Babylon is Fallen

this is sung in the Sacred Harp style....in the first  part they are singing the tune by
means of phonetically written notes.  Then....

BABYLON IS FALLEN (2)

Hail the day so long expected,
Hail the year of full release.
Zion's walls are now erected,
And her watchmen publish peace.
Through our Shiloh's wide dominion,
Hear the trumpet loudly roar,
Babylon is fallen to rise no more.

Babylon is fallen, fallen, fallen
Babylon is fallen, to rise no more.

All her merchants stand with wonder,
What is this that comes to pass:
Murm'ring like the distant thunder,
Crying, "Oh alas, alas."
Swell the sound, ye kings and nobles,
Priest and people, rich and poor;
Babylon is fallen to rise no more.

Blow the trumpet in Mount Zion,
Christ shall come a second time;
Ruling with a rod of iron
All who now as foes combine.
Babel's garments we've rejected,
And our fellowship is o'er,
Babylon is fallen to rise no more.

From Sacred Harp
Tune: W. E. Chute, 1878

Drink, Dear Saint, of the Sweetness of God

      "But the believing soul longs and faints for God; she rests sweetly in the contemplation of Him. She glories in the reproach of the Cross, until the glory of His face shall be revealed. Like the Bride, the dove of Christ, that is covered with silver wings (Ps. 68.13), white with innocence and purity, she reposes in the thought of Thine abundant kindness, Lord Jesus; and above all she longs for that day when in the joyful splendor of Thy saints, gleaming with the radiance of the Beatific Vision, her feathers shall be like gold, resplendent with the joy of Thy countenance." --Bernard of Clairvaux on the Love of God






photo taken in Catskill, NY 

Perhaps they are not stars...

"Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in Heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy." --Eskimo proverb

photo taken at Smith College, Northampton, MA

Wait on the Lord, Be of Good Courage!

You can be in no circumstances in which the Lord can not help you, in which he will not help you, if you look simply to him, rest on him, and wait for him. For every condition in which you may be placed, there is a promise; by that promise the Lord stands pledged to appear for you and help you; he is ever ready to deliverer you; only he will have you believe his word, exercise confidence in him, plead the promise at his throne, and wait for its fulfillment. Wait, then, on the Lord at all times. Times will change, creatures will vary, but the Lord remains always the same. In youth and health, in manhood and prosperity, in old age and its infirmities, we should wait on the Lord. He will adapt his mercies to us, make all his goodness pass before us, and cause all things to work together for our good. He will never leave us, change his views of us, or withhold his tender mercies from us. He is faithful to his word, true to his character, and full of love to his people.

Whatever change there may be in creatures, there is no change in him. Health may give way to sickness, plenty to poverty, strength to weakness, and life to death, but he is the same. With him there is no variableness, neither shadow of a turn. Therefore, "wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord." 

--James Smith, Chelthenham, NY 1869 --from Grace Gems

photo taken at Smith College, Northampton, MA

Encourage Each Other in the Light

When I see  your light shining in the darkness, my heart 

leaps for joy! 

Let us encourage each other by letting

our light shine brightly in the darkness around us.

And when you feel tired and lost,

do as Christian did, as he made his way

to the Celestial City: just follow the Light. 

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Holding forth the word of life..."  (Philippians 2:14, 15, 16a)

photo taken in the chapel at Corpus Christi College,

Cambridge, UK on the Feast of Corpus Christi