for which you were formed and you will have forsaken the only thing that satisfies."
No matter what our age, this is timely counsel, for if I have grown old and have forgotten God, I will have failed at life no matter what I have accomplished or acquired. I will have missed the purpose for which I was made.
Isn't it good to know that it is never too late to begin again - to put God back into your life?
Lord, what I once had done with youthful might,
Had I been from the first true to the truth,
Grant me, now old, to do - with better sight,
And humbler heart, if not the brain of youth;
So wilt thou, in thy gentleness and ruth [pity],
Lead back thy old soul, by the path of pain
Round to his best - young eyes and heart and brain.
Past gone, seize to-day!
- Robert Browning, "Rabbi Ben Ezra"
"Light is sweet," the writer of Ecclesiastes says, "and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all." (Ecclesiastes 11:7-8) But remember, the chilly winter of age and infirmity is coming, when . . .
- "the keeper of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop" - our hands begin to tremble and our legs become bent and weak;
- "the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim" - our teeth fall out and our eyesight fails;
- "the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades" - our hearing fails until we can hear almost nothing at all;
- "men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint" - we don't sleep well at night and wake up with the birds, although, ironically, we can't hear them;
- "men are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets" - we lose our sense of balance and become afraid of heights and other dangers;
- "the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags himself along and desire no longer is stirred" - our hair turns white and falls out; we walk slowly and painfully;
- "then we go to our eternal home and mourners go about the streets." (Ecclesiastes 12)
If aging doesn't take us, accidental death is always a possibility, when . . .
- "the silver cord is severed" - the spine is broken;
- "the golden bowl is broken" - the skull is fractured;
- "the pitcher is shattered at the spring" - the heart fails;
- "the wheel is broken at the well" - we bleed to death.
Jeremy Taylor, a seventeenth-century Anglican bishop, describes the aging process this way: "At the end of seven years our teeth fall and die before us." This childhood event, he declares, is the first intimation of our mortality, and, the Tooth Fairy notwithstanding, a "formal prologue to [death]."
Taylor then works his way through other intimations of death as age "takes our bodies in pieces, weakening some parts and loosing others." We "taste the grave" as first those parts "that served for ornament" and then those "that served for necessity become useless." Baldness, he claims, is more than a blow to male vanity; it is "but a dressing to our funerals, the proper ornament of mourning."
He continues: "Gray hairs, rotten teeth, dim eyes, trembling joints, short breath, stiff limbs, wrinkled skin, short memory" are all reminders of impending death. Thus God "makes us see death everywhere . . . the expectation of every single person."
So the wise writer of Ecclesiastes counsels us: enjoy life while you're young, but remember God, for if you forget Him, you'll find no pleasure in you latter days. God is necessary if you want to enjoy good old age.
So, I must fear Him now - give Him my worship, love, and devotion - and follow Him in obedience "for this is the whole duty of man," or, to quote the wise man precisely, "This is all there is to man."
We were put here on earth to know God and for no other reason. If we do not know Him, not matter what else we have done, our lives are a failure. Thus, barrister William Law concludes, "If you have not chosen God, it will make no difference in the end what you have chosen, for you will have missed the purpose for which you were formed and you will have forsaken the only thing that satisfies."
No matter what our age, this is timely counsel, for if I have grown old and have forgotten God, I will have failed at life no matter what I have accomplished or acquired. I will have missed the purpose for which I was made.
Isn't it good to know that it is never too late to begin again - to put God back into your life?
Lord, what I once had done with youthful might,
Had I been from the first true to the truth,
Grant me, now old, to do - with better sight,
And humbler heart, if not the brain of youth;
So wilt thou, in thy gentleness and ruth [pity],
Lead back thy old soul, by the path of pain
Round to his best - young eyes and heart and brain.
Picture posted by Lisa-Jo Baker on 12 June 12 2019
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PHOTO: "Light is sweet," the writer of Ecclesiastes says, "and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all." (Ecclesiastes 11:7-8)
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PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, according to Jeremy Taylor, a seventeenth-century Anglican
bishop, the aging process is described as in our childhood event. At the
end of seven years our teeth fall and die before us. This is the first
intimation of our mortality, and, the Tooth Fairy nevertheless is a
formal prologue to death.
Lord, our aging process takes our bodies in pieces, weakening some parts and loosing others. We taste the grave as first those parts that served for ornament and then those that served for necessity become useless. Baldness is more than a blow to vanity; it is a dressing to our funerals, the proper ornament of mourning.
Grey hairs, rotten teeth, dim eyes, trembling joints, short breath, stiff limbs, wrinkled skin, short memory are all reminders of impending death. God ‘makes us see death everywhere . . . the expectation of every single person.’
We learn from Ecclesiastes, counselling us to enjoy life while we're young, but remember God, for if we forget Him, we'll find no pleasure in our latter days. God is necessary if we want to enjoy good old age.
Lord, help us to fear Him now - give Him our worship, love, and devotion - and follow Him in obedience for this is the whole duty of man. This is all there is to man.
We were put here on earth to know God and for no other reason. If we do not know Him, not matter what else we have done, our lives are a failure. If we have not chosen God, it will make no difference in the end what we have chosen, for we will have missed the purpose for which we were formed and we will have forsaken the only thing that satisfies.
No matter what our age, this is timely counsel, for if we have grown old and have forgotten God, we will have failed at life no matter what we have accomplished or acquired. We will have missed the purpose for which we were made.
We pray that we put God back into our life. It is good to know that it is never too late to begin again.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by iStock
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Lord, our aging process takes our bodies in pieces, weakening some parts and loosing others. We taste the grave as first those parts that served for ornament and then those that served for necessity become useless. Baldness is more than a blow to vanity; it is a dressing to our funerals, the proper ornament of mourning.
Grey hairs, rotten teeth, dim eyes, trembling joints, short breath, stiff limbs, wrinkled skin, short memory are all reminders of impending death. God ‘makes us see death everywhere . . . the expectation of every single person.’
We learn from Ecclesiastes, counselling us to enjoy life while we're young, but remember God, for if we forget Him, we'll find no pleasure in our latter days. God is necessary if we want to enjoy good old age.
Lord, help us to fear Him now - give Him our worship, love, and devotion - and follow Him in obedience for this is the whole duty of man. This is all there is to man.
We were put here on earth to know God and for no other reason. If we do not know Him, not matter what else we have done, our lives are a failure. If we have not chosen God, it will make no difference in the end what we have chosen, for we will have missed the purpose for which we were formed and we will have forsaken the only thing that satisfies.
No matter what our age, this is timely counsel, for if we have grown old and have forgotten God, we will have failed at life no matter what we have accomplished or acquired. We will have missed the purpose for which we were made.
We pray that we put God back into our life. It is good to know that it is never too late to begin again.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by iStock
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Chapter 38 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Sing a Song,
PHOTO: We follow in His footsteps;
What if our feet be torn?
Where He has marked the pathway
All hail the briar and thorn!
Scarce seen, scare heard, unreckoned,
Despised, defamed, unknown,
Or heard but boy our singing,
On, children! ever on!
- Gerhardt Ter Steegen
Our home in Boise backs up to a wooded park where I walk most days. An elderly woman walks there at the same time as I. She walks clockwise, I walk counter-clockwise, which means that we meet twice on each lap.
The woman is elderly, tiny, and brown as a betel nut. She has the most lovely, crinkly eyes and wrinkled face that wrinkles even more when she smiles. When she smiles, her whole face lights up!
She has Alzheimer's.
The first time we meet she asks me, "Have I sung my song to you?" I say, "No ma'am." And she sings a children's song to the sun: "Good morning, Mr. Sunshine . . ."
Then she similes, raises her hand as though rendering a benediction, and moves on.
So we go our separate ways - 180 degrees around the circle - until we meet again. She asks: "Have I sung my song?" I say, "Sing it again!" And she does.
I must say, her voice is not very good and she's generally off-key, but no matter. She sings with the enthusiasm of an on-stage diva.
And she is indefatigable! I have seen children mock her and others brush her off in self-preoccupation and embarrassment, but nothing deters her. She smiles sweetly, raises her hand in blessing, and moves on.
Her song haunts me. I can't get it out of my mind. I find myself singing and humming it throughout the day: "Good morning, Mr. Sunshine . . ."
This dear, sweet woman has become a parable and a prayer for me. I, like her, want to make my way along the pathway of life, even when that pathway may be difficult, singing of the Sun of Righteousness who has risen with healing in His wings. (Malachi 4:2) And I want to leave behind lingering melody and memory of His love.
May a new song of God's Son and His salvation be on my heart and lips all through this day, and may many hear and put their trust in the Lord. (Psalm 40:3)
Barb thou my words with light, make my song new,
And men will hear,or when I sing or preach.
What if our feet be torn?
Where He has marked the pathway
All hail the briar and thorn!
Scarce seen, scare heard, unreckoned,
Despised, defamed, unknown,
Or heard but boy our singing,
On, children! ever on!
- Gerhardt Ter Steegen
Our home in Boise backs up to a wooded park where I walk most days. An elderly woman walks there at the same time as I. She walks clockwise, I walk counter-clockwise, which means that we meet twice on each lap.
The woman is elderly, tiny, and brown as a betel nut. She has the most lovely, crinkly eyes and wrinkled face that wrinkles even more when she smiles. When she smiles, her whole face lights up!
She has Alzheimer's.
The first time we meet she asks me, "Have I sung my song to you?" I say, "No ma'am." And she sings a children's song to the sun: "Good morning, Mr. Sunshine . . ."
Then she similes, raises her hand as though rendering a benediction, and moves on.
So we go our separate ways - 180 degrees around the circle - until we meet again. She asks: "Have I sung my song?" I say, "Sing it again!" And she does.
I must say, her voice is not very good and she's generally off-key, but no matter. She sings with the enthusiasm of an on-stage diva.
And she is indefatigable! I have seen children mock her and others brush her off in self-preoccupation and embarrassment, but nothing deters her. She smiles sweetly, raises her hand in blessing, and moves on.
Her song haunts me. I can't get it out of my mind. I find myself singing and humming it throughout the day: "Good morning, Mr. Sunshine . . ."
This dear, sweet woman has become a parable and a prayer for me. I, like her, want to make my way along the pathway of life, even when that pathway may be difficult, singing of the Sun of Righteousness who has risen with healing in His wings. (Malachi 4:2) And I want to leave behind lingering melody and memory of His love.
May a new song of God's Son and His salvation be on my heart and lips all through this day, and may many hear and put their trust in the Lord. (Psalm 40:3)
Barb thou my words with light, make my song new,
And men will hear,or when I sing or preach.
Picture posted by Dr. Amanda Olson,DPT, PRPC, Intimate Rose
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PHOTO: We follow in His footsteps;
What if our feet be torn?
Where He has marked the pathway
All hail the briar and thorn!
Scarce seen, scare heard, unreckoned,
Despised, defamed, unknown,
. . .
Picture posted by Alamy
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What if our feet be torn?
Where He has marked the pathway
All hail the briar and thorn!
Scarce seen, scare heard, unreckoned,
Despised, defamed, unknown,
. . .
Picture posted by Alamy
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PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, elderly woman who has Alzheimer can also sing ‘Good morning, Mr.
Sunshine . . .’, smile to light up the atmosphere while doing her
regular daily walk. Help us to be able to sing like her, with the
enthusiasm of an on-stage diva, and be ‘indefatigable’.
May we be not deterred by those who mock and brush us off in self-preoccupation and embarrassment. We pray we can smiles sweetly, raises our hand in blessing, and moves on. This is despite the fact that our voice may not be very good and are generally off-key.
We pray that we may make our way along the pathway of life, even when that pathway may be difficult, singing of the Sun of Righteousness who has risen with healing in His wings. May we leave behind lingering melody and memory of His love.
May a new song of God's Son and His salvation be on our heart and lips all through this day, and may many hear and put their trust in the Lord.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Depositphotos
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May we be not deterred by those who mock and brush us off in self-preoccupation and embarrassment. We pray we can smiles sweetly, raises our hand in blessing, and moves on. This is despite the fact that our voice may not be very good and are generally off-key.
We pray that we may make our way along the pathway of life, even when that pathway may be difficult, singing of the Sun of Righteousness who has risen with healing in His wings. May we leave behind lingering melody and memory of His love.
May a new song of God's Son and His salvation be on our heart and lips all through this day, and may many hear and put their trust in the Lord.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Depositphotos
Picture is enlarged by AI-powered image upscaler from depositphotos at https://depositphotos.com/upscaler.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=button2&utm_campaign=ntf_upscaler&utm_content=en&iterable_campaign=2704095&iterable_template=3704971
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Chapter 39 - Reflection - Number Our Days - A Painful Grace,
PHOTO: But as grace operates, it cannot (save through a
Compassion is rare in this world; few seem to know how to respond to others' pain. We share our heartache and draw blank looks from the listener, who then begins to tell his or her story. Later, when we see those to whom we've opened our heart, they seem to have forgotten the matter that troubled us. When that happens, I think, "Perhaps he's not yet suffered enough," for suffering is the means by which we grow more compassionate and merciful toward others who are in distress.
I had the privilege of knowing one of God's most endearing saints, Dr. Oswald Sanders. On one occasion I heard him tell of a meeting at which he spoke, after which, as he was walking off-stage, he overheard one woman whisper to another, "He'll do better when he's suffered a little." So it is with all of us.
C. S. Lewis, in his Narnia chronicle, The Horse and His Boy, tells the story of a Calormen noblewoman, Aravis, and her conversion from arrogance and selfishness to humble and compassionate love.
The story begins with Aravis's escape to Narnia and the North to avoid an arranged marriage to Ahoshta Tarkaan, a repulsive, elderly tyrant. To flee, she drugs a servant girl who is in league with her wicked stepmother.
"And what happened to the girl - the one you drugged?" Shasta, her companion (the "Boy"), asks when he hears her story.
"Doubtless she was beaten for sleeping late," said Aravis coolly. "But she was a tool and spy of my stepmother's. I am very glad they should beat her."
"I say, that was hardly fair," Shasta responds in reaction to her indifference to human suffering.
Is it good to be glad that another human being suffers harm, even when they have harmed us? Should we be happy about it? No, because it's always wrong to repay evil for evil. "Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing," the apostle Peter reminds us, "because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing." (1 Peter 3:9) [197]
In Aravis's case, Aslan himself must teach her that indifference to human suffering is wrong.
In the story, a great lion attacked Aravis outside the gates of Anvard and "jabbed at Aravis with its right paw. Shasta could see all the terrible claws extended. Aravis screamed and reeled in the saddle. The lion was tearing her shoulders." Shasta was able to rescue her by driving away the beast, but Aravis's wounds were deep and painful and required much time to heal.
Much later, when Aravis and Shasta reached Narnia, Aslan called the young princess to him: "Draw near, Aravis my daughter. See! My paws are velveted (soften). You will not be torn this time."
"This time, sir?" said Aravis.
"It was I who wounded you," said Aslan. "I am the only lion you met in all your journeyings. Do you know why I tore you?
"No, sir."
"The scratches on your back, tear for tear, throb for throb, blood for blood, were equal to the stripes laid on the back of your stepmother's slave because of the drugged sleep you cast upon her. You needed to know what it felt like."
It's always wrong to take pleasure in another person's pain, even when that person has wronged us deeply. Aslan does not argue his case; he simply shows Aravis that her gloating is wrong. Now she knows what her servant girl felt like, for she herself has felt great pain.
This is a picture of the mercy of God: in His love He allows us to experience profound suffering so that we may grow in humility, tenderness, and mercy. Our pain, however severe, is a means of grace. It is meant to make us kinder, more compassionate children.
miracle of that same grace) be other than painful.
- Francois Fénelon
Compassion is rare in this world; few seem to know how to respond to others' pain. We share our heartache and draw blank looks from the listener, who then begins to tell his or her story. Later, when we see those to whom we've opened our heart, they seem to have forgotten the matter that troubled us. When that happens, I think, "Perhaps he's not yet suffered enough," for suffering is the means by which we grow more compassionate and merciful toward others who are in distress.
I had the privilege of knowing one of God's most endearing saints, Dr. Oswald Sanders. On one occasion I heard him tell of a meeting at which he spoke, after which, as he was walking off-stage, he overheard one woman whisper to another, "He'll do better when he's suffered a little." So it is with all of us.
C. S. Lewis, in his Narnia chronicle, The Horse and His Boy, tells the story of a Calormen noblewoman, Aravis, and her conversion from arrogance and selfishness to humble and compassionate love.
The story begins with Aravis's escape to Narnia and the North to avoid an arranged marriage to Ahoshta Tarkaan, a repulsive, elderly tyrant. To flee, she drugs a servant girl who is in league with her wicked stepmother.
"And what happened to the girl - the one you drugged?" Shasta, her companion (the "Boy"), asks when he hears her story.
"Doubtless she was beaten for sleeping late," said Aravis coolly. "But she was a tool and spy of my stepmother's. I am very glad they should beat her."
"I say, that was hardly fair," Shasta responds in reaction to her indifference to human suffering.
Is it good to be glad that another human being suffers harm, even when they have harmed us? Should we be happy about it? No, because it's always wrong to repay evil for evil. "Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing," the apostle Peter reminds us, "because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing." (1 Peter 3:9) [197]
In Aravis's case, Aslan himself must teach her that indifference to human suffering is wrong.
In the story, a great lion attacked Aravis outside the gates of Anvard and "jabbed at Aravis with its right paw. Shasta could see all the terrible claws extended. Aravis screamed and reeled in the saddle. The lion was tearing her shoulders." Shasta was able to rescue her by driving away the beast, but Aravis's wounds were deep and painful and required much time to heal.
Much later, when Aravis and Shasta reached Narnia, Aslan called the young princess to him: "Draw near, Aravis my daughter. See! My paws are velveted (soften). You will not be torn this time."
"This time, sir?" said Aravis.
"It was I who wounded you," said Aslan. "I am the only lion you met in all your journeyings. Do you know why I tore you?
"No, sir."
"The scratches on your back, tear for tear, throb for throb, blood for blood, were equal to the stripes laid on the back of your stepmother's slave because of the drugged sleep you cast upon her. You needed to know what it felt like."
It's always wrong to take pleasure in another person's pain, even when that person has wronged us deeply. Aslan does not argue his case; he simply shows Aravis that her gloating is wrong. Now she knows what her servant girl felt like, for she herself has felt great pain.
This is a picture of the mercy of God: in His love He allows us to experience profound suffering so that we may grow in humility, tenderness, and mercy. Our pain, however severe, is a means of grace. It is meant to make us kinder, more compassionate children.
Picture posted by Elizabeth Foss on 09 August 2017
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http://www.elizabethfoss.com/journal/painful-grace
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http://www.elizabethfoss.com/journal/painful-grace
PHOTO:
It's always wrong to take pleasure in another person's pain, even when
that person has wronged us deeply. Aslan does not argue his case; he
simply shows Aravis that her gloating is wrong. Now she knows what her
servant girl felt like, for she herself has felt great pain.
Picture posted by iStock, Getty Images
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Picture posted by iStock, Getty Images
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PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn that compassion is rare in this world; few seem to know
how to respond to others' pain. We share our heartache and draw blank
looks from the listener, who then begins to tell his or her story.
Later, when we see those to whom we've opened our heart, they seem to
have forgotten the matter that troubled us. When that happens, we think,
‘Perhaps he's not yet suffered enough,’ for suffering is the means by
which we grow more compassionate and merciful toward others who are in
distress.
People may whisper to another, ‘He'll do better when he's suffered a little.’ So, it is with all of us.
We also learn that it is not good to be glad that another human being suffers harm, even when they have harmed us. We shouldn’t be happy about it because it's always wrong to repay evil for evil.
We are reminded not to repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing by the apostle Peter. ‘Because to this we were called so that we may inherit a blessing’.
We pray that we learn that indifference to human suffering is wrong. Because we could be subjected to ‘tear for tear, throb for throb, blood for blood’. We must remember that it's always wrong to take pleasure in another person's pain, even when that person has wronged us deeply. Or we may get to feel how the sufferer felt like, just as in the Narnia chronicle.
May we learn that this is a picture of the mercy of God: in His love He allows us to experience profound suffering so that we may grow in humility, tenderness, and mercy. Our pain, however severe, is a means of grace. It is meant to make us kinder, more compassionate children.
People may whisper to another, ‘He'll do better when he's suffered a little.’ So, it is with all of us.
We also learn that it is not good to be glad that another human being suffers harm, even when they have harmed us. We shouldn’t be happy about it because it's always wrong to repay evil for evil.
We are reminded not to repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing by the apostle Peter. ‘Because to this we were called so that we may inherit a blessing’.
We pray that we learn that indifference to human suffering is wrong. Because we could be subjected to ‘tear for tear, throb for throb, blood for blood’. We must remember that it's always wrong to take pleasure in another person's pain, even when that person has wronged us deeply. Or we may get to feel how the sufferer felt like, just as in the Narnia chronicle.
May we learn that this is a picture of the mercy of God: in His love He allows us to experience profound suffering so that we may grow in humility, tenderness, and mercy. Our pain, however severe, is a means of grace. It is meant to make us kinder, more compassionate children.
May we begin our conversion from arrogance and selfishness to humble and compassionate love.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by shproton on 14 August 2015 - Rapunzel cosplay
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https://www.deviantart.com/shproton/art/Rapunzel-cosplay-553642022
https://www.deviantart.com/shproton/art/Rapunzel-cosplay-553642022
Chapter 40 - Reflection - Number Our Days - Pressing On,
PHOTO: If I do not experience something far
worse than I yet have done, I shall say
the trouble is all in getting started.
- Mrs. George (Tamsen E.) Donner,
Member of the ill-fated Donner Party,
in a Letter dated June 16, 1846
Every age has its perils, but the greatest peril may be in thinking that the trouble "is all in getting started." Sometimes the greatest hazards lie ahead.
Noah, Moses, Gideon, Samuel, David, Solomon, Uzziah, and a host of biblical people fell into failure near the end of their days. As the apostle Paul reminds us, "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" (1 Corinthians 10:12)
"The long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather for the devil," C. S. Lewis wrote. And the devil's finest stratagem is sloth, "that great, sprawling, slug-a-bed sin," as Dorothy Sayers termed it.
Sloth is a spiritual indifference or apathy that has many causes, but may grow out of the belief that we've arrived and have no more ground to gain. Or, that we have little left to give. "Apathy (lack of interest) causes one to fall into a deep sleep," the Wise Man said, and then added, "that soul will go hungry." (Proverbs 19:15) Ah, there it is: a spiritual torpor (lethargy) that starves our souls. Slow down, we say to ourselves; you've given much. Isn't it time to refrain from further sacrifice? Spare yourself. Why go on reading, studying, pursuing God? Stop this strenuous following after.
No! I say. That is not true. We can never stop growing toward God. Holiness is a dynamic thing, a matter of motion. There is no static balance in the spiritual life. We're either moving toward God or away from Him.
St. Gregory put it simply: "When the soul does not direct its efforts to higher things . . . it stoops to concern itself with low desires." When we fail to direct our passions toward heavenly things, we fall into ungodly desires. Bitter animosities demean us; irritability, petulance (bad-tempered), impatience, and loss of temper degrade our souls.
So we must never let up, for our adversary does not. He is working every moment to plague and blight our final years. We must pursue God and His righteousness with hearty energy to the end of our days. This was Paul's driving compulsion: "To know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death." (Philippians 3:10) It must be ours as well.
To know Jesus, to experience more of his life-giving power, to patiently bear our portion of His humiliation and suffering, to become like Him in self-sacrificing love - this is the work that must keep us busy to the end of our days.
We'll not "achieve" the righteousness we seek in this life - that awaits heaven - but you and I must "press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of [us]." (Philippians 3:12, Acts 22:4)
So, we must pursue the Lord and His righteousness with all our heart, soul, and mind - with a fierce, unyielding resolve for as many days as He may give us. We must spend time in His presence and choose to do His will. Thus He will fill us with His Spirit and deliver us from the perils that lie ahead.
But he who would be born again indeed,
Must wake his soul unnumbered times a day,
And urge himself to life with holy greed. . .
Submiss and ready to the making will,
Athirst and empty, for God's breath to fill.
- George MacDonald
worse than I yet have done, I shall say
the trouble is all in getting started.
- Mrs. George (Tamsen E.) Donner,
Member of the ill-fated Donner Party,
in a Letter dated June 16, 1846
Every age has its perils, but the greatest peril may be in thinking that the trouble "is all in getting started." Sometimes the greatest hazards lie ahead.
Noah, Moses, Gideon, Samuel, David, Solomon, Uzziah, and a host of biblical people fell into failure near the end of their days. As the apostle Paul reminds us, "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" (1 Corinthians 10:12)
"The long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather for the devil," C. S. Lewis wrote. And the devil's finest stratagem is sloth, "that great, sprawling, slug-a-bed sin," as Dorothy Sayers termed it.
Sloth is a spiritual indifference or apathy that has many causes, but may grow out of the belief that we've arrived and have no more ground to gain. Or, that we have little left to give. "Apathy (lack of interest) causes one to fall into a deep sleep," the Wise Man said, and then added, "that soul will go hungry." (Proverbs 19:15) Ah, there it is: a spiritual torpor (lethargy) that starves our souls. Slow down, we say to ourselves; you've given much. Isn't it time to refrain from further sacrifice? Spare yourself. Why go on reading, studying, pursuing God? Stop this strenuous following after.
No! I say. That is not true. We can never stop growing toward God. Holiness is a dynamic thing, a matter of motion. There is no static balance in the spiritual life. We're either moving toward God or away from Him.
St. Gregory put it simply: "When the soul does not direct its efforts to higher things . . . it stoops to concern itself with low desires." When we fail to direct our passions toward heavenly things, we fall into ungodly desires. Bitter animosities demean us; irritability, petulance (bad-tempered), impatience, and loss of temper degrade our souls.
So we must never let up, for our adversary does not. He is working every moment to plague and blight our final years. We must pursue God and His righteousness with hearty energy to the end of our days. This was Paul's driving compulsion: "To know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death." (Philippians 3:10) It must be ours as well.
To know Jesus, to experience more of his life-giving power, to patiently bear our portion of His humiliation and suffering, to become like Him in self-sacrificing love - this is the work that must keep us busy to the end of our days.
We'll not "achieve" the righteousness we seek in this life - that awaits heaven - but you and I must "press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of [us]." (Philippians 3:12, Acts 22:4)
So, we must pursue the Lord and His righteousness with all our heart, soul, and mind - with a fierce, unyielding resolve for as many days as He may give us. We must spend time in His presence and choose to do His will. Thus He will fill us with His Spirit and deliver us from the perils that lie ahead.
But he who would be born again indeed,
Must wake his soul unnumbered times a day,
And urge himself to life with holy greed. . .
Submiss and ready to the making will,
Athirst and empty, for God's breath to fill.
- George MacDonald
Picture posted by Jeff Fehrenbacher@GlenEagleJeff on 22 December 2019 at 9:50 am
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgutfog-mH3K9qEKDPkuGi6bWmfKcJhQuW9Pyq6MgsGRaHDgNiwx-XKzDaq5D_ZvVVUd_F79KlJSlMBn7JTBKdz7aRnWXknH0NNYrLXfsRUJo7lUm7gN9LV79pNHbeeamUtmxx4LpX-z8_gUslyL0zz6YAFECDDzvtbzGKmiQctX45jOzeahNNzTC5W=s830
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EMWv3SBUYAA1uMv.jpg
https://twitter.com/GlenEagleJeff/status/1208565460683214848
PHOTO:
We must pursue the Lord and His righteousness with all our heart, soul,
and mind - with a fierce, unyielding resolve for as many days as He may
give us. We must spend time in His presence and choose to do His will.
Thus He will fill us with His Spirit and deliver us from the perils that
lie ahead.
Picture posted by pic2.me - Pressing on
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https://pic2.me/wallpaper/306085.html
Picture posted by pic2.me - Pressing on
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https://storge.pic2.me/cm/2560x1600/701/5fba6087682942.15126441.jpg
https://pic2.me/wallpaper/306085.html
PHOTO: "Dear
Lord, we learn that every age has its perils, but the greatest peril
may be in thinking that the trouble ‘is all in getting started.’
Sometimes the greatest hazards lie ahead.
Noah, Moses, Gideon, Samuel, David, Solomon, Uzziah, and a host of biblical people fell into failure near the end of their days. As the apostle Paul reminds us, ‘If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!’
We too learn that ‘The long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather for the devil.’ And the devil's finest stratagem is sloth. We pray we will not fall into ’that great, sprawling, slug-a-bed sin.’
Lord, help us not to become sloth, the spiritual indifference or apathy that has many causes, but may grow out of the belief that we've arrived and have no more ground to gain. Or, that we have little left to give.
We do not want to have Apathy causing us to fall into a deep sleep and our soul will go hungry as we slow down and stop this strenuous following after. We pray that we do not have spiritual torpor, which starves our souls.
May we never stop growing toward God. As holiness is a dynamic thing, a matter of motion, and there is no static balance in the spiritual life. We're either moving toward God or away from Him.
May our soul do not stop its efforts to higher things, or it stoops to concern itself with low desires. Help us to direct our passions toward heavenly things so that we do not fall into ungodly desires. Bitter animosities demean us; irritability, petulance, impatience, and loss of temper degrade our souls.
Lord, help us never to let up, for our adversary does not. He is working every moment to plague and blight our final years. Help us to pursue God and His righteousness with hearty energy to the end of our days. May we follow Paul’s compulsion: ‘To know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.’
Help us to know Jesus, to experience more of his life-giving power, to patiently bear our portion of His humiliation and suffering, to become like Him in self-sacrificing love till the end of our days.
Lord, we pray that we ‘press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of [us]’, and ‘achieve’ the righteousness we seek in this life - that awaits heaven.
May we pursue the Lord and His righteousness with all our heart, soul, and mind - with a fierce, unyielding resolve for as many days as He may give us. May we spend time in His presence and choose to do His will. May He fill us with His Spirit and deliver us from the perils that lie ahead.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Sovetclub.ru
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgL5SAtof3ILDTP7XLR39IcR1mvIJMW9hQz3bjI7qTPy34pdZsDYqeNLGGtO6qbSavXt9fNdSFp19h4Im3WLjiGmoV3-NhCZOzTvC4EtNOOEBjo3s_j7ZJS2iYGVpTfG36zMv_xXdjoJropWfPAXmu0nPJHIqmFR3n5lP_Xm4h7qzMPbQ4xuF7ZdSl5=s1100
https://sovetclub.ru/tim/eeae2ce5b8faefbe9aaaad8fa708a037.jpg
https://sovetclub.ru/kak-izmenit-svoyu-zhizn
Noah, Moses, Gideon, Samuel, David, Solomon, Uzziah, and a host of biblical people fell into failure near the end of their days. As the apostle Paul reminds us, ‘If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!’
We too learn that ‘The long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather for the devil.’ And the devil's finest stratagem is sloth. We pray we will not fall into ’that great, sprawling, slug-a-bed sin.’
Lord, help us not to become sloth, the spiritual indifference or apathy that has many causes, but may grow out of the belief that we've arrived and have no more ground to gain. Or, that we have little left to give.
We do not want to have Apathy causing us to fall into a deep sleep and our soul will go hungry as we slow down and stop this strenuous following after. We pray that we do not have spiritual torpor, which starves our souls.
May we never stop growing toward God. As holiness is a dynamic thing, a matter of motion, and there is no static balance in the spiritual life. We're either moving toward God or away from Him.
May our soul do not stop its efforts to higher things, or it stoops to concern itself with low desires. Help us to direct our passions toward heavenly things so that we do not fall into ungodly desires. Bitter animosities demean us; irritability, petulance, impatience, and loss of temper degrade our souls.
Lord, help us never to let up, for our adversary does not. He is working every moment to plague and blight our final years. Help us to pursue God and His righteousness with hearty energy to the end of our days. May we follow Paul’s compulsion: ‘To know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.’
Help us to know Jesus, to experience more of his life-giving power, to patiently bear our portion of His humiliation and suffering, to become like Him in self-sacrificing love till the end of our days.
Lord, we pray that we ‘press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of [us]’, and ‘achieve’ the righteousness we seek in this life - that awaits heaven.
May we pursue the Lord and His righteousness with all our heart, soul, and mind - with a fierce, unyielding resolve for as many days as He may give us. May we spend time in His presence and choose to do His will. May He fill us with His Spirit and deliver us from the perils that lie ahead.
Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Sovetclub.ru
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgL5SAtof3ILDTP7XLR39IcR1mvIJMW9hQz3bjI7qTPy34pdZsDYqeNLGGtO6qbSavXt9fNdSFp19h4Im3WLjiGmoV3-NhCZOzTvC4EtNOOEBjo3s_j7ZJS2iYGVpTfG36zMv_xXdjoJropWfPAXmu0nPJHIqmFR3n5lP_Xm4h7qzMPbQ4xuF7ZdSl5=s1100
https://sovetclub.ru/tim/eeae2ce5b8faefbe9aaaad8fa708a037.jpg
https://sovetclub.ru/kak-izmenit-svoyu-zhizn
Reflection - Number Our Days (Links)
By David Roper, Pastor, and regular and popular writer for Our Daily Bread.
Reflection - Number Our Days, Chapter 41 - 64 (Links), posted on Wednesday, 16 March 2022
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2022/03/reflection-number-our-days-chapter-41.html
Other Books
"Faithful to the end", A Preacher's Exposition of 2 Timothy, @ 2014 by Robert M. Solomon
Reflection - Faithful to the end (Links)
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2017/06/reflection-faithful-to-end-links.html
"Finding rest for the soul" Responding to Jesus' Invitation in Matthew 11:28-29, © 2016 by Robert M. Solomon
Reflection - Finding rest for the soul (Links)
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2018/10/reflection-finding-rest-for-soul-links.html
"God in Pursuit" Lessons from the Book of Jonah, © 2016 by Robert M. Solomon
Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART I-III, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2019/08/reflection-god-in-pursuit-links-part-i.html
"God in Pursuit" Lessons from the Book of Jonah, © 2016 by Robert M. Solomon
Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART IV, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2019/08/reflection-god-in-pursuit-links-part-iv.html
"Songs of Christmas", The Stories and Significance of 20 Well-Loved Carols, © 2018 by Robert M. Solomon
Reflection - Songs of Christmas (Links), posted on Friday, 24 April 2020
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/04/reflection-songs-of-christmas-links.html
Reflection - Faithful to the end (Links)
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2017/06/reflection-faithful-to-end-links.html
"Finding rest for the soul" Responding to Jesus' Invitation in Matthew 11:28-29, © 2016 by Robert M. Solomon
Reflection - Finding rest for the soul (Links)
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2018/10/reflection-finding-rest-for-soul-links.html
"God in Pursuit" Lessons from the Book of Jonah, © 2016 by Robert M. Solomon
Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART I-III, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2019/08/reflection-god-in-pursuit-links-part-i.html
"God in Pursuit" Lessons from the Book of Jonah, © 2016 by Robert M. Solomon
Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART IV, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2019/08/reflection-god-in-pursuit-links-part-iv.html
"Songs of Christmas", The Stories and Significance of 20 Well-Loved Carols, © 2018 by Robert M. Solomon
Reflection - Songs of Christmas (Links), posted on Friday, 24 April 2020
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/04/reflection-songs-of-christmas-links.html
"Growing Old Gracefully", Following Jesus to the End, © 2019 by Robert M. Solomon
Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part I - III (Links), posted on Wednesday, 09 December 2020
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/12/reflection-growing-old-gracefully-part.html
"Growing Old Gracefully", Following Jesus to the End, © 2019 by Robert M. Solomon
Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part IV - V (Links), posted on Thursday, 22 April 2021
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/12/reflection-growing-old-gracefully-part_9.html
Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part IV - V (Links), posted on Thursday, 22 April 2021
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/12/reflection-growing-old-gracefully-part_9.html
Reference
[1] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Forgetfulness, posted on Tuesday, 04 May 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-forgetfulness.html
[2] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - How Does Your Garden Grow?, posted on Thursday, 06 May 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-how-does.html
[3] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Mixed Up in My Head, posted on Thursday, 13 May 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-mixed-up-in.html
[4] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - My Staff, posted on Sunday, 16 May 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-my-staff.html
[5] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - It's About Time, posted on Saturday, 22 May 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-its-about.html
[6] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - No Need for Regret, posted on Monday, 24 May 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/05/reflection-number-our-days-no-need-for.html
[7] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - In This Place, posted on Wednesday, 02 June 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-in-this-place.html
[8] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - A Little Bird Told Me, posted on Friday, 04 June 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-little-bird.html
[9] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Bird Song, posted on Wednesday, 09 June 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-bird-song.html
[10] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Counting the Days, posted on Saturday, 12 June 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-counting-days.html
[11] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Sauntering, posted on Wednesday, 23 June 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-sauntering.html
[12] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Dangerous Crossings, posted on Friday, 25 June 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/06/reflection-number-our-days-dangerous.html
[13] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Deformed, posted on Saturday, 03 July 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/07/reflection-number-our-days-deformed.html
[14] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Dressed for Success, posted on Tuesday, 06 July 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/07/reflection-number-our-days-dressed-for.html
[15] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Is This All the Thanks I Get?, posted on Wednesday, 14 July 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/07/reflection-number-our-days-is-this-all.html
[16] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory", posted on Saturday, 17 July 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/07/reflection-number-our-days-mine-eyes.html
[17] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - The Grander Curves of Character, posted on Saturday, 17 July 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/07/reflection-number-our-days-grander.html
[18] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Going and Not Knowing, posted on Sunday, 25 July 2021,
[19] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - From the Ground Up, posted on Tuesday, 03 August 2021,
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/08/reflection-number-our-days-from-ground.html
[20] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - The Hand on the Helve, posted on Friday, 06 August 2021,
[21] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - What I Make of It, posted on Friday, 13 August 2021,
[22] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Handicapped, posted on Sunday, 15 August 2021,
[23] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Paying Attention, posted on Monday, 23 August 2021,
[24] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Habitual Tenderness, posted on Wednesday, 25 August 2021,
[25] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Weariness, posted on Thursday, 02 September 2021,
[26] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Stuff, posted on Saturday, 04 September 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/09/reflection-number-our-days-stuff.html
[27] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - A River Runs through Us, posted on Monday, 13 September 2021,
[28] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - The Sound of Silence, posted on Tuesday, 14 September 2021,
[29] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - The Good, the Better, the Best, posted on Wednesday, 22 September 2021,
[30] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Fresh Starts, posted on Friday, 24 September 2021,
[31] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Rat!, posted on Sunday, 03 October 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/10/reflection-number-our-days-rats.html
[32] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Things I Do Not Know, posted on Tuesday, 05 October 2021,
[33] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - The Hill Difficulty, posted on Tuesday, 12 October 2021,
[34] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - A Ruin! A Ruin! A Ruin!, posted on 15 October 2021,
[35] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - The Discipline of Distress, posted on Saturday, 23 October 2021,
[36] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Nothing to Lose, posted on Monday, 25 October 2021,
[37] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Seize the Day!, posted on Wednesday, 03 November 2021, https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/11/reflection-number-our-days-seize-day.html
[38] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Sing a Song, posted on Friday, 05 November 2021,
[39] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - A Painful Grace, posted on Friday, 12 November 2021,
[40] David Roper, Reflection - Number Our Days - Pressing On, posted on Tuesday, 16 November 2021,
[401] See Psalm 71:18.
[402] 1 Peter 2:3 NASB.
Links
Other Books - https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/10/reflection-books-links.html
New International Version (NIV), Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1 Corinthians 10:12 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+10%3A12&version=NIV
1 Peter 2:3 NASB - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+2%3A3&version=NASB
1 Peter 3:4 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A4&version=NIV
2 Corinthians 4:16 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+4%3A16&version=NIV
2 Corinthians 4:16-17 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+4%3A16-18&version=NIV
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+4%3A16-18&version=NIV
2 Corinthians 5:18 NKJV - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+5%3A18&version=NKJV
2 Corinthians 12:8-10 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+12%3A8-10&version=NIV
2 Thessalonians 2:12 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Thessalonians+2%3A12&version=NIV
2 Timothy 3:8 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+3%3A8&version=NIV
Ecclesiastes 9:14-15 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes+9%3A14-15&version=NIV
Ecclesiastes 11:7-8 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes+11%3A7-8&version=NIV
Ecclesiastes 12:4 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes+12%3A4&version=NIVEphesians 2:10 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2%3A10&version=NIV
Ephesians 4:18 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+4%3A18&version=NIV
Genesis 22:3-19 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+22%3A3-19&version=NIV
Genesis 23:1-2 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+23%3A1-2&version=NIV
Genesis 37:8 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+37%3A8&version=NIV
Genesis 41:51 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+41%3A51&version=NIV
Genesis 45:5; 50:20 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+45%3A5%3B+50%3A20&version=NIV
Hebrews 11:21 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+11%3A21&version=NIV
Isaiah 32:17 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+32%3A17&version=NIV
Isaiah 43:2 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+43%3A2&version=NIV
Isaiah 52:12 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+52%3A12&version=NIV
Isaiah 55:7; Psalm 130:3-4 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+55%3A7%3B+Psalm+130%3A3-4&version=NIV
Isaiah 60:1 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+60%3A1&version=NIV
John 6:37 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+6%3A37&version=NIV
John 7:17 NKJV - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+7%3A17&version=NKJV
John 8:56 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+8%3A56&version=NIV
John 19:17 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+19%3A17&version=NIV
Leviticus 18:21; 20:2; Deuteronomy 12:31; 18:10 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+18%3A21%3B+20%3A2%3B+Deuteronomy+12%3A31%3B+18%3A10&version=NIV
Luke 6:35 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+6%3A35&version=NIV
Luke 7:47 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+7%3A47&version=NIV
Malachi 4:2 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Malachi+4%3A2&version=NIV
Matthew 5:8 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5%3A8&version=NIV
Matthew 10:39 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10%3A39&version=NIV
Matthew 11:28-29 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+11%3A28-29&version=NIV
Philippians 1:6 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+1%3A6&version=NIV
Philippians 4:8 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+4%3A8&version=NIV
Psalm 18:1-19 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+18%3A1-19&version=NIV
Psalm 18:30 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+18%3A30&version=NIV
Genesis 41:51 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+41%3A51&version=NIV
Genesis 45:5; 50:20 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+45%3A5%3B+50%3A20&version=NIV
Isaiah 32:17 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+32%3A17&version=NIV
John 7:17 NKJV - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+7%3A17&version=NKJV
Luke 7:47 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+7%3A47&version=NIV
Matthew 10:39 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10%3A39&version=NIV
Matthew 11:28-29 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+11%3A28-29&version=NIV
Psalm 18:30 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+18%3A30&version=NIV
Psalm 73:24 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+73%3A24&version=NIV
Psalm 77:19-20 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+77%3A19-20&version=NIV
Psalm 90:10 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+90%3A10&version=NIV
Psalm 90:12 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+90%3A12&version=NIV
Psalm 90:14, 90:5 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+90%3A14%2C+90%3A5&version=NIV
Psalm 104:12, 33 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+104%3A12%2C+33&version=NIV
Psalm 138:8 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+138%3A8&version=NIV
Psalm 149:4 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+149%3A4&version=NIV
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- https://pic2.me/wallpaper/306085.html
- https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/11/reflection-number-our-days-pressing-on.html
- https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgL5SAtof3ILDTP7XLR39IcR1mvIJMW9hQz3bjI7qTPy34pdZsDYqeNLGGtO6qbSavXt9fNdSFp19h4Im3WLjiGmoV3-NhCZOzTvC4EtNOOEBjo3s_j7ZJS2iYGVpTfG36zMv_xXdjoJropWfPAXmu0nPJHIqmFR3n5lP_Xm4h7qzMPbQ4xuF7ZdSl5=s1100
- https://sovetclub.ru/tim/eeae2ce5b8faefbe9aaaad8fa708a037.jpg
- https://sovetclub.ru/kak-izmenit-svoyu-zhizn
- https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/11/reflection-number-our-days-pressing-on.html
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