I know a place where summer strives
With such a practised frost,
She each year leads her daisies back,
Recording briefly, “Lost.”
But when the south wind stirs the pools
And struggles in the lanes,
Her heart misgives her for her vow,
And she pours soft refrains
Into the lap of adamant,
And spices, and the dew,
That stiffens quietly to quartz,
Upon her amber shoe.
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.
A man went before a strange God –
The God of many men, sadly wise.
And the deity thundered loudly,
Fat with rage, and puffing.
“Kneel, mortal, and cringe
And grovel and do homage
To My Particularly Sublime Majesty.”
The man fled.
Then the man went to another God –
The God of his inner thoughts.
And this one looked at him
With soft eyes
Lit with infinite comprehension,
And said, “My poor child!”
Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us
your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to
acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the
power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep
us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to
see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with
the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.
My soul and I went to the great sea to bathe. And when we reached
the shore, we went about looking for a hidden and lonely place.
But as we walked, we saw a man sitting on a grey rock taking pinches
of salt from a bag and throwing them into the sea.
“This is the pessimist,” said my soul, “Let us leave this place.
We cannot bathe here.”
We walked on until we reached an inlet. There we saw, standing
on a white rock, a man holding a bejeweled box, from which he took
sugar and threw it into the sea.
“And this is the optimist,” said my soul, “And he too must not see
our naked bodies.
Further on we walked. And on a beach we saw a man picking up dead
fish and tenderly putting them back into the water.
“And we cannot bathe before him,” said my soul. “He is the humane
philanthropist.”
And we passed on.
Then we came where we saw a man tracing his shadow on the sand.
Great waves came and erased it. But he went on tracing it again
and again.
“He is the mystic,” said my soul, “Let us leave him.”
And we walked on, till in a quiet cover we saw a man scooping up
the foam and putting it into an alabaster bowl.
“He is the idealist,” said my soul, “Surely he must not see our
nudity.”
And on we walked. Suddenly we heard a voice crying, “This is the
sea. This is the deep sea. This is the vast and mighty sea.”
And when we reached the voice it was a man whose back was turned
to the sea, and at his ear he held a shell, listening to its murmur.
And my soul said, “Let us pass on. He is the realist, who turns
his back on the whole he cannot grasp, and busies himself with a
fragment.”
So we passed on. And in a weedy place among the rocks was a man
with his head buried in the sand. And I said to my soul, “We can
bath here, for he cannot see us.”
“Nay,” said my soul, “For he is the most deadly of them all. He
is the puritan.”
Then a great sadness came over the face of my soul, and into her
voice.
“Let us go hence,” she said, “For there is no lonely, hidden place
where we can bathe. I would not have this wind lift my golden hair,
or bare my white bosom in this air, or let the light disclose my
sacred nakedness.”
Then we left that sea to seek the Greater Sea.
Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life
to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy
Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the
preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the
earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever.
O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful
people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit:
Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all
things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through
Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and
ever. Amen.
Here’s some stuff I came across this week*…
1. The search for the historical Adam
2. CT’s editorial on Adam, Eve, and the Gospel
3. A response to CT’s article and editorial on Adam and Eve
4. The Bible and Evolution
5. A critique of gender language in the NIV
6. A defense of baptism
7. The trouble with litmus tests
8. Surprised by addiction
9. Positioning your church
10. Implementing change in a small church
11. Responses to spiritual confusion
12. Praying for silliness
13. What to do while you’re waiting
14. On ranking charities by administrative expense
15. Pilgrim’s Progress for children
16. A review of “The Tree of Life”
17. A review of “Go the F*** to Sleep”
18. Is adoption a trend or trendy?
19. Are kids normal or inferior goods?
20. Life habits to improve your writing
21. The “Blue Like Jazz” teaser trailer
22. How to open a door for a woman
"It's a God Fit" by David Hayward
Have a great weekend!
*inclusion of items on this list does not necessarily suggest my approval of, or agreement with, the linked material. I just think they add to the conversation.
(WARNING: you may find this offensive. That’s okay.)
1. In the Beginning of God’s Creating the Heavens and the Earth -
2. When the Womb was Astonishingly Empty, Inside of Every Woman Being
God Made Millions of Eggs That Lived a Fleeting Lifespan. And One by
One, Each Egg Cascaded to its Death. God Made Abortion for Womankind.
And It Was So.
And Inside of Every Man Being, God Made Billions of Sperm That Lived a
Flitting
Lifespan, And Cascaded to Their Deaths, on the Upstream, Against Gravity.
God Made Abortion for Mankind. And It Was So.
3. God said, “Let there be Abortion,” And there was Abortion.
4. God Saw that Abortion was Good, And God Separated the Eggs from the
Sperm.
5. God Called to the Sperm: “Male,” And to the Eggs God Called: “Female.”
And There Were Men and There Were Women, One Day.
6. God Said, “Let There Be a Conception. And One Plummeting Sperm and
One Plunging Egg Melded into One, And Propagated the Human Species.
And God Let the Lower Species Have a Greater Survival Ratio of Eggs to
Sperm.
7. And God Said: “Let There Be More Ants Per Square Inch Than Human
Beings Per Square Mile.” And It Was So.
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son
Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to
strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior
Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Here’s some stuff I came across this week*…
1. Does your church prioritize the individual or the organization
2. Guarding your marriage, or dissing women?
3. A video interview with Rachel Held Evans regarding her womanhood project
4. Gracenomics small group material (WARNING: autoplay video on page)
5. Ethical lessons from the Challenger explosion
6. A review of “Story, Signs, and Sacred Rhythms: A Narrative Approach to Youth Ministry”
7. Arguments against reading scripture in context
8. The eloquence of the King James Version
9. The value of obsolescence
10. How to ditch your cell phone
11. The problem with positional leadership
12. Ways leaders can build trust
13. Reasons to commit your goals to writing
14. Don’t believe your momentum
15. Do for one what you wish you could do for all
Have a great weekend!
*inclusion of items on this list does not necessarily suggest my approval of, or agreement with, the linked material. I just think they add to the conversation.
There’s something quieter than sleep
Within this inner room!
It wears a sprig upon its breast,
And will not tell its name.
Some touch it and some kiss it,
Some chafe its idle hand;
It has a simple gravity
I do not understand!
While simple-hearted neighbors
Chat of the ‘early dead,’
We, prone to periphrasis,
Remark that birds have fled!
Almighty God, whos blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ
ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things:
Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his
promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end
of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory
everlasting.
Grant, we pray, Almighty God, that as we believe your
only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended
into heaven, so we may also in heart and mind there ascend,
and with him continually dwell; who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
