Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

Have a great 4th of July weekend!

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Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats

Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of Silence and slow Time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal—yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu;
And, happy melodist, unwearièd,
For ever piping songs for ever new;
More happy love! more happy, happy love!
For ever warm and still to be enjoy’d,
For ever panting, and for ever young;
All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy’d,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

Who are these coming to the sacrifice?
To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Lead’st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,
And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?
What little town by river or sea-shore,
Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,
Is emptied of its folk, this pious morn?
And, little town, thy streets for evermore
Will silent be; and not a soul, to tell
Why thou art desolate, can e’er return.

O Attic shape! fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form! dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st,
‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.’

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Morning Walk by Brian Brennan

Out early one morning–this itself a surprise, normally I sleep past noon, spending the most difficult part of the day in bed–I pass a woman on the sidewalk. “Please help me,” she cries, “I have lost my feet.” I look at her. She wears a blue suit, clutches a tan leather briefcase, and it is true, where I expect to see black pumps, or sneakers for walking to work, I see nothing. No feet. Only then do I notice her unwashed face and unkempt hair. She has been out all night, perhaps the whole weekend; it is Monday.

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A Prayer

Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together
in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a
holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever. Amen.

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Weekly Meanderings

It’s been a crazy week and I have not posted much. I probably will not be posting much next week either; it depends how life turns out. I’m preaching every weekend for the next month or so and I’m trying to finish up a couple writing projects. Regular posts should be back after the 4th.

Before I get started I want to give a quick shout-out to the Huffington Post which has done an amazing job of updating the world on Iran.

Anyway…here’s some stuff I came across this week…

Pray for Iran!

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The Windhover by Gerard Manley Hopkins

To Christ our Lord

I caught this morning morning’s minion, king-
dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,—the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!

Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!

No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermillion.

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The Eagle and the Arrow by Aesop

An Eagle was soaring through the air when suddenly it heard the whizz of an Arrow, and felt itself wounded to death. Slowly it fluttered down to the earth, with its life-blood pouring out of it. Looking down upon the Arrow with which it had been pierced, it found that the shaft of the Arrow had been feathered with one of its own plumes. “Alas!” it cried, as it died, “We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.”

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A Prayer

O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your
holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom
you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving-kindness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Meanderings

It’s been a quiet week, but here’s some stuff I came across…

Have a great weekend!

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Psalm 28 – My rock do not be deaf to me

You, O LORD, I call; My rock, do not be deaf to me, For if You are silent to me, I will become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You for help, When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary. Do not drag me away with the wicked And with those who work iniquity, Who speak peace with their neighbors, While evil is in their hearts. Requite them according to their work and according to the evil of their practices; Requite them according to the deeds of their hands; Repay them their recompense. Because they do not regard the works of the LORD Nor the deeds of His hands, He will tear them down and not build them up. Blessed be the LORD, Because He has heard the voice of my supplication. The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him. The LORD is their strength, And He is a saving defense to His anointed. Save Your people and bless Your inheritance; Be their shepherd also, and carry them forever.

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Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest;
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

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Psalm 27 – Wait…

One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple…

Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.

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Psalm 26 – Perfectly in balance

Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, And I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. Examine me, O LORD, and try me; Test my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth. I do not sit with deceitful men, Nor will I go with pretenders. I hate the assembly of evildoers, And I will not sit with the wicked. I shall wash my hands in innocence, And I will go about Your altar, O LORD, That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving And declare all Your wonders.

The purpose of being pure is to be a trustworthy witness for God. If we are living lives filled with wrong actions, thoughts, or words then we are not capable of being a witness to the glory of God. We are called to walk in truth, lovingkindness, innocence, and far from evil doers so that when we sing praises to God we can be seen as reliable witnesses.

There is a careful balance that must be maintained in our lives: we are to live with the goal of being perfect while recognizing that we will never achieve our goal and not being discouraged by our failure. When we get out of balance we get in trouble.

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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce (part 3 of 3)

III

As Peyton Farquhar fell straight downward through the bridge he lost consciousness and was as one already dead. From this state he was awakened–ages later, it seemed to him–by the pain of a sharp pressure upon his throat, followed by a sense of suffocation. Keen, poignant agonies seemed to shoot from his neck downward through every fiber of his body and limbs. These pains appeared to flash along well-defined lines of ramification and to beat with an inconceivably rapid periodicity. They seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating him to an intolerable temperature. As to his head, he was conscious of nothing but a feeling of fullness–of congestion. These sensations were unaccompanied by thought. The intellectual part of his nature was already effaced; he had power only to feel, and feeling was torment. He was conscious of motion. Encompassed in a luminous cloud, of which he was now merely the fiery heart, without material substance, he swung through unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like a vast pendulum. Then all at once, with terrible suddenness, the light about him shot upward with the noise of a loud splash; a frightful roaring was in his ears, and all was cold and dark. The power of thought was restored; he knew that the rope had broken and he had fallen into the stream. There was no additional strangulation; the noose about his neck was already suffocating him and kept the water from his lungs. To die of hanging at the bottom of a river!–the idea seemed to him ludicrous. He opened his eyes in the darkness and saw above him a gleam of light, but how distant, how inaccessible! He was still sinking, for the light became fainter and fainter until it was a mere glimmer. Then it began to grow and brighten, and he knew that he was rising toward the surface–knew it with reluctance, for he was now very comfortable. “To be hanged and drowned,” he thought? “that is not so bad; but I do not wish to be shot. No; I will not be shot; that is not fair.”

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Psalm 25 – Relating to the Lord

For Your name’s sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great. Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way he should choose. His soul will abide in prosperity, And his descendants will inherit the land. The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His covenant. My eyes are continually toward the LORD, For He will pluck my feet out of the net. Turn to me and be gracious to me, For I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses. Look upon my affliction and my trouble, And forgive all my sins.

Pardon my iniquity, pluck me out of that which entangles me, and forgive me sins. Can the Christian life be summed up more succinctly?

I am an immoral person and I beg for my immorality to be pardoned. I allow myself to become entangled in that which I should be avoiding. I need to seek Christ’s forgiveness both once for all and every day.

May the Lord lead us into a closer relationship with himself everyday.

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Friendly Theology: Barclay’s Catechism - Chapter 4

CHAP. IV.

Of the New Birth, the Inward Appearance of Christ in Spirit, and the Unity of the Saints with him.

Q. Doth Christ promise then to come again to his Disciples?

A. I will not leave you comfortless; I will come unto you [John 14:18].

Q. Was this only a special Promise to these Disciples? or is it not the common Priviledge of the Saints?

A. For thus saith the High and Lofty one that inhabiteth Eternity, whose Name is Holy, I dwell in the High and Holy Place, with him also that is of a Contrite and Humble Spirit, &c. [Isa. 57:15].

For ye are the Temple of the Living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them [2 Cor. 6:16].

Behold I stand at the Door and knock, if any man hear my voice, and open the Door, I will come in to him, and sup with him and he with me [Rev. 3:20].

Q. Doth the apostle Paul speak of the Son of God’s being revealed in him?

A. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my Mothers Womb, and called me by his Grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Heathen [Gal. 1:15-16].

Q. Is it needful then to know Christ within?

A. Examine your selves, whether ye be in the Faith, prove your own selves; Know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be Reprobates [2 Cor. 13:5].

Q. Was the Apostle earnest that this Inward Birth of Christ should be brought forth in any?

A. My little Children, of whom I travel in Birth again, until Christ be formed in you [Gal. 4:19].

Q. What saith the same Apostle of the Necessity of this inward Knowledge of Christ, and of the New Creature beyond the Outward?

A. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the Flesh; yea, though we have known Christ after the Flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any Man be in Christ, he is a New Creature; Old things are passed away, behold all things are become New [2 Cor. 5:16-17].

But ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the Truth is in Jesus, That ye put off concerning the former Conversation the Old Man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful Lusts; and to be renewed in the Spirit of your Mind; and that ye put on the New Man, which after God is Created in Righteousness and true Holiness [Eph. 4:21-24].

***************

After asserting the dual humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ, Robert Barclay now asserts that Jesus Christ is revealed to all people at all times.

Barclay makes the assertion that Christ was not only revealed to the few disciples who traveled with Christ during his life, but to all people who would come after Christ. Barclay quotes Paul’s personal testimony of Christ being revealed to him on the road to Damascus; Barclay also quotes Paul in 2 Corinthians instructing the Christians in Corinth to look for that of Christ that is living within each of them.

For a person to be a Christian, a Quaker, a Friend, they must experience the formation of Christ within. There must be a rebirth of the Spirit into a life with Christ.

It is through the recreation of our hearts and souls that Christ becomes the Lord of our life and we become children of God.

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Psalm 24 – Our responsibilities

The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.

If the earth and everything on it does indeed belong to the Lord, what does that say about our responsibility to the earth and its dwellers?

We are blessed by God with life. Everyday that we live in fellowship with Jesus is another day of blessing. We have been blessed beyond what we can imagine. What blessings are we responsible for imparting on the rest of creation?

I would argue that we are called first to be a blessing to our human community, then we are called to bless all of God’s creation in whatever ways we can. We are stewards of the universe; may we be the best stewards we can be.

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A Prayer

Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast
faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim
your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with
compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and for ever. Amen.

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Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

Have a great weekend!

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Psalm 23 – Take time to actually read the words

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

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