The Pen of the Wayfarer

Before You Were Born I Loved You!

2012-01-27T12:51:00.001-05:00

more cardinal pictures:
this reminds me of the old "balance the bone on the dog's nose" trick....but he's
already enjoying his favorite black sunflower seed. Its amazing how sharp their
beaks are!
_______________________________
On the Love of Christ for us:

Before you were conceived I wanted you

Before you were born I loved you

Before you were here an hour I would die for you

This is the miracle of life.

- Maureen Hawkins

Snow Falling on Cardinal

2012-01-24T22:02:00.000-05:00

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

--Mother Teresa
snow falling on cardinal at my window....

"Thou Shepherd of Israel and Mine" by Charles Wesley

2012-01-22T16:10:00.001-05:00

Thou Shepherd of Israel, and mine,
The joy and desire of my heart,
For closer communion I pine,
I long to reside where thou art:
The pasture I languish to find
Where all, who their Shepherd obey,
Are fed, on thy bosom reclined,
And screened from the heat of the day.

Ah! show me that happiest place,
The place of thy people's abode,
Where saints in an ecstasy gaze,
And hang on a crucified God;
Thy love for a sinner declare,
Thy passion and death on the tree:
My spirit to Calvary bear,
To suffer and triumph with thee.

'Tis there, with the lambs of thy flock,
There only, I covet to rest,
To lie at the foot of the rock,
Or rise to be hid in thy breast;
'Tis there I would always abide,
And never a moment depart,
Concealed in the cleft of thy side,
Eternally held in thy heart.

--hymn "Thou Shepherd of Israel"

by Charles Wesley

Yea, the Sparrow hath found her house....

2012-01-21T10:59:00.000-05:00

It's snowing here and this little one came to breakfast on my windowsill.
I'm thinking that it gives me great joy to provide food on a wintry day
to my little bird friends, I'm sure God enjoys providing for us in the same way.

"Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God." Psalm 84:3

And the Cream of All My Heart I Will Bring Thee

2012-01-20T08:58:00.000-05:00

King of Glorie, King of Peace,

I will love thee:

And that love may never cease,

I will move thee.

Thou hast granted my request,

Thou hast heard me:

Thou didst note my working breast,

Thou hast spar’d me.

Wherefore with my utmost art

I will sing thee,

And the cream of all my heart

I will bring thee.

Though my sinnes against me cried,

Thou didst cleare me;

And alone, when they replied,

Thou didst heare me.

Sev’n whole dayes, not one in seven,

I will praise thee.

In my heart, though not in heaven,

I can raise thee.

Thou grew’st soft and moist with tears,

Thou relentedst:

And when Justice call’d for fears,

Thou disentedst.

Small it is, in this poore sort

To enroll thee:

Ev’n eternitie is to short

To extoll thee.

The Temple: George Herbert 1633

photo taken in cathedral at Ludlow, England

2012-01-17T15:12:00.000-05:00

"Try not to fear [bodily ills] and commit yourselves wholly to God, come what may. What does it matter if we die? How many times have our bodies not mocked us? Should we not occasionally mock them in our turn? And, believe me, slight as it may seem by comparison with other things, this resolution is much more important than we may think; for, if we continually make it, day by day, by the grace of the Lord, we shall gain dominion over the body. To conquer such an enemy is a great achievement in the battle of life. May the Lord grant, as He is able, that we may do this. I am quite sure that no one who does not enjoy such a victory, which I believe is a great one, will understand what advantage it brings, and no one will regret having gone through trials in order to attain this tranquillity and self-mastery.

--Theresa of Avila

photo taken near Rand, Colorado

Enjoy Me!

2012-01-12T19:50:00.000-05:00

Just these two words He spoke
changed my life.

"Enjoy Me."

What a burden I thought I was to carry--
a crucifix, as did He.

Love once said to me,
"I know a song,
would you like to hear it?"

And laughter came from every brick in the street
and from every pore
in the sky,

After a night of prayer, He
changed my life when

He sang,
"Enjoy Me."

--from Theresa of Avila, "Laughter came from every Brick"
--Love Poems from God edited by Daniel Ladinsky

photo taken at Magic Wings Butterfly
So. Deerfield, MA

Longing to See the Beauty of The Lord

2012-01-08T13:47:00.000-05:00

Is longing for the Beauty the happiest place of all? Longing to gaze upon
the Beauty of the Lord and to seek Him, the place where all joy spills
from? Now matter how manifested, beauty is what sparks the romance
and we are the Bride pursued, the Lover pursuing, and known or
unbeknownst, He woos us in the romance of all time, beyond
time. I ache for the oneness.

--1000 Gifts,
Ann Voskamp

photo taken at Winterthur,
Wilmington, Delaware

2012-01-08T11:39:00.000-05:00

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise;
God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--
and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are,

so that no one may boast before him.

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has
become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

( 1 Corinthians 1: 28-31)

(preacher in the marketplace, Abergavenny, Wales)

The Life of True Holiness ....

2012-01-05T21:31:00.000-05:00

The life of true holiness is rooted in the soil of awed adoration.
It does not grow elsewhere.

--J.I. Packer

photo taken in Abergavenny, Wales
(roots growing on bark of a tree)

For the Beauty of the Earth

2011-12-31T22:29:00.000-05:00

For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies,

for the love which from our birth over and around us lies;

Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour of the day and of the night,

hill and vale, and tree and flower, sun and moon, and stars of light;

Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of ear and eye, for the heart and mind's delight,

for the mystic harmony, linking sense to sound and sight;

Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

. For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child,

friends on earth and friends above, for all gentle thoughts and mild;

Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

For thy church, that evermore lifteth holy hands above,

offering up on every shore her pure sacrifice of love;

Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

For thyself, best Gift Divine, to the world so freely given,

for that great, great love of thine, peace on earth, and joy in heaven:

Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

Hymn: For the Beauty of the Earth

Text: Folliot S. Pierpoint
Music: Conrad Kocher;
photo taken in Gould, CO

"Solitude Sweetened"

2011-12-24T15:27:00.002-05:00

Solitude Sweetened

by James Meikle, 1730-1799

If God gives Christ, what can he withhold?

Are believers in the valley of tears? Is their dwelling place Bochim and Baca? Well, God's mercy outstretches all their misery! Promises of grace dispel the mental gloom, and bear away the ponderous loads of grief! The soft handkerchief of love wipes off the furrowing tear! An inspired penman begins the glorious sentence with an unanswerable question. "If God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up to the death for us all, how shall he not also with him give us all things?" (Romans 8:32) Comfort, then; you sons of sorrow; comfort, my soul! There is more in this verse than can be comprehended! And there is more love in the heart of God, than any language, or idiom of speech, can convey to finite creatures!

If, for my sake, he has given his Son, what will he withhold in all the creation? Is his creation—the breath of his mouth—better to him than his eternal, co-eternal Son? Is the work of his hands dearer to him than his well-beloved bosom Son? And has he given him to the die for you—and then will he deny you any necessity? No! He who feeds the soul with heavenly manna—will support the body with daily bread! He who gives drink out of the wells of salvation—will not fail to afford a cup of cold water! He who has provided a robe of righteousness, to cover the shame of my sin—will also give wool in the cold season. He who furnishes my inner man with all the armor of God, will put a covering on my head in the day of battle and war. (At this time the Author had a view of entering into the navy, being time of war, as he did some time after.) He who, in the counsel of peace, from eternity, secured my peace, will also shine upon my path, and decree what shall come to pass. He who has written my name among the living in Jerusalem, will also preserve, (this my faith pleads and expects,) my character, that I shall not shame what I profess in the world. He who has destroyed spiritual death, will also for me unsting natural death, and spoil the grave of its victory!

Again, how can it be possible that God should give his Son, himself, his all—and yet deny me any good thing? Will not he who is to crown me with glory above—strengthen me with grace below? Will he not bless me with peace of mind—who is to be my peace forever? Triumph, O my faith! all things are Christ's, and Christ is God's! And God, Christ, and all things, are yours! Time is his, and in it I have my years numbered! The air is his, and in it I breathe! The world is his—and on it I dwell; its fullness is his—and I am fed! Grace is his—and in it I stand! Faith is his gift—and by it I overcome the world! Tribulations are from him—and in them I glory! Perfection is his—and towards it I press! Death is his—and by it I arrive at home! Heaven is his—and there is my mansion! Eternity is his, and there is my treasure and glory forevermore!

--taken from Grace Gems (http://www.gracegems.org/)
photo taken in Gould, Colorado

Characters in the Christmas Story: The Shepherds

2011-12-23T10:00:00.002-05:00

An integral part of the Christmas story are the shepherds. But if you or I were going to write
this story, you probably wouldn't think to add the shepherds in. God did. Have you ever
wondered why God chose to send the angelic envoy to simple shepherds in a field to tell them
about Jesus' birth?

It would seem like if someone like God were going to announce that His Son had been born He
would have invited the religious bigwigs to a press conference, or call a UN meeting,
or call everyone to Camp David or something. Thank God there is no one like God!
You've got to love Him, you've got to fall down and absolutely love Him that He decided to
tell a bunch of humble shepherds that the King of the Universe had just been
born in a stable and was now laying in an animal's feed trough in the backside of
some hotel's barn. Maybe they, in their simply humility, would be the ones most
likely to believe Him! For it showed God's humility in how He sent Jesus, so
of course He would first tell the humble of heart and life.

The Shepherds, and there is nothing told to us about them--not their names or their
political or religious views or anything--were simply out doing their job in the fields
outside Bethlehem when an angel appears to them with the Glory of God flashing
all around. The text says, with a penchant for understatement, that "they were
terribly afraid." I'll say! The angel tells them the Messiah has just been born and
that they will know it is Him when they find him wrapped in "swaddling" clothes
laying amongst the horse and cow feed. Now if this had been a modern story, the
shepherds would have had to worry that someone had laced their shepherd-ale with
mind-bending drugs. Especially when from behind the one angel, a whole army of
angels appears, praising God and glorifying Him. But this is first century
Bethlehem and God is at work.

So when the angels take off back to heaven the shepherds are now WIDE
awake, and I mean WIDE awake, and, despite their duty to their flock, they
have to go look for the baby. They must have looked at each other
and said, "What in the world just happened?" But God had chosen them
wisely, as God always does, and off they go and sure enough,
find Jesus, wrapped in swaddling clothes, laying in a manger. Oh, my Lord!

Joseph probably tried to shew them away to give Mary some semblance
of privacy and dignity, but Mary must have said, "No, Joseph, let them
in, its OK" because of course, God had made a wise choice in Mary . Its
not like ANY of them are going to get any sleep and she wants to hear
their story. And little baby Jesus, with his eyes still dripping with the
beauty of Heaven, looks sweetly up at them.

And what are those swaddling clothes anyway? Did they know? I looked into
it and they used to, and sometimes still do, wrap babies up tight with swaddling
clothes to keep them secure and from moving too much. You have to imagine
what Mary was thinking. "It's my duty to keep Him safe and clean and
I'm not going to let any part of Him touch that dirty manger that some
donkey may have licked." I know that if it were me I'd be so scared that I'd
drop the Baby or that He would roll out of the manger or something on the
first night and the whole plan of God would get disrupted.

On the other hand, she might also be afraid that maybe He might suddenly
go from being a baby to morphing into full blown God. It's not like she
had all the details. She had to have a lot of questions and fears.
On the one hand the swaddling clothes fulfilled what God had said, and
also, in those times, show that the baby is loved and wanted and
has a Father (cp Ezekiel 16:1-5) but the behind-the-scenes punch line that
God probably shares with Mary is Him teasing her for thinking :
"Better to wrap Him up tight, Don't take any chances."
So He put it in Scripture and shares a laugh with her each year when
the Christmas story is told, the kind of laugh that two people share when
they have gone through something great together.

As much as Mary wanted to keep all of this on the QT, God was a really
good PR man, thinking WAY outside the box, but in such a perfect way.
And now here are the shepherds with their story and Mary just kept
shaking her head as if trying to wake up from a dream
and saying, "Tell me again what happened in the field?" Soon,
the shepherds had told just about everyone whether they cared
to hear or not.

Yet the shepherds had good hearts, and glorified and praised God for
all they had seen and heard. They were simple men who must have
just walked along quietly with God, doing their job. (Shepherds have
a lot of time to pray you know). . Its these kind of people that
Jesus came to and comes to now. "Blessed are the pure in heart
for they shall see God." And see God they did.

I love that God thought way of the box in every way, and in those
deep and dreamless streets, the Everlasting Light, came into
our world, and changed all our lives.

Characters in the Christmas Story: Elizabeth

2011-12-20T17:54:00.006-05:00

After his encounter with the angel Gabriel, Zacharias goes quickly to his house in enforced silence.
No doubt he had a lot to think about. Just as Gabriel said, Elizabeth, Zacharias' wife, becomes
pregnant, and no doubt she had a lot to think about also! You see, even when we love God
very much, and have walked with Him a long time--even or especially when He does not seem to
answer our prayer, there are deep things going on in our hearts. God is doing a deep
work and when we are deeply shaken much of what we have thought in the deepest,
most private parts of our hearts rises to the surface.

I think it is because we so want God to be all that we need Him to be that disappointment
can come when our human expectations are not met. Then, when God shows Himself
to be faithful, we have a whiplash of counter emotions of greatly varied sorts!
Do you know what? God is bigger than our expectations of Him and "what we
need Him to be." He is Who He is and often we need time to sit with that truth.

Just as Zacharias must sit and ponder in silence, so must Elizabeth .
She goes into seclusion for five months. I don't blame her. All those people
who, over the years, must have given her a million "spiritual" reasons why
she didnt have a baby, and a multitude of sad suggestions on what that meant
about her, no doubt, would be showing up on her door to find out what happened
and to view an old woman who has gotten pregnant.. Gossip is so horrible.

Elizabeth shows her wisdom and fear of God, and we can see a glimpse
of why God chose her. You see, Elizabeth and Zacharias, Anna and Simeon,
Joseph and Mary are those that held the torch of the testimony for
their generation. They are "old-school" believers--tried and true--not
giving into the depravity of the times; battered down but not hopeless;
weary but not apostate. They have kept the faith! No easy task!

Meanwhile, Gabriel is about to visit Mary. Elizabeth stays in seclusion
for five months (Luke 1:24) and in the sixth month Gabriel visit Mary and tells
her she is to have Jesus, but also tells her that Elizabeth is six months
pregnant. Mary goes quickly to visit Elizabeth. What a wonderful
provision for both of them as I am sure no one in the world would understand
what they were going through and Mary would soon be glad
to flee a lot of hostility and gossip also. This is no small blessing
for them both. I am sure they prayed and talked
deep into the nights of the wondrous and puzzling thing that was
unfolding in and to them. Even as Mary arrived and greeted
Elizabeth, Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesies
how blessed Mary is and how blessed is Jesus within her.
Even the in-utero John the Baptist jumps for joy (Luke 1:41,42)!
This is, indeed, an amazing story!

Elizabeth is a woman of faith, and like Hannah, has received her
promise from the Lord. Both give their miracles babies over
to the special service of God. No doubt she did not live to see John
the Baptist grow older (and this probably saved her much grief)
but she did get to exult in the amazing grace of God her Savior.

Elizabeth worships the God Who Hears and Knows and
meanwhile, the young John, grows within her in an atmosphere
of praise and worship. God miraculously takes away her
reproach (Luke 1:25) and her neighbors show her mercy
and rejoice with her (1:58). Sometimes things happen not because
we have sinned, says Jesus, but so that the works of God can be
manifested in us. (John 9:2 &3)

Characters in the Christmas Story: Zacharias--On Believing God

2011-12-19T15:38:00.009-05:00

I was just reading over the Christmas story recorded in Matthew and Luke's Gospels
and have been reflecting on each character. I am going to write something on
each of the characters and today, to start, I am choosing Zacharias, the father of John
the Baptist, because it's really here that the whole thing begins. Here is the story:

5There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, 9According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. 11And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. 16And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. 19And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. 20And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

21And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple. 22And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless. 23And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.

Zacharias was not a bad man. Let's keep in mind from the beginning that he is introduced here,
along with his wife Elizabeth, as righteous and walking blamelessly before God. He was a priest
and was faithful in his administrations. He knew God--to a degree. He didn't know when the
Messiah would come--he didn't even know, and probably had long since stopped
hoping, when, or dear God, if, his own child would come along. He had prayed
for a son to come, prayed long and hard, and now he was old and it looked like God
had ignored him. He still performed his duties, because you don't serve God for what
He can give you, but I wonder what he was thinking inside and where his heart had gotten to.

When Elizabeth passed menopause, you had to wonder what happened to
their hopes for a child, and with that, their ability to trust God wholeheartedly.
They both had served God as well as they knew how, and yet, what got lost?
What hadn't they understood? What they DID understand is that they had
received no child. You can imagine what the equivalent of Job's comforter's
in the community must have said to Elizabeth and him: cold things, harsh things,
well-meaning advice, subtle judgments, silent things never spoken but easily read
on the faces of those looking on. "You know, if you had really been holy
you would have a child." Awful. Just awful. But they kept praying. Or at
this point, perhaps simply crying in a heavenly direction.

So it had finally fallen by lot for Zacharias to offer the incense in the Holy
Place, and believe me, you do have to be careful there, so on top of
being nervous about doing it right, an unexpected angel appears to him
with an incredible announcement: You are going to have a son!

Now all Zacharias had to do, really, was just nod his head, and get safely
out of there. But his doubts, and all that had troubled him formed themselves
into words that rushed out of his mouth before he could stop himself.
He asked the angel, "But how can I know for sure? You surely know
that we are too old and all our hopes have drained out over the passing years?"

Gabriel does not coddle him with sympathy but rebukes him and strikes
him speechless until the prophecy is fulfilled and the promised son is born
and brought to the Temple. If this seems harsh, perhaps we have something
to learn, for God always acts to help bring us to a better place.

Zacharias is the priest, he needs to speak for God, not to engender doubt.
If he comes out of their speaking doubtfully, it will not help the community,
or Elizabeth, his wife. If he lets his broken heart, and the up- to- this- hour
wrestling with the apparent silence of God speak, then his testimony may
fall into infamy. Like Jacob, he wrestles with an angel and loses
his natural function.

In the ensuing silence of nine months he has time to think about it. Think
about whether he believes God. Think about his calling to the
community, and his place as priest in it. God holds the leaders to
higher standards and Gabriel announces that the Word of the Lord
is going to be fulfilled whether he understands, believes or
accepts it. Sovereign acts of God are like that.

What we still need to see is how much God is honoring Zacharias. He is answering
his prayer because he IS a righteous man, and because God thinks he is the best
choice for the daunting task of raising John the Baptist! Now think about it,
youth would have been on their side as far as sitting up caring for a crying baby,
but wisdom gained over a lifetime might be better attributes for raising
the young prophet--as long as that lifetime hadn't hardened his heart..

God was giving him some silence to think about it all and to get ready.
The strain of life can, for a season, take its toll, but if God sends a
wake up call, we still have a chance get back on the path. Zacharias'
life was a long obedience, he had layed the groundwork by being faithful,
but he was dangerously close to becoming hard-hearted and unbelieving.

We walk by faith and not sight. Zacharias had to walk according
to the pattern God provided and being in God's presence carried
a certain danger with it. The text hints that the people praying outside
where getting worried about Zacharias. Old Zach just got a "yellow card":
he is not out of the game, He just needs to sit on the sidelines and think
about his behaviour.

Zacharias' job as priest was to burn incense--which speaks of an
unreserved offering of our will to God and of the spirit of trusting prayer
in God . Zacharias as he functioned in the priestly roll of incense bringer
represents Christ as our intercessor: ever sure of the Father's love and concern
for His Own. God heard Zacharias' prayers just as He would hear Christ's.
So there was no room for signs or doubts. Zacharias just needed the
nine months to get on page with that. Here is spirit of a "just man being
made perfect." Thank God that He comes to us, see our hearts,
and gives us exactly what we need. May we learn that sitting in
silence before Him is a great gift that gets us ready.

Wait with blazing desire, deep humility, and much eagerness!

2011-12-18T13:34:00.001-05:00

Wait with blazing desire, deep humility, and much eagerness. If you learn to wait, you'll surely receive our King, who comes to us humble and meek, and seated on a donkey. O endless love! You confound human pride. We see You, the King of kings, approaching humbly, seated on a beast, disgracefully rejected. Let those who seek worldly honor and glory think on this and blush for shame.

- Catherine of Siena, Letters

leaves floating in stream, Wilmington, Delaware

What Our Eyes Often Miss

2011-12-12T15:19:00.000-05:00

While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see. ~Dorothea Lange

Oh Lord, help us to see what is hidden in plain sight. Help us to look, and search out.
Heal our shortsightedness, Expand our spiritual vision. We cannot see without You!

photo of young moose taken in Gould, Colorado

Rest Assured in God

2011-12-08T14:59:00.000-05:00

You may rest assured that God will not allow you to be tried beyond your strength. It is when we are powerless that God does all, and thereby manifests His power and goodness in a striking manner.

- John Baptist de La Salle

photo taken in the Yorkshire countryside, UK

2011-12-03T11:44:00.001-05:00

May I enter Him as my Refuge;

Build on Him as my Foundation;

Walk in Him as my Way;

Follow Him as my Guide;

Conform to Him as my Example;

Receive His Instruction as My Prophet;

Rely on His Intercession as my High Priest;

Obey Him as My King...

(prayer taken from The Valley of Vision,

A Collection of Puritan Prayers)

photo taken near Glencoe, Scotland

2011-12-01T19:40:00.000-05:00

Narrow is the mansion of my soul; enlarge Thou it, that

Thou mayest enter in.

... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Confessions

photo taken near Loch Ness, Scotland

2011-11-25T14:28:00.000-05:00

THE CHRISTIAN JOURNEY

Life is a journey, often a short one, and always uncertain.

But there is another journey.

The believer is traveling through a waste howling wilderness, to another and a glorious region,
where ineffable delight and happiness await us.

The road is narrow, the entrance strait, so strait that thousands miss it and perish in the
wilderness. But true believers, under the teaching and convoy of the Holy Spirit, find it
and walk in it.

The King, in His infinite love and compassion, has made a hedge about them, separating
and defending them from the many beasts of prey that lurk around them; and although
they hear their howlings and behold their threatenings, they are safe from their power.

But their strongest foe is within themselves; a heart deceitful above all things and
desperately wicked. From this there is no escape but by constant watchfulness, and
earnest cries to their best Friend and Guide for protection.

Were it not for this faithful Guide, how often, discouraged by reason of the way,
would they turn back!

But He....

watches over them by night and by day,

strengthens them when weak,

upholds them when falling,

encourages them when cast down,

defends them when attacked,

provides for them when in need,

leads them by living streams, and

causes them there to lie down in pleasant

pastures, and on sunny banks.

And as they advance they obtain brighter views of the good land they are nearing, and
they long to see the King in His beauty, and the land that is yet very far off, and to meet
those that have already arrived on that happy shore.

taken from
Grace Gems

photo taken near Glencoe, Scotland

Be My Journey and my Far Destination!

2011-11-21T19:54:00.001-05:00

Great Light, Mover of all that is moving and at rest, be my Journey and my far Destination, be my Want and my Fulfilling, be my Sowing and my Reaping, be my glad Song and my stark Silence. Be my Sword and my strong Shield,be my Lantern and my dark Night, be my everlasting Strength and my piteous Weakness. Be my Greeting and my parting Prayer, be my bright Vision and my Blindness, be my Joy and my sharp Grief, be my sad Death and my sure Resurrection.

--Stephen Lawhead, Merlin
taken from the Celtic Daily Prayer Book,
Northumbria Community, November 20

photo taken in Ambleside, UK

Gathering Strength from Distress

2011-11-13T13:45:00.001-05:00

“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow”--Thomas Paine

photo taken at sunset, Winterthur, Delaware

Lessons from the Birch Trees

2011-10-26T18:09:00.000-05:00

Stand tall.

Stand in your place.

Lean over to help your neighbor.

Grow together.

Stand near to the Rock.

Enjoy the Son.

photo taken in Russell, MA

The Savior Will Let Me In

2011-10-20T19:45:00.001-05:00

The mistakes of my life have been many,

The sins of my heart have been more,
and I scarce can see for weeping,

But I’ll knock at the open door

I know I am weak and sinful,
it comes to me more and more;
But when the dear Savior shall bid me come in,
I’ll enter the open door.

I am lowest of those who love Him,
I am weakest of those who pray;
But I come as He has bidden,
And He will not say me nay.

My mistakes His free grace will cover,
My sins He will wash away,
And the feet that can shrink and falter
Shall walk thro’ the gates of day.

The mistakes of my life have been many,
And my spirit is sick with sin,
And I scarce can see for weeping,

But the Savior will let me in.

--Hymn by Urania Bailey, 1871

photo taken in Westfield, MA

Following Christ into the Wilderness

2011-10-19T18:25:00.000-05:00

"If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road,

I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all"

- David Livingstone

photo taken in White Sands, New Mexico

I Have Chosen You in the Furnace of Affliction

2011-10-16T18:25:00.001-05:00

Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.

Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

(Isaiah 48:10-12)

photo taken in Granville, MA

Discerning the Signs of the Times

2011-10-07T11:56:00.000-05:00

When it is evening, you say, It will be fair weather for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be
foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowring: O hyprocrites, you can discern the face of
the sky, but can you not discern the signs of the times?

Matthew 16: 2-4

I was running after an incredible sunset but could not get beyond the row of trees to capture it straight-on.
I looked back and caught these incredible clouds reflecting the sunset. Beautiful and eerie. Notice in the left cloud, if you look closely, a little man is resting lazily on his elbow, reclining, not discerning the "signs of the times." :)

photo taken in Feeding Hills, MA

Our Lives Matter

2011-10-05T08:18:00.000-05:00

The humblest individual exerts some influence, either for good or evil, upon others.

--Henry Ward Beecher

photo taken in Mount Pleasant, PA

Pray for Young People

2011-10-04T16:41:00.001-05:00

There is a rising generation in this country who do not know God because of a general decay of true religion.

--Arthur Middleton, signer of the Declaration of Independence

I wonder where that leaves us more than 200 years later?

photo taken in Mt. Pleasant, PA

God Often Casts Us Into Crucibles

2011-09-27T12:30:00.001-05:00

It is very easy for us to speak and theorize about faith, but God

often casts us into crucibles to try our gold, and to separate it from

the dross and alloy. Oh, happy are we if the hurricanes that ripple

life's unquiet sea have the effect of making Jesus more precious.

Better the storm with Christ than smooth waters without Him."

--Macduff

photo taken in Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania

Ignoring the Caution Tape

2011-09-14T07:58:00.003-05:00

The last hurricane brought a tree limb down to rest on our power and utility lines. Thankfully, they did not
break under the weight, but they did slowly, inch by inch, take out our neighbor's cable and phone lines.
Despite a predicted long wait, the electric crew came quite rapidly : all seven of them and 4
trucks! They taped off the whole area, including over an adjacent public sidewalk, with yellow
caution tape. They put yellow tape on the downed cable and phone lines. They cut off the offending
limb and drove off leaving my front yard looking like a war zone of tree carnage.

Over the next few days we had a lot of lookers, and people passing by made a wide path around
"whatever happened in that yard." I learned a lot about people in my neighborhood.
Well, its hard to tell exactly what is now fixed as there is still one line down, kind
of hanging limply across the sidewalk. I suspect its an old fashioned telephone landline and
since these days that is kind of antiquated technology, maybe its just not necessary for our
neighbors to get it fixed. I don't know.

What I want to write about is the caution tape. At first, people really obeyed it, and
walked onto the street to avoid the area. But between this and that,
part of the tape kind of lost it's way, and with it, lost it's authority, and I noticed that
people started to just walk under the downed line, the first time a little gingerly,
and then, with a "whatever" attitude as they walked down the street with their
DD coffee or cell phone or dog or what have you. I now do it myself.

The scary lesson is this: Is this how moral conscience gets hardened?
Is this how we become deaf to the leading of the Spirit? Is this how we
enter into dangerous or temptation laden situations when we know that God
has roped them off for good reason?

At first we steer clear, then it becomes too much work to walk around
them, then we lose our fear, then we think we are safe and can handle
it when maybe the wire is still live and we are not safe at all. And maybe
we haven't radically cut off the offending limb that started the whole
situation, as Jesus told us to do, in order to make it into the Kingdom,
even if we limp in?. (Mark 9::43)

Who are we to judge whether we can ignore what has been
already deemed as someplace to tread carefully? A phone line can
still give a small jolt but an overhead suburban power line can fry me
a thousand times over. I can't really tell the difference because
I'm not trained in that area. So are you willing to take a
chance based on your level of spiritual knowledge? That
would be about like playing Russian Roulette with your soul.
"If I have spoken to you of earthly things and you didn't get it, then how
can I speak of heavenly ones?" Jesus said to Nicodemus,
(of whom He thought should have known better.) (John 3:12).

God has given us the Holy Spirit to warn us, to guide is
in the safe way, to show us when to "go home by another
way." (Matthew 2:16-18). But are we listening, and more
importantly, do we CONTINUE to listen? We can start out well,
but our enemy would be just as happy to kill us on
round 18 as he would on round 1.

I've started to look around for caution tape in my life.
Hoping that I'm not knee deep in spiritually broken
electrical wire. You might want to take a look
around yourself. There have been a lot of storms,
of every sort, of late. Don't be foolish. Take care.

I would cautiously hasten to say that, past how
this applies to all of us, this is a specific
message to someone out there. If you've
gotten a caution from the Lord, but are still
thinking of proceeding with your course
of action: DON'T. If you wanted a sign
Here it is:

For Americans on 9/11

2011-09-11T17:04:00.001-05:00

I been scared and battered.

My hopes the wind done scattered.
Snow has friz me,
Sun has baked me,

Looks like between 'em they done
Tried to make me--
Stop laughin', stop lovin', stop livin'--

But I don't care!

I'm still here!

--Langston Hughes

Thank God we are still here...

Lord, have mercy, on us who are here.

photo taken in the beautiful American Rockies.

Amazing!

2011-09-08T09:19:00.001-05:00

This is an incredible time-lapse of clouds by David Lopez. It is incredible and moving!
God's world is amazing! Wow!

El Cielo de Canarias / Canary sky - Tenerife from Daniel López on Vimeo.

Even the silence of God gives me strength....

2011-09-06T16:33:00.001-05:00

...even the silence of God gives me strength

--mattie stepanik, "reflections of a peacemaker: a portrait

through heartsongs", age 13 when he died

photo taken at Talcott Mountain State Park, Avon, CT

2011-08-29T15:24:00.002-05:00

Consider Jesus. Know Jesus. Learn what kind of Person it is you say you trust and love and worship. Soak in the shadow of Jesus. Saturate your soul with the ways of Jesus. Watch Him. Listen to Him. Stand in awe of Him. Let Him overwhelm you with the way He is.

- John Piper

photo taken in Garden of the Gods

Colorado Springs, Colorado

(as always, thanks for driving, Tara!)

2011-08-24T18:08:00.000-05:00

“At the timberline where the storms strike with the most fury, the

sturdiest trees are found.” -Hudson Taylor.

photo taken near the Continental Divide, Colorado

Spiritual Friendship

2011-08-21T14:54:00.002-05:00

Let this law, therefore, be held in respect among friends, namely, they expend themselves and

their goods for one another in such a way that he who gives preserves a cheerful aspect,

and that he who receives does not lose confidence. When Boaz observed the poverty

of Ruth, the Moabite, he spoke to her as she was gathering ears of corn behind his

reapers, consoled her and invited her to the table of his servants, and sparing in kindly

fashion her embarrassment, he ordered his reapers to leave ears of corn even

purposely so that she might collect them without shame. In the same way we ought

the more adroitly seek out the needs of our friends, anticipate their requests

by good services, and observe such demeanor in our giving that the recipient,

rather than the giver, appears to be bestowing the favor."

--Aelred of Rievaulx, "Spiritual Friendship" --

Aelred of Rievaulx was born in 1110 in Northumbria, UK. He became the

abbott of the famed Cistercian Rievaulx Monastery in Yorkshire. His work on

Spiritual Friendship is a classic. Rievaulx was dissolved by Henry the 8th

in the 1538. It's ruins still stand.

photo taken in Abergavenny, Wales

Just When God's Ready.....

2011-08-17T17:49:00.001-05:00

"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter."-- Ansel Adams

photo taken near Gould, Colorado

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

2011-08-16T18:07:00.000-05:00

The road is long

With many a winding turn

That leads us to who knows where

Who knows when

But I'm strong

Strong enough to carry him

He ain't heavy, he's my brother

So on we go

His welfare is of my concern

No burden is he to bear

We'll get there

For I know

He would not encumber me

He ain't heavy, he's my brother

--He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother-

B Russell & B.Scott

photo taken in Lincolnville, Maine

The Ability to Be Faithful

2011-08-09T10:04:00.000-05:00

Not everyone possesses boundless energy or a conspicuous talent. We are not

equally blessed with great intellect or physical beauty or emotional strength. But we have

all been given the same ability to be faithful.

--Gigi Graham Tchividjian

photo of Mariah, my foster dog, who is blessed with boundless energy!

Gazing on God

2011-07-26T09:58:00.000-05:00

Constantly practice the habit of inwardly gazing upon God. You know that something inside your heart sees God.

Even when you are compelled to withdraw your conscious attention in order to engage in earthly affairs, there is within you a secret communion always going on.

- A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), "The Pursuit of God"

photo taken in Northampton, MA

A Stout Heart

2011-07-20T16:14:00.000-05:00

Give me a stout heart to bear my own burdens. Give me a willing

heart to bear the burdens of others. Give me a believing heart to

cast all burdens upon Thee, O Lord.

- John Baillie (1886-1960) & Donald M. Baillie (1887-1954), "A

Diary of Private Prayer"

photo taken near Rand, Colorado.

2011-07-14T13:34:00.000-05:00

"Asked about my theology, I take the Bible and speak with all my soul. I believe everything written in this book. Asked to state my confession of faith. I refer them to the 'Apostles Creed'. My model of prayer is the Lord's Prayer, my rules of living the 'Ten Commandments.' But what will the sophisticated people of the world say to that? Perhaps they smile at the childish old man. But I have found Christ and he is everything to me. My whole life has been a pilgrim journey. Nowhere have I found an abiding city. But now my heavenly fatherland, to whose threshold my leader, my light, my savior has lead me, looms up before me. For me the thing necessary is to forget what is behind and to hasten toward the prize of the heavenly call of God." - John Comenius (1650 Moravian Bishop)

photo taken on the Rand Cutoff Road, near Gould, CO

2011-07-12T08:46:00.001-05:00

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing Your majesty

From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God

All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

--Chris Tomlin "Indescribable"

photo taken on the Rand Cutoff Road, Gould, Colorado

2011-07-07T14:52:00.000-05:00

May the fiery and sweet strength of Thy love, I pray Thee, O my

Lord, absorb my soul, and make all things under heaven as nothing

unto me, that for the love of Thy love I may die, as Thou didst

deign to die for love of mine. Amen.

--. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226),

photo taken in Feeding Hills, MA

2011-06-29T18:22:00.000-05:00

"It gives me a deep comforting sense that

"things seen are temporal and things unseen are eternal."”

--Helen Keller
photo taken in Garden of the Gods Park, Colorado Springs, Colorado

2011-06-28T12:31:00.000-05:00

It was when I was happiest that I longed most...The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing...to find the place where all the beauty came from."-- C.S. Lewis, "Til We All
Have Faces"

photo taken in Gould, Colorado

2011-06-19T09:05:00.001-05:00

Now is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It won't last forever. We must take it or leave it."

--C. S. Lewis --The Case for Christianity

photo taken in Gould, Colorado at sunset

Revealing Our True Character

2011-06-16T19:20:00.001-05:00

The stresses of high-altitude climbing reveal your true character; they unmask who you really are. You no longer have all the social graces to hide behind, to play roles. You are the essence of what you are." — David Breashears (High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places)

This isnt just about physical high altitudes. The higher we climb toward God, the more who we really are is unmasked, the more our true essence is revealed

photo taken near Gould, Colorado

More Than What Is In Books

2011-06-13T12:34:00.005-05:00

“Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God.” --George Washington Carver

photo taken near Gould, Colorado

Concealed

2011-06-09T20:49:00.005-05:00

"It is the glory of God to conceal a ...uh, well, a baby moose: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter."

Proverbs 25:2.

I've been away for awhile...out "somewhere they can't find me" :) --deep in Colorado
moose country....this little guy was my first siting....his momma calling to him
not to look but he still did, what a cutie....I'll be posting some wonderful photos
from this expedition....but do be thinking of this great truth: it is the glory of God
to conceal a matter, and it is our honor to seek God, Who, often remains mostly
hidden in the heavenly bushes, watching us with great compassion.

Being in nature is a restorative process, for we must slow down, listen, watch, be, all very quietly. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding from above. (Proverbs 9:10). The best things in life....require us to seek.
photo taken in Gould, Colorado

Fenelon on Unloading Your Heart to God

2011-04-05T15:14:00.000-05:00

Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one's heart, its

pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles,

that He may comfort you; tell Him your joys, that He may sober

them; tell Him your longings, that He may purify them; tell Him

your dislikes, that He may help you conquer them; talk to Him of

your temptations, that He may shield you from them: show Him the

wounds of your heart, that He may heal them; lay bare your

indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your

instability. Tell Him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how

vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride disguises you to

yourself and others.

- Francois Fenelon

photo of Zoomer looking out the window on a very bright day! kind of like sitting in God's Presence.

For Peace Comes Dropping Slow....

2011-03-21T15:28:00.003-05:00

"I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,

I hear it in the deep heart's core.

--W.B. Yeats--the Lake Isle of Innisfree

On this cold, snowy day in a New England that, is really taunting

us with the hope of spring then cruelly dashing our hopes, I found

this lovely poem by W.B.Yeats that matched my longing and what

I have been meditating upon.

Thank God that we can pray in all conditions and that God

accepts prayers from harried, hurried hearts as well as peaceful

ones but what I want to address is the place of praying from

a deeply peaceful heart: one of life's richest pleasures.

Yeats describes his longing to go to his little lakeside

cabin and so, he "shall have some peace there, for peace

comes dropping slow." Indeed!

There is a certain gift of peace that God gives to us

when we are in over our heads and know that our

help comes from God alone. This is a precious

gift. But there is also a peace that we cultivate

in our hearts in order to hear the gentle and

sweet voice of God in every nuance. This

peace is something we apply ourselves to, cultivate,

nurture, even sacrifice for: it is deep inner peace

and calm and Yeats speaks the truth when he

says it "comes dropping slowly."

My Lent has been a feeble and often failed

attempt to put myself aside and seek God but

what I do know is that I know I was heading for

that deep peace, that totally tranquil place within,

that cannot be come to overnight, cannot be

rushed, and which has no earthly substitute.

I remember my country childhood, of a completely

different era, one where there was long and deep

lakes of quietude where all one heard for hours was

the sounds of robins, sparrows, peepers and crickets and the soft rustle

of willow and pine trees. Even as a child it is those

moments I remember most vividly and cherish most

deeply. No one had yet told me the right words about

God but I felt Him still, before I was formally introduced.

Our lives our so hurried, so rushed, and there is that

primitive if not biblical urge that calls us to slow down

into peace and which we ignore at our very peril. There are

some things that cannot be heard until we are absolutely

quiet inside. There are some truths that won't come to

us until silence reigns in our inner man and the Voice

of our Beloved can speak without the voices of a

million lesser things, madmen all, interrupting.

This, if you hadn't noticed, takes a long time. It is not a meander on

a country road, not knowing where you are going

that takes you there, but a deliberate determination

to come to quiet. The irony is that we cannot quiet

ourselves completely, we can only go so far and

the rest, as always and in all things, is grace.

It is worth, without a doubt, every minute.

Let us walk down the road toward that quiet

cabin in our hearts, so that "peace can drop upon

us slow," and there wait for our Lord to speak
in the "heart's deep core"

If we can accomplish that this Lent, we will

have done well.

photo taken near Jacksonville, Vermont

Spiritual Examen: Is My Love Sincere?

2011-03-16T14:01:00.003-05:00

I plead with you therefore, brethren, by the compassions of God,
to present all your faculties to Him as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to Him.
This with you will be an act of reasonable worship ...Let love be without
hypocrisy....(Romans 12:1 & 9a)

We have begun to look at Romans 12 as a guide to measuring
whether our worship is more than just flowery words expressed
toward God or whether our lives are, as Paul writes, full of
"reasonable, spiritual worship" ("λογικην λατρειαν").

He gives us a list by which to measure love in the community of
faith. This concept is in parallel with the book of James' struggle to balance
faith and works. Our spiritual works are a true form of worship.
They prove it is more than lofty praise words or ecstatic feelings,
but this kind of worship brings the kingdom of God to this earth.

First on the the list is the call to love. "Let love be without
"ἀνυπόκριτος"--unfeigned, without hypocrisy, --not
"alpha pretended" -- as the two words that make up this
word anypokritos come from two words "alpha and
hupokrinomai" --a sort of "Number One Faker." The love
we are called to is genuine, unfeigned, unhypocritical, sincere.
Nothing in it is play acting. I am not pretending to love,
I am genuinely loving.

Dear ones, we must ask ourselves today, "How much of my
love is pretending and play acting?" When we say we love
God and man, is agape love, God's love, what is coming
forth? Or is our love some kind of whitewash, something
said to placate another, to deceive them, to pacify or
manipulate them? These are tough questions but we
must look at our love.

No doubt you can sense when you are not being
loved even when the words are all right. The country
music business makes its bread and butter off of
such ideas. But we are often slow to see that
our love--given and received, is not love at all
according to God's kind of love. His is not an
emotional, convenient love. He does not pretend
to love while secretly despising, even hating us.
His is not love that gives with a hook in it, or
spouts high sounding platitudes to cover up
a cold and careless heart! His love does not
cover His true feelings!

God's love is sincere and unfeigned. He lives
out His love by remaining faithful to us, by
taking care of us even when we do not take
care of ourselves or others; by giving us what
we need and not what we demand.

The first act of worship is love: love full
of the deeds of a good life, love that
comes in tired after a full day of giving
itself for others.

Are we loving, or are we only pretending to
love? God knows, and we know, too, if we
sit with ourselves and allow this point of examen
to shine its light on our hearts.

Better to have a small bit of genuine love, than
to gush forth barrels of "love" that have no substance.
Only those who dwell much with God have
that genuine, godly love to give.

Therefore, dwell much with God.

2011-03-15T16:17:00.001-05:00

We all adore God in different ways
but can join together in one symphony of praise...

photo taken in Northampton, MA

One Grand Providence

2011-03-14T16:14:00.001-05:00

God's care is more evident in some instances of [His providence]

than in others to the dim and often bewildered vision of humanity.

Upon such instances we seize and call them providences. It is well

that we can; but it would be gloriously better if we could believe

that the whole matter is one grand providence.

- George MacDonald (1824-1905), "Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood

Photo: inside an orchid, Northampton, MA

A Garden of Kindness

2011-03-13T11:14:00.001-05:00

"Kind hearts are the gardens,

Kind thoughts are the roots,

Kind words are the flowers,

Kind deeds are the fruits,

Take care of your garden

And keep out the weeds,

Fill it with sunshine

Kind words and kind deeds”

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

photo taken in Northampton, MA

How to Encourage Spiritual Hunger in Others!

2011-03-12T19:09:00.000-05:00

"'A man can not lead others where he is not willing to go himself.
Therefore, beware of the prayerless church leader who no longer
readily admits his own need for more of the person and power of
Jesus Christ. Only a seeking, praying heart can truly encourage
spiritual HUNGER in others!' - David Smithers."

photo taken in Edinburgh, Scotland

Spiritual Examen: Is My Worship Reasonable and Spiritual? Part 1

2011-03-11T16:39:00.001-05:00

I plead with you therefore, brethren, by the compassionsof God, to present
all your faculties to Him as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to Him.
This with you will be an act of reasonable worship. 2 And do not follow the
customs of the present age, but be transformed by the entire renewal of your
minds, so that you may learn by experience what God's will is--that will
which is good and beautiful and perfect.... (Romans 12: 1-3, Weymouth translation)

There is so much that is discussed about "worship" that relates to style and form, that often,
the true heart of worship,or its lack, is not talked about or understood. When we think
of "worship" we often think of what happens during a "worship" service in our particular
church. Some churchs are liturgical, some are charismatic, some are seeker--friendly, other
are hell-fire and brimstone (not so common today). In the charismatic/ pentecostal world it
would appear that not a lot of people have a clear understanding of the nature and purpose of worship.
Somtimes churches differ in their style of worship music but this is not the main issue.
Often, people say things, "Oh, wasn't the worship good this morning at church." Or,
"I could really feel the presence of God." But this is not really a biblical understanding
or accurate judge of what is "good" worship.

The apostle Paul uses the words "λογικην λατρειαν"-- logiken latreain" (reasonable,
spiritual worship). It is whole-bodied and whole minded: rational and reasonable.
Reasonable worship is what is proper to give to God (which by our measure might
be unreasonably extravagant!). It is not just worship words, or felt experience, but
the whole of our life presented to God. What would hold more worth for "worthship":
for someone to say, "I love you" with great sentimentality, or for someone to actually
wholeheartedly walk in agape love every minute of every day ?

There is an aspect to worship that we miss at our own peril and which robs God
of what is due Him: not giving God the discipline of a carefully reasoned
offering of our ENTIRE life. This is not something that you can come to accurately without
a carefully reasoned inventory, ( i.e. a spiritual examen that brings us to the action of extreme
worship.) I must become a living sacrifice offered to God: a conscious decision to
put every detail of my very life on the altar, something not possible or reasonable
under the Old Covenant.

When we appeal to only the experiential in worship, without reason and discipline
backed up with a fully-converted life, then we soon will end up being steered by
personal agendas, power plays, human whim, cultural preferences, or doctrines
of demons.

In the article, Conformation or Transformation: Toward Reclaiming Meaningful Distinctives in Evangelical Worship Practice Linda Schwartz writes,

"The New Testament call to identification in the Cross and to abundant
—not easy—life based on kingdom values, is being silenced by worship
practice which refuses to acknowledge the cost of discipleship. Worship
services approximate forms of entertainment that are designed to elicit
only passive response rather than active engagement from participants.
People have been lulled into checking their brains at the door...

It is disturbing, therefore, that evangelicals place so much stock in the
emotional experience or realm of feelings: this is the one area of human
nature that evangelicalism has traditionally regarded as an appropriate
response mechanism; and, for many, it has become an exclusive outlet,
the single gauge by which the validity of faith is measured. In fact,
‘gut feeling’ or the realm of emotion also internalizes and projects
erogenous emotions, as well as feelings of misery, aggressiveness, and
guilt; and these often become confused with appropriate spiritual behaviour.
When human feeling or emotion is compartmentalized from cerebral or
sentient experience, the worshipper is no longer able to engage in a balanced
or fully human response to worship.

Reasonable, spiritual worship is the whole of one's life, working in Godly harmony, and lived
out of Kingdom values, offered to God. The apostle Paul then proceeds to give us a spiritual
examen that will help us move toward such worship. We will discuss that tomorrow. :)

Spiritual Examen: Using Spiritual Filters to Build Healthy Relationship with God

2011-03-10T16:35:00.002-05:00

If we are to move toward a really intimate relationship with God then we must understand
that there are no secrets kept between two people that love each other. When we love
God we WANT to be known by Him and to KNOW Him. We want to hold nothing
back. We want to know every detail about God and we want Him to know every
detail about us

Notice what happens the first time that sin enters into the world in the garden of Eden:
hiding behavior! The beauty of unrestricted openness with God is gone. Somehow we,
in our blinded, sinful state, have allowed ourselves to believe that we can choose when to
come into God's presence or, on the other hand, when to choose not to.

But God is everywhere and He is always with us, not as a Judge, or Chaperone,
or Watcher, but simply as our Father, our Creator, our Companion and Friend.
God created us for intimacy with Him.

Like attracts like. Goodness attracts goodness. How can two walk together unless
they be agreed? "But if we live in the light in the same way that God is in the light,
we have a relationship with each other. And the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses
us from every sin." I John 1:7. So it is not hiding from God that keeps us
safe, but walking with God in the Light of His Presence.

Think of all the filters in your life! We like to keep them clean because they trap
unwanted particles that clog up essential items: air conditioner filters trap pollutants
that you don't want to breath in; drain filters keep hair and debris from clogging
your drain pipes; water filters take out things that we would do better not drinking.
So let us not look at questions of spiritual examen as something that make us
feel ashamed and thus, drives us from God.

Let us, instead, use the questions as filters knowing that they catch unwanted
things in our spiritual lives before they clog our relationship with God. You do not
want to be separated from God. I know that I don't. And yet, sometimes God
feels distant. This does not happen for no good reason. God is still there, but
debris has come between us and Him.

If you only clean your bathtub sink drain once a year, your ability to enjoy
your cleansing time will be severely diminished. So let us catch spiritual problems before
they cause us further trouble. If you feel, "I have sinned so long and so much
that God does not want me around" then you misunderstand the dear heart of God.

The prodigal son had many issues. If you met him in person you may not have liked
him, but he understood one thing: that his Father wanted him and that he could
always go back to him. Of course he had thought that life on the farm was a bore,
and that his older brother was a goody-two shoes, but it was his bad choice that
had caused him to leave, and it was his good choice that easily brought him back home.
Go back to God. What we learn in our exile is that God is always right and that
there is no place like Home. Your sinfulness and mine is a paradox. Its right
to kill us has been dealt with on the cross of Christ: we have been forgiven.
Yet, our sinful nature still affects us because our complete conversion is a
gradual process. Of course, there is an initial moment when we choose God,
but it is lifetime of learning to give Him every bit ourselves freely and with
no reservations. All of my experience in life is custom made to allow me to
bring all of my heart, soul, mind and strength to Him. You are built for that
kind of connection with God.

So let us begin our examen with some general questions about our intimacy
with God. Its good to get in the habit of doing this often, even every day!
Our hearts should be going toward God continually, just like those
who love each other always want to know what the other is doing,,,

God, when did I sense Your presence the most in my day?

When did I lose track of the fact that You are with me?

How do I see You loving me today, even when I didnt
see it in that moment?

How did I respond to the love You showed me?

and finally,

Did I love You today in such a way
that Your heart smiled?

Sit with these questions for a few moments and give
time for God to speak with you, and you with Him.

Spiritual Examen : Seeing Myself as God Sees Me

2011-03-09T18:19:00.001-05:00

As we continue to explore the seven deadly sins, we need to lay
some groundwork. You may be asking, "What good will looking
at my sinfulness do me?" Won't it be discouraging? What if I
get discouraged and give up?

The important thing to remember in all this is that we are not
just routing out our sins as if we were finding rotten easter
eggs hidden in a garden. The point is to rid ourselves of
the false image of ourselves that cloaks our relationship
with sinful attitudes and habits. No one can argue that
we should agree with God and that His view of us is
the correct view, right? So let us begin by asking God
for His view of us!

Heavenly Father, please show me how You view me.
Just as You looked at the seven churches in the book
of Revelation, pointing out both their strengths and their
shortcomings, please reveal to me what pleases you
about my life and what can be improved. Show me
what is hurting You as You watch me, and, show me
where I fail to see the effects of sin hurting me.
It is easy for You to hate sin because You
clearly see what it does to us. Give us that same clarity!

When I see that I have been entertaining such
dangerous and repugnant company it will be so much
easier to allow You to take action in my heart.
Please show me what I need to know, ...I know you
will do it in a way that is as easy as possible for me
to accept. Its ok if it gets hard. I love You and trust
Your hand and Your counsel in my life. Amen!

Part of what is amiss is that we too readily trust
our own opinion of ourselves. How we look at
something is often caught up in how it affects me,
what benefits it seems to have for me, and what
will be the easiest and least invasive route for
me to get to where and what I want. But Jesus
did not live this way. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say
to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord,
but only what he sees the Father doing. For
whatever the Fatherdoes, that the Son does likewise.
....
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my
judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the
will of him who sent me. ..If I alone bear witness about
myself, my testimony is not deemed true. There is another
[John the Baptist]who bears witness about me, and I know
that the testimony that he bears about me is true... But the
testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the
works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very
works that I am doing, bear witness about me that
the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself
borne witness about me. (John 5: 19, 30-32. 36-37).

Jesus lived before His Father in utter simplicity and trust.
He did not hold his own opinion. He only looked to God.
There was no pressured sense of Himself that He felt compelled to
"live up to." He listened to and lived for His Father alone. He
did not need to look to others to see what their opinion
was, He simply walked with God.

So let us put ourselves in the hands of God and ask
Him to show us how He views us: after we get
acclimated to the downgrade, we can enjoy the
upgrade :), for we are far worse than we know,
and yet, far more holy children of God than we can
take in. Let the huge weight be lifted from your
shoulders: just be who God made you to be,
nothing more, or less!

The Seven Deadly Sins or What I Can't Bear to Face about Myself X7

2011-03-08T19:01:00.000-05:00

During the season of lent, traditionally a time of self-examining and turning to God,
it behooves us to discuss things that one rarely ever hears preached on, usually
because they would make the preacher unpopular, or because the truth is not
something everyone wants to hear.

Human beings are quite predictable. Patterns develop in our lives quite
easily without our recognizing it. Think about how we always gravitate
toward the same seat at church; always seem to pick the same snacks
at the store; always seem to follow a certain series of tasks when we
get out of bed, and when we get ready for bed!

The enemy of our souls takes advantage of our predictability and
once we our enslaved to a bad habit, we are seriously held back
from entering fully into our freedom as sons and daughters of God.
Sin entrenches our direction down a path that we don't want to go,
and those sins start with bad attitudes.

Remember two words: inclination and repetition. We have underlying
attitudes that incline us toward sin, and once we have gone down
that rode a few times repetitively, we forget that there are holier
and happier routes. We repeat our sins over and over until
they are firmly entrenched. But how to be rid of them?

Underlying all sin, never mind the seven deadly ones, are
deadly attitudes. When we start to think about this it gets
uncomfortable really quickly and we can say we don't care (?),
we can say that our sins are forgiven (they are); we can say that all this is too
negative and discouraging, (as if denying the problem will make it
go away?) or we can use what we learn to find out where
are souls are leaking righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Ghost.
Wise spiritual guides down through the centuries have
recognized that these seven players are what most often
keep us from entering the World Series of Truly Loving Jesus
on Team "Christ in Us the Hope of Glory."

If we understand where we fall short, we are that much closer to
knowing what we need to put on the altar of God. We are sinners:
not just before we are Christians, but after, also! God is not
surprised by the state of our souls, so seeing our self as He sees
us, and knowing that His grace is big enough to fix us, should not
be cause for us to want to back away from a deep inward journey.

The point is not to navel-gaze, but to be set free so that
we might more unself-consciously gaze at Him! Sin is a fat
man in a room full of lithe spiritual worshippers! It keeps us
from decreasing and thus makes it harder for Him to increase.
He is a Gentleman and will not evict our sinful "alters" and
altars unless we allow Him, too. He deserves all our spiritual space.

When we invite Jesus in, we should not make Him live with
the seven deadlies seated on seven thrones within us!

So let us begin by naming the 7 deadly sins: Pride, greed,
envy, anger, lust, gluttony and sloth. Throughout history,
there have been slightly different variations, but these
are ripe to begin with. See how the mention of them,
immediately starts an interesting inner process? :)

Tomorrow we launch in!

Spring is Dawning

2011-03-07T18:40:00.000-05:00

Jesus is God! The solid earth,

The ocean broad and bright,

The countless stars, like golden dust,

Strewn 'cross the skies at night,

The wheeling storm, the dreadful fire,

The pleasant wholesome air,

The summer's sun, the winter's frost,

His own creations fair.

--Frederick Faber, Hymns (adapted)

photo taken in Northampton, Massachusetts

Grace to be Taught New Things!

2011-03-02T11:58:00.000-05:00

"In these days, God taught me as a schoolteacher teaches a pupil."

I remind myself that there are things God has to teach me yet,

and ask for the grace to hear them and let them change me.

--Ignatius of Loyola

photo taken in Worcester, Uk

Julian of Norwich on Getting in Our Own Way

2011-02-27T09:52:00.003-05:00

And when God Almighty had shown me some of His goodness so plentifully and completely,

I desired to learn whether a certain creature I loved continued in the good living I hoped had

begun by the grace of God. And it seemed that I got in my own way with this desire to

know about a particular person, for I received no teaching about it at this time. But then I

was answered in my reason, as it were, by a friendly advisor, "Take what you are shown as

general, and look at the courtesy of the Lord God as He shows it to you. For it is a great honor

to God for you to see Him in everything than in one, special thing.

I assented, and thus I learned that it is a greater honor to God for us to know all things in

general than to delight in any one thing in particular. And if I want to act wisely according

to this teaching, not only should I not be glad for any one thing specifically, I should not be

greatly disturbed for any kind of thing, for all shall be well. The fullness of joy is to behold

God in everything, for by the same blessed power, wisdom and love that He made everything,

our good Lord leads it to the same end continuously, will Himself bring it there, and when it

is time, we shall see it.

--Julian of Norwich, The Revelation of Divine Love, chapter 35.

photo taken in S. Deerfield, MA

Julian of Norwich on "Wellbeing and Woe"

2011-02-23T16:36:00.000-05:00

All of us who shall be saved have within us during our
lifetime a marvelous mixture of both well-being and
woe. We have within ourselves our risen Lord Jesus Christ,
and we have within us the wretchedness and evil consequences
of Adam's falling. Dying in Christ, we are everlastingly
preserved, and by the touching of His grace, we are raised
to a real trust in salvation.

By Adam's falling we are so broken in our feelings in
different ways (by sin and by various pains by which we
are made dark and blind), that only with difficulty can
we find any comfort. But in our intentions we wait for God
and faithfully trust we shall have mercy and grace--and this
is His own working in us. --Julian of Norwich

photo taken on Gold Camp Road, Colorado Springs, CO

Holy Curiosity: Contemplate the Mysteries of Eternity!

2011-02-22T15:38:00.000-05:00

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvellous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.” ~Albert Einstein

photo taken near Abergavenny, UK

A Tender Heart

2011-02-19T20:33:00.000-05:00

“Because thine heart was tender…” 2 Kings 22:19

What a desirable thing is a tender heart. How earnestly we should aspire after one. And when such has been graciously bestowed upon us, what diligence we should exercise in seeking to preserve the same. The tenderness of Josiah’s heart was precious in the sight of the Lord, and in consequence thereof his prayers were answered, as the remainder of our opening text declares. There is nothing like a tender heart, my reader, for obtaining the ear of the Lord. A tender heart is one which is responsive to the voice of God, and unless we possess this how can we expect Him to hear our calls? A tender heart is the only one which truly honours God, as it is the only one which ensures our growth in grace. How deeply important, then, is the question, Have you, have I, really a tender heart? May we be enabled to answer truthfully.

…it is probable that not a few readers would prefer for us to tell them how a tender heart may be recovered. They are already persuaded of the great excellence of this spiritual treasure….What grieves them is that they are conscious of guilty failure in safeguarding this Divine gift. They are sensible that the fine gold has become dim, that little foxes have spoiled their vines, that their conscience is no longer so sensitive as it once was, that they do not respond so readily to the motions of God’s Spirit; that much hardness now resides in their hearts.

It is sadly true that a tender heart may be lost: not absolutely so, but relatively; not permanently, but temporarily. But sadder still is the fact that many who have suffered this deprivation are unconscious of it. It is with them as it was with Ephraim of old: “Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not; yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not” (Hosea 7:9). They may still attend the means of grace and perform their outward devotions, but their hearts are not in them. They may still be respected by their fellow-Christians and regarded as in a healthy spiritual state, while in reality they are backsliders. Sights from which they once shrank appall them no longer. Things which used to exercise their conscience do so no more.

Said the Apostle to the Galatians, “Ye did run well, who (or “what”) hath hindered you?” (5:7). What are the things which destroy tenderness of heart? Ungodly companions is one. Satan will tell the young Christian that he or she may keep old friends and suffer no loss, but God says, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Cor. 15:33). Friendship with worldlings will soon have a paralyzing influence upon true spirituality. Prayerlessness is another thing which speedily affects the heart. Unless a close fellowship with God be maintained—and that is impossible if the Throne of Grace is neglected—coldness and hardness will soon steal upon us. Equally so will a neglect of the Word. This will not necessarily mean the omission of reading so many chapters each day, but the absence of actually communing with God therein. The spirit of hypocrisy, pretending to be what we are not, hardens—for guile and tenderness are incompatible.

Yes, a tender heart may be lost, as truly as first love may be left (Rev. 2:4). Can it be regained? Yes, though not as easily as it may be hardened. How? First, by warming afresh at the fire of God’s love. This is ever the most effectual means of removing hardness of heart.

What was it that melted and broke you down at your first conversion? Was it not a sense of the Divine grace and a sight of Christ’s dying love? And nothing is so calculated to soften the backslider: it is “the goodness of God” which leads to repentance (Rom. 2:4).

What was before David when he commenced his contrite confession? This: the Lord’s “lovingkindness” and the “multitude of His tender mercies” (Psa. 51:1).

When was it that Peter went out and wept bitterly? Was it not when the Saviour “turned and looked upon him” (Luke 22:61)? Was it not the sorrow which Peter saw in that look—a sorrow which issued from love for him—which broke his heart?! The Lord had given him every proof that he was dear unto Him, and how had Peter requited that love? And has not the Lord given you, my brother, my sister, abundant evidence that you are precious in His sight? Did He deem any sacrifice too great to make atonement for your sins? Has He not favoured you above millions of your fellows in bringing you to a saving knowledge of the Truth? Has He not bestowed the Holy Spirit upon you? Has He not borne with your dullness with infinite patience? Can you dwell upon these things with unmoved heart? Surely not. Seek unto Him, then, and your coldness and hardness will indeed be thawed. --A.W. Pink, A Tender Heart

photo taken in Astoria, Oregon. ....this is a wild deer.

An Amazing Coincidence: Some things never change, some things do!

2011-02-09T16:39:00.000-05:00

I was so excited to post the picture of Kirkstone Pass yesterday with a wayfarer quote that I had just found. Then later in the day, I was cleaning out a file of old postcards and found the exact same scene,
photographed at just about the exact spot OVER !00 years ago. It was so amazing! Little had changed in the picture--the telephone poles were gone, but it was basically unchanged. What a blessing! I just wanted to share the postcard with you, and the original scene again....In the midst of a world of change, I am just so glad that some of the most beautiful scenery in the world has not been
spoiled. Thank God!

Thou Wayfaring Jesus, a pilgrim and stranger

2011-02-08T10:42:00.000-05:00

Thou wayfaring Jesus, a pilgrim and stranger,

exiled from heaven by love at Thy birth:

Exiled again from Thy rest in the manger,

A fugitive child 'mid the perils of earth--

Cheer with Thy fellowship all who are weary,

Wandering far from the land that they love;

Guide every heart that is homeless and dreary,

Safe to its home in Thy presence above.

... Henry van Dyke (1852-1933),

photo taken near Kirkstone Pass, Lake District, UK

Life Itself is Grace

2011-02-03T17:21:00.000-05:00

"Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace."
— Frederick Buechner (Now and Then: A Memoir of Vocation)

photo taken in Glencoe, Scotland

The Sweetness of Devotion

2011-02-01T10:33:00.001-05:00

Devotion is the real spiritual sweetness which takes away

all bitterness from mortifications, and prevents consolations

from disagreeing with the soul; it cures the poor of sadness,

and the rich of presumption; it keeps the oppressed from

feeling desolate, and the prosperous from insolence; it averts

sadness from the lonely, and dissipation from social life; it

is as warmth in winter and refreshing dew in summer; it knows

how to abound and how to suffer want, how to profit alike by

honour and by contempt; it accepts gladness and sadness with an

even mind, and fills men's hearts with a wondrous sweetness.

... Francois de Sales , Introduction to the

Devout Life [1609]

photo taken near Monsale Dale, Derbyshire, UK

He Awakes My Slumbering Soul

2011-01-30T12:14:00.000-05:00

You ask then how I knew He was present, when His ways can in no way

be traced? He is life and power, and as soon as He enters in, He

awakens my slumbering soul; He stirs and soothes and pierces my

heart, for before it was hard as stone, and diseased.

- Bernard of Clairvaux

photo taken in Colorado Springs, Colorado

2011-01-28T15:34:00.000-05:00

Help me to journey beyond the familiar

and into the unknown.

Give me the faith to leave old ways

and break fresh ground with You.

Christ of the mysteries, I trust You

to be stronger than each storm within me.

I will trust in the darkness and know

that my times, even now, are in Your hand.

Tune my spirit to the music of heaven,

and somehow, make my obedience count for You.

The Prayer of St. Brendan

photo taken in Glencoe, Scotland

Midwinter Scene: The Cloak of Praise in Zion: Isaiah 61:3

2011-01-27T10:20:00.000-05:00

Yes, provide for those in Zion who mourn, giving them garlands instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a cloak of praise instead of a heavy spirit, so that they will be called trees of righteousness the planting of the Lord, to glorify Him. (Isaiah 61:3).

...still another winter storm in the Northeast, but how lovely, as this tree is "cloaked with praise"--
the righteous planting of the Lord! even in winter, I am grateful!

Let the Spiritual Watchers See That In Him Is Victory

2011-01-22T15:37:00.001-05:00

Be triumphant, be triumphant,

Let the spiritual watchers see

That thy God doth strengthen thee,

That in him is victory.

--Amy Carmichael

"His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold

wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and

authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal

purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

--Ephesians 3:10-11 (NIV)

photo taken in Beescraig Park, Bathgate Hills, Scotland

Benedict on The Instruments of Good Works

2011-01-18T21:29:00.002-05:00

What Are the Instruments of Good Works?

Not to give way to anger.

Not to nurse a grudge.

Not to entertain deceit in one's heart.

Not to give a false peace.

Not to forsake charity.

Not to swear, for fear of perjuring oneself.

To utter truth from heart and mouth.

Not to return evil for evil.

To do no wrong to anyone, and to bear patiently wrongs done to

oneself.

To love one's enemies.

Not to curse those who curse us, but rather to bless them.

To bear persecution for justice' sake.

Not to be proud.

Not addicted to wine.

Not a great eater.

Not drowsy.

Not lazy.

Not a grumbler.

Not a detractor.

To put one's hope in God.

To attribute to God, and not to self, whatever good one sees in

oneself.

But to recognize always that the evil is one's own doing, and to

impute it to oneself.

Rule of St. Benedict Chapter 4

something to meditate on for a whole month of Sundays !. ....and not to be proud of the few
that you achieve, but eager to walk in the whole counsel of goodness. :) just so that you know:
this is just the BEGINING of the list :) see more here: Rule of Benedict ...these are so reminiscent
of the seven deadly sins....

photo taken in Colorado Springs.

Love Melts the Soul

2011-01-16T11:36:00.000-05:00

Reflect upon the providence and wisdom of God in all

created things and praise Him in them all...Accustom

yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they

enkindle and melt the soul. --Theresa of Avila

photo of icicle melting off my window

2011-01-15T20:29:00.000-05:00

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we

will all be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at

the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be

raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

--1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (NIV)

photo taken at Lake Windermere, Ambleside, UK

2011-01-13T15:48:00.001-05:00

He who is thus a spiritual lover knows well what his voice means which says: 'Thou, Lord God, art my whole love and my desire! Thou art all mine and I all Thine! Spread my heart into Thy love that I may know how sweet it is to serve Thee, and to be as though I were entirely melted into Thy love.'

0h, I am immersed in love and go far above myself for the great fervor that I feel of Thy unspeakable goodness! I shall sing to Thee the song of love; and my soul shall never be weary to praise Thee with the joyful song of love that I shall sing to Thee.

"--Thomas A Kempis

photo taken at Smith College, Northampton, MA

Lots and Lots of Snow!

2011-01-12T15:45:00.000-05:00

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,

Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,

Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air

Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,

And veils the farmhouse at the garden's end.

The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet

Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit

Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed

In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Goodness of God

2011-01-11T14:41:00.000-05:00

listen to this wonderful song about :

The Goodness of God

Our hearts tell us, despite the sadness and tragedy we find in the world, that a good
and benevolent God rules in His sovreignty and that "the kingdoms of this world shall soon
become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever."
Praise Him!

photo taken of a tulip opening, Smith College, Northampton, MA

Kind Words, Kind Looks, Kind Acts

2011-01-09T09:57:00.003-05:00

                                   Kind words, kind looks, kind acts and warm handshakes,
                                         these are means of grace when men in trouble are
                                               fighting their unseen battles”-- John Hall

solarized tulips--Smith College, Northampton, MA

A WInter's Day

2011-01-08T11:48:00.002-05:00

Who seeks for heaven alone to save his soul,

May keep the path, but will not reach the goal;

While he who walks in love may wander far,

But God will bring him where the Blessed are.

- Henry van Dyke (1852-1933)

2011-01-03T16:13:00.005-05:00

How often do we look upon God as our last and feeblest resource! We go to Him because we have nowhere else to go. And then we learn

that the storms of life have driven us, not upon the rocks, but

into the desired haven.

- George MacDonald (1824-1905), "Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood

photo taken in St. Ives, UK

The Sphere of Humiliation --Oswald Chambers

2011-01-02T15:59:00.001-05:00

"If Thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us" (Mark 9:22).

That is our condition when we are in the valley; we do not know God,
we are full of scepticism. The great point of our life with God, and of
our service for Him in the world is that we get the scepticism rooted
out of us, and it takes the valley of humiliation to root it out.

Look back at your own experience and you will find that until you
learned Who Jesus Christ was, you were a cunning sceptic about
His power. When you were on the mount you could believe anything,
because it was in accordance with the selfishness of your nature, but
what about the time when you were up against facts in the valley,
up against questions which could not be answered? You may be
perfectly able to give a testimony to sanctification, but what about
the thing that is a humiliation to you? If you are without something
that is a humiliation to you, I question whether you have ever come
into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

We are called to fellowship with His sufferings, and some of the greatest
suffering lies in remaining powerless where He remained powerless.
Had our Lord been a man, He would have healed the boy at first,
but He waited until the father was in the last ebb of despair—
"If Thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us."

Am I patient enough in my faith in Jesus Christ to allow people to
get to the last ebb of despair before they see what He can do?
We step in in a thousand and one ways God never tells us to; we
say we cannot bear to see God appear cruel, but God has to
appear cruel from our standpoint. As disciples of Jesus we have
to learn not only what Our Lord is like on the Mount of
Transfiguration, but what He is like in the valley of humiliation,
where everything is giving the lie to His power, where the disciples
are powerless, and where He is not doing anything.

-excerpted from The Love of God by Oswald Chambers

Because You're Mine, I Walk the Line

2010-12-30T16:03:00.002-05:00

Its a beautiful, warm midwinter day here. Sun shining and
I head out for the bike path along the river to walk. Its
nice to be outside, alone with the cold, fresh air, and
walking with God as I go.

The bike path has a bright yellow line down the center
and one is supposed to walk on one side or the other.
Few people are around and no bicycles and I hear
the voice of God saying, "Walk down the yellow center
strip and try to keep the shadow of your head centered
on the center strip." Ok. God and I often walk and talk,
so this does not surprise me. The sun is behind me
casting my shadow forward. Right, keep my head
centered! Ha! I try to keep it lined up the yellow
line but its amazingly hard.

The natural pace of walking causes the shadow
of my head to move first to the right of the line
then to the left of it as I walk. Then, also,
as the path winds, the sun behind me causes
my shadow to shift and I have to keep adjusting
my gate, first a few steps to the right, then
a few steps the left. The dynamics change with
every step so it becomes quite challenging.

I could feel God telling me, "This is what
walking with Me is like, you have to pay
attention and you have to keep adjusting
to stay perfectly centered on My leading.
If the sun is perfectly behind you, it
will make it easier, just as if you walk
listening to My voice and don't stray
off the path, you will only have to
adjust slightly. Lose the light behind
you and even your shadow will be hard
to find.

As the late, great Johnny Cash sang so
eloquently:

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you're mine, I walk the line

I find it very, very easy to be true
I find myself alone when each day is through
Yes, I'll admit that I'm a fool for you
Because you're mine, I walk the line

As sure as night is dark and day is light
I keep you on my mind both day and night
And happiness I've known proves that it's right
Because you're mine, I walk the line

You've got a way to keep me on your side
You give me cause for love that I can't hide
For you I know I'd even try to turn the tide
Because you're mine, I walk the line

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you're mine, I walk the line

And even more sublimely and eternally, As it is written,

"[The Lord] is your teacher; he will not continue
to hide from you, but you will see your Teacher
with your own eyes. If you go the wrong way—to the
right or to the left—you will hear a voice behind
you saying, "This is the right way. You should go
this way." (Isaiah 30:20, 21 adapted).

Be sure to walk the Lord's line, and have a listen here: :)

I Walk the Line

2010-12-28T16:21:00.002-05:00

A saint's life is in the hands of God as a bow and arrow in the
hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot
see; He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint
says, I cannot stand any more. But God does not heed; He goes on
stretching until His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly.
- Oswald Chambers

2010-12-28T16:07:00.000-05:00

In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The

light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not

overcome it or understood it.

--John 1:4-5

photo taken in St.Ives, United Kingdom

Sun Shines Even in Winter

2010-12-28T12:22:00.000-05:00

"May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day. May songbirds serenade you every step along the way. May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue. And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.”--Irish Blessing

2010-12-19T19:53:00.000-05:00

                              Straight through all the apparently tangled course of human

                                   history runs the accomplishment of God's eternal plan.

                                      ... J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937), The Christian View of Man



photo taken at Ely Cathedral, Ely UK

Psalm 84: How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place O Lord of Hosts!

2010-11-30T13:28:00.000-05:00

How lovely is your dwelling place,

O Lord of hosts!

2 My soul longs, yes, faints

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and flesh sing for joy

to the living God.

3 Even the sparrow finds a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may lay her young,

at your altars, O Lord of hosts,

my King and my God.

4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,

ever singing your praise!

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca

they make it a place of springs;

the early rain also covers it with pools.

7 They go from strength to strength;

each one appears before God in Zion.

8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;

give ear, O God of Jacob!

9 Behold our shield, O God;

look on the face of your anointed!

10 For a day in your courts is better

than a thousand elsewhere.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

the Lord bestows favor and honor.

No good thing does he withhold

from those who walk uprightly.

12 O Lord of hosts,

blessed is the one who trusts in you!

Psalm 84

The Rest Jesus Gives

2010-11-26T20:52:00.000-05:00

At that time, Jesus answered, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight. All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him.

"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Matthew 11:25-30

"Swan at rest" photo taken at Bowness on Windermere, Uk

Here is Love, Vast as the Ocean

2010-11-26T20:45:00.001-05:00

Here is love, vast as the ocean, Lovingkindness as the flood,
then the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?

He can never be forgotten,

Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.
On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,

And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.
Let me all Thy love accepting,
Love Thee, ever all my days;
Let me seek Thy kingdom only
And my life be to Thy praise;

Thou alone shalt be my glory,
nothing in the world I see.
Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me,
Thou Thyself hast set me free.

In Thy truth Thou dost direct me
By Thy Spirit through Thy Word;
And Thy grace my need is meeting,
As I trust in Thee, my Lord.
Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring
Thy great love and power on me,
Without measure, full and boundless,
Drawing out my heart to Thee.

--Welsh Hymn, sung
at the Welsh Revival, 1904

photo taken at Bowness on Windermere,
United Kingdom

Thanksgiving Hymn: How Good It Is to Thank the Lord

2010-11-25T10:11:00.000-05:00

How good it is to thank the Lord,

Give praise to You, Most High, accord,

To show Your love with morning light,

And tell Your faithful love each night;

Yes, good it is God's praise to sing,

And all our sweetest music bring.

O Lord, with joy my heart expands,

Before the wonders of Your hands;

Great works, Dear God, You have wrought,

Exceeding deep Thine every thought;

A foolish man knows not their worth,

Nor he whose mind is of the earth.

When as the grass the wicked grow,

When sinners flourish here below,

Then is their endless ruin nigh,

But You, O Lord, art throned on high;

Your enemies shall fall before Thy might,

The evil shall be put to flight.

Thou, Lord, hast blessed me

With royal strength and dignity;

With Your anointing I am blest,

Your grace and favor on me rest;

I thus exult o’er all my foes,

O’er all that would my cause oppose.

The righteous man shall flourish well,

And in the house of God shall dwell;

He shall be like a goodly tree,

And all his life shall fruitful be;

For righteous is the Lord and just,

He is my Rock, in Him I trust.

--Thanksgiving Hymn

2010-11-15T18:36:00.000-05:00

You know that in a race all the runners run but only one wins the prize, don't you? You must run in such a way that you may be victorious.

1 Corinthians 9:4

photo taken at the Highland Games in Ceres, Scotland, UK

2010-11-12T13:34:00.000-05:00

And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. --Phillippians 4:7

photo taken in the Lake District, Cumbria, UK

2010-11-10T19:12:00.001-05:00

Some things are too beautiful for words,
the evening sky at dusk,
the call of geese upon the sky,
the sound of crickets deep in the night;

Some things are too holy for words,
the way of God in the affairs of man,
the love that fills a child's heart,
the peace that passes understanding;

Some things are too wonderful to ponder,
the light of day breaking forth
from the darkness,
the eyes of God, running to and fro on the earth
searching for those who look for Him,
the knowledge deep within that
God is love and in Him
is no darkness at all.

Some things are too beautiful,
some things are too holy,
some things are too wonderful,

for words.

photo taken in Feeding Hills, MA

2010-11-10T19:00:00.000-05:00

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” --Jeremiah 29:11

photo of Sparky