Little Boy kneels at the foot of the bed,
Droops on the little hands little gold head.
Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares!
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers.
God bless Mummy. I know that’s right.
Wasn’t it fun in the bath tonight?
The cold’s so cold, and the hot’s so hot.
Oh! God bless Daddy – I quite forgot.
If I open my fingers a little bit more,
I can see Nanny’s dressing-gown on the door.
It’s a beautiful blue, but it hasn’t a hood.
Oh! God bless Nanny and make her good.
Mine has a hood, and I lie in bed,
And pull the hood right over my head,
And I shut my eyes, and I curl up small,
And nobody knows that I’m there at all.
Oh! Thank you, God, for a lovely day.
And what was the other I had to say?
I said “Bless Daddy,” so what can it be?
Oh! Now I remember it. God bless Me.
Little Boy kneels at the foot of the bed,
Droops on the little hands little gold head.
Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares!
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers. (1)
A Prayer To Follow This Reading
Father, the innocence of this child creates a longing inside of me. The world now is growing to be such a cold and lonely place, and that is happening at the same time as when Faith in You, among the multitudes, is declining.
Father I remember, like Christopher Robin, kneeling to pray, at the foot of my bed. On some bitterly cold winter evenings my ‘Amen’ became unshackled from the ending of my prayers and shivered its way to the heels of my first uttered petition. Then, when I eagerly surrendered to the inviting fortress of the warm snuggly blankets, I felt so entirely secure, I soon drifted off to sleep reassured that You were holding me in Your Arms. Thank You, Father, for that memory that comes back from somewhere to strengthen and to sustain me now!
In this empty and often lonely cyberspace age, the truly amazing thing I notice, since the years so quickly have fled, is: ” If I open my fingers a little bit more, I see You beside me, as in days of yore!” You haven’t changed one bit .hank You, Father. for keeping my memory green! And so may it be until the end. Grant that in that hour, I will see You still beside me, and as I drift off to sleep, Please, be there to assure me still that: ” When the morning wakens, then will I arise, pure and fresh and sinless in Your Holy eyes! ” AMEN.
(To gain a further understanding of the meditation that follows, a reading of the suggested scriptures will be most helpful. Also, a study of the Editorial Notes at the end of the post may prove to be beneficial)
November 26 is observed in the Christian Liturgical calendar as ” The Reign Of Christ Sunday.” The meditation that follows has that emphasis.
Psalm 2:6 ” I have installed my King on Zion,
my holy hill.”
1 Thessalonians 2:19 – 20
What is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes? Is it not you? Indeed you are our glory and joy.” (1)
It is time for each one of us to go inside ourselves and reclaim whatever time is remaining to us and be liberated from the iron grasp of the insidious tyrants that have imprisoned us with unrequited dreams. It makes little difference, if any, at what stage you are in the lifespan calendar of the allotted three score years and ten; now is the time to embrace the full measure of living which is the rightful inheritance for each human being.
There are myriads of people throughout Christendom who have a limited perception of their awaiting inheritance. And that is the result of the tyrannical forces within, which prohibits the vision of a fuller existence over that which is already known.
There is a Greek myth concerning one, Herme, the messenger of the Olympian gods. He is best-remembered for his astounding wisdom.” His ideas were passed from Master to Initiate for generations, for personal growth, and with the intention of achieving a greater and deeper understanding of the self, the world, and the beyond.” Perhaps the most memorable of these sayings, for our purposes now, at any rate, is: “As within so without,” (2) What we lend our allegiance to within the self, is necessarily the reality we present in the world.
The mission which the Apostle Paul undertakes with the Thessalonians in the scripture quoted above,is to have them stand, as individuals and then collectively, before the one perfect example of human achievement, Jesus Christ the King! There, in the Presence of The King, the accumulation of this world’s awards diminish in size and importance, but there is no remorse because the appearance of what is yet to be is imminent and amazingly possible.” For what is our joy, and our hope or the crown in which we glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ? Is it not you ?(Thessalonians) Indeed you are our glory and our joy.”
A Prophet of The Old Testament, Malachi, many centuries ago, foresaw the necessity of the world’s people to take steps in preparation for receiving God’s intended endowment for them. “Who can endure the day of His coming? Who can withstand His appearance? He is like a refiner’s fire or the cleaner’s soap.” ( Malachi 3:2)
Only in the Presence of The King do we glimpse the full meaning of The Cross! The King commands an upward glance into the face of God.Then He focuses our vision first to our right, and then to our left to complete the outstretched arms of a cross. It is in that direction that we see the pain- pinched faces of the people whose presence here, is the opportunity that God is providing for each of us, in order that one day, when we stand alongside them in the Presence of the King, they will be known as our crowning glory. In the end is that not the greatest gift of all? Will that not be riches beyond all measure, to look upon the smiling faces of the one time forgotten, the lost and the least, and to know that God has chosen us to carry out His Plan to have His will done on earth as it is in heaven.
But the symbol of a cross is not complete until we follow the final direction of the King’s gaze, -downward
It is from the deeper places in this world that our present way of living is drawing its momentum.” For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12) KJV.
It is from the depths that the false and debilitating belief arises into consciousness; that one is as well to keep silent since one person can do nothing!
It is from the depths that there is arising an ancient and a noxious philosophy, (to call it theology would be a misnomer), which disputes the divinity of Jesus, and seeks to remove Jesus from the center of Christian Theology. Of course one remembers from the Crucifixion narrative that the same cynicism and disbelief met His gaze from some at the foot of His Cross!But the Gospel does not end in the downward look of Jesus. In the end, He looks up again into His Father’s Face and talks to Him:” Father, Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit.” Let us not end our story with the downward gaze. We have something more than the lifeless maxim of the ancient Hermes:” As within, so without.” We have the living Christ who by living “within” us, makes the “without” something beautiful for God!
A PRAYER TO FOLLOW THIS MEDITATION
Our Father,
Bring the light of Your wisdom to our minds so that we may choose Your Way, over the destructive ways of the world that are the product of a bogus worldly wisdom.
Father, bring to our hearing the keenness that can listen clearly to Your still, small voice above the clamor and fake distractions which the world invents.
Bring to our eyes the vision of purer, and more beautiful things than those which appear to be the obsession of this present age. May we stand firmly in the Name Of Christ the King, to honor the dignity and the sanctity of Your Creation. No one on the grounds of ethnicity, or gender or position, or political creed, should dare to take advantage of another or to abuse another.We beg You to Forgive the warped intellect that seeks a theology that would condone any such behavior.
Father, In the Presence of The King, whom you have installed in our consciousness, to be the moral and ethical compass for your people, we bow with reverence. We freely offer You the throne of our will so that You may use it as Your own, and so rule from there, that we may be co-workers in the building of Your Kingdom. In Jesus Name. (3) Amen.
Hymn: The King Of Love My Shepherd Is
EDITORIAL NOTES
1. Here and throughout the text of this meditation, the quotations from the Holy Bible are from the New International Translation, Unless otherwise noted in the text.
2.One of the seven principles of the universe
as taught by Hermes Trismegistus https://treeofknowledgecoven.com/2012/07/01/as-above-so-below-as-within-so-without-as-the-universe-so-the-soul/
3.While this is not a direct quote from Psalm 2., the author is confident the inference will be clear to the reader.
4.Photo: Taken in Utah, Arches National Park, USA. Nov,2016
(To gain a further understanding of the meditation that follows, a reading of the suggested scriptures will be most helpful. Also, a study of the Editorial Notes at the end of the post may prove to be beneficial)
Matthew 27: 57 – 66 He rolled a big stone in
front of the entrance to
the tomb and went away
Psalm 31:8 You ( Lord) have not handed me
over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.(1)
Nostalgic feelings may run deep for some who recall the old song, “Don’t Fence Me In.” This song, incidentally, The Western Writers Of America, chose as one of the top 100 songs of all times. Now I do not claim expertise in any way concerning Western music. However, I am intrigued by the idea that this particular genre captures the idiosyncrasies of everyday living. There is something compelling about this song title, and the longing for the freedom it propitiates.
“Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above
Don’t fence me in
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love
Don’t fence me in
Let me be by myself in the evenin’ breeze
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever but I ask you please
Don’t fence me in!” (2)
Who doesn’t have memories of longing to be a friend of the West wind, that effortlessly climbs the highest mountains and goes laughing down into the valleys below? Or to be as uninhibited in seeking adventure as a river that explores every inlet and cove on its way to the sea? But there can never be for any human, freedom without responsibility! It is not at all unheard of to meet people who regret that there were not more fences in their past, to retard their progress towards heart-ache and sorrow. Too much freedom, and too little effort to be responsible, yields in emptiness and heartbreak.
Today’s promotion of a secular society, with its misrepresentation of freedom, as license to abolish long held mores, and engage in selfish and seductive behavior, is a tragedy of no small proportion. If we are ever to promote a sobering discussion about freedom and responsibility, it is in this hour. The abuse of opioids causing addiction, overdose, and death is reaching near tsunamic proportions. And yet, at this critical juncture, some government leaders are determined to legalize a substance that may well be a start-up drug, leading to more destructive behavior. There are millions the world over who find themselves restricted, confined, imprisoned, and in far too many cases, on the verge of death, because their one demand in this life continues to be “Don’t fence me in.”
The Bible, from Genesis to Revelation is the epic quest of the human race for Freedom. From the journeying of Abraham of Ur to destinies unknown, and his nephew Lot’s fatal decision to live in Sodom; to Moses demands to the Egyptian Pharaoh, ” Let my people go,” there echoes everywhere the desire for freedom! Throughout the New Testament, in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus; all events moving towards the final consummation of the ages in Revelation, the clarion note that is sounding everywhere, is the promise of ultimate and everlasting freedom.
The ill-advised attempts to establish lasting freedom among nations have brought the world to the doorstep of annihilation many times.
Three factors characterize human existence: a person’s freedom, a person’s responsibility, and a person’s spirituality. Almost from the first day following birth, a child begins to exercise his rites of freedom! The infant is free now to demand the rite of sustenance and is free to announce that his expectations must have a suitable and an immediate response. Many of the freedoms previously enjoyed by the parents take on a new design. Parents must now undertake the onerous mission of teaching their helpless little one to gain their freedom. Every act towards the accomplishment of some sign of independence by the child, calls for a celebration, and perhaps some slight tweaking of the observed freedoms.
We fondly recall the day our firstborn set out on her own to make what must have looked like an endless journey from my arms to her mother’s outstretched arms, a yard or so away. With a glowing face and eyes that outshone diamonds, she began the marathon. She held on with high concentration to the straps on the rompers she was wearing, and enjoying the taste of freedom; there was no stopping her now.
It now becomes the responsibility of the parents to teach their little ones that freedom requires something more to keep them safe, than the limited resources at hand at any crucial moment of need. The child must eventually learn to be aware of impending dangers and to develop the safeguards that will direct their destiny.
There is a third factor that contributes largely to our classification as a human being. The most important factor of all is an individual’s spirituality! The accurate measure of personal freedom, in the end, is the measure of private devotion to God. And subsequently, one’s commitment to God provides the strong impetus to act responsibly, so that all people everywhere may live in such a way as to be “Something beautiful for God.”(3)
The words of Psalm 31 quoted above are inspiring because they are incredibly relevant in our present milieu. The author of these words discovers the restricting barriers in his life that have shut him in with formidable destructive forces. The barriers, to some degree, are the end products of too much ill-considered freedom and a free abandonment of responsibility. Even so, it is the discovery of his spiritual factor that enables him to show an image of a complete human being! Hear once more the exuberant outburst of his reclaimed hope.” You (God), You have not handed me over to the enemy, but you have set my feet in a spacious place.” (Ps.31)
I do not fear being ‘fenced in’ in this world, as long as I know that God, through Jesus Christ is “fenced in’ with me! Therein is Victory and therein is Freedom.
A Prayer To Follow This Meditation
Father, we want to lend our voices to any who have forgotten how to talk to You, or perhaps have never been taught. This world is far too complicated a place to succeed in any attempt to go it alone! Therefore, we want to offer our voice to them, so that they may know the fulfillment of this incredible promise: ” Ask, and it shall be given unto you.”(Matthew 7: 7)
Father, forgive me for paying too much attention to the views of people purported to be wise when it is their ignorance that permits them to boast that they do not even believe in You. But Father, You show us that their views never provide the triumph of light over the darkness, And their deceptive charade of a self-created, loving fellowship to replace the Church of Jesus Christ is simply evil. Please give to me courage to stand up for the hard right against the easy wrong. Give to me that astute wisdom to know that only faith and trust in You through Jesus Christ, will accomplish Your Holy intention for the human race and change the world. In the Name of Christ, Who walks beside me I offer this Prayer. Amen
There follows one of my very favorite poems. May you find it as inspiring as I do, and may the imagery created by these words be a daily blessing for you.
Crossing the Bar
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.
Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.
Prayer To Follow This Reading
Teach us, dear Lord, so to draw from the boundless depth of Your mercy , that we may lie in perfect peace at the close of each day knowing, like the setting sun, that throughout this day we have tried our best to fulfill our appointed mission. That for our fellow pilgrims we have lined any dark clouds of their despair with a golden lining of hope , that will make this day’s sunset especially beautiful.
May the purity of the pale green sky that stretches just beyond the glorious sunburst waiting to make its debut, remind us of the purity of the unfailing love that lightens the way along every path that we must travel this day. if somewhere between Sunrise, and Sunset the one , clear call sounds for us, may we know that we will have The Pilot close at hand to lead us beyond the setting sun, to where we need not the light of sun or moon or stars ever more. In the Name of The Pilot we pray. Amen
Editorial Notes
Crossing The Bar: Poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Organ Solo: Beyond The Sunset
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXzbDtXECyg&feature=youtu.ben Solo: Beyond The Sunset
Prayer: Franklin D. Curtis
Photo: Taken at our Summer Cottage ,in Michael’s Harbor,
(To gain a further understanding of the meditation that follows, a reading of the suggested scriptures will be most helpful)
Acts 17: 26 – 28
LUKE 7: 1 – 10
He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to Him: Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have You come under my roof.
Jesus said to the crowd following Him, ” I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Luke 7: 7 & 9
The winds of God are blowing in this New Testament story. All the characters here are like so many ships waiting for the wind to fill their sails, and carry them God knows where.
And now, some two thousand years afterward each one of us who considers that “it is in God we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) We wait and ponder, how can that mystery come to be our experience.
The Jews were waiting for the fierce winds of political change to rise again. The centurion was expecting the reactionary winds of the revolutionaries to rise again. The Centurion’s slave was waiting to see whether the temperamental wind of his master’s mood will bring him life or death. The vast majority were waiting, just waiting for they knew not what!
Suddenly the wind arrives from an entirely unanticipated direction, thereby rescuing the scene from being recorded in someone’s diary as just another dreary day. The wind carries several of these unsuspecting characters into the deeper waters of spiritual experience.
And if the truth be known now, this is the same irresistible longing that inspires many to search for the Spirits leading: ” For in God we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17: 28)
Spirit of the living God, Fall afresh on me. Spirit of the living God, Fall afresh on me. Break me, melt me, Mold me, fill me, Spirit of the living God, Fall afresh on me. (2)
When God answers that request, no longer are people idly waiting ‘like painted ships upon a painted ocean.’ The winds of God will fill the sails of their souls, and embolden them to engage in the building of God’s Kingdom to promote His glory.
From the outset, it is of vital importance to pay close attention to the direction from whence the wind of the Spirit comes.The Jewish people had waited for generations in anticipation of God’s Messiah! They await the first traces of dignity and respect to herald the beginning of God’s reign! They await some mighty warrior to unleash the chains of oppression so that they might live as God’s chosen people.
It is incredulous that the first indication of a new day dawning for them comes from the same direction as their greatest torment and their despair – from a Roman Centurion’s barracks!
Consider how difficult the situation is in the hour of their awakening. The atmosphere is tense. Everywhere there is suspicion and fear that is almost palpable. Political and religious considerations electrify the air they breathe! The Jewish population, known among themselves to be ‘the Chosen of God,’ are now being considered no more than Roman subjects with potent anti – Roman sentiments. And to have a Roman centurion stand sentry over their community, monitoring their every activity, brings suspicion and hatred into their souls.
The Jewish people, much to their chagrin, discover that this centurion is uncharacteristically friendly, naturally compassionate, and sincerely considerate even towards the least and the last. This fact defies all logic, the people conclude. There must be some ulterior motive for this behavior! This fellow is a gentleman, besides being a centurion. And these are essential facts that one must consider. There is such incongruence here. How can there be a gentleman of Roman descent, and a Roman Centurion, at that? He is entirely outside the realm of possibility concerning the hopes and beliefs of the Jewish religion. Who knows what kind of God this fellow worships? He is different from them, and yet he possesses some qualities which they can only hope that one day will be theirs also. Perhaps the safest strategy will be to treat this fellow as ‘an island unto himself.’
The tenderness that the Centurion shows towards his sick servant cannot be ignored by anyone anywhere. His response breaks through all legal requirements of a master-servant relationship and demonstrates ‘love’ towards one of much lower rank.
Nothing affects relationships like observing one person giving to another the love and respect which makes that person as complete as God created him to be.
The frost begins to lose its grip and soon throughout the community, relationships start to change for the good.
The biting criticisms, the mistrust, the innuendoes begin to lose an active voice. The one they were contemplating making an island unto himself is already constructing an indestructible bridge between his heart and theirs. On the building site of the new Jewish synagogue in Capernaum, where the busy Jewish laborers are hard at work, is the Centurion lending a helping hand A gentle wind from heaven is beginning to stir.
It is intriguing to consider how the beauty in one individual’s life can awaken a similar vision in the spirit of others. David, the ancestor of these Jews, experiences, many years before, that same mystery, and writes about it, ‘the deep calls unto deep in the roar of Your waterfalls as Your waves sweep over me.” Only the deep will respond to the deep, anything that does not issue from the depth cannot touch the depths.’ A beauty lying so close to the surface of the Centurion’s life awakens the beauty in the lives of his Jewish acquaintances, which cruel political circumstances are threatening to destroy.
It is God’s Presence within each person that makes ONE all nations on earth. The deep things of God in one calls unto the deep things of God in another! We must learn how to distinguish the sounds of suspicion, and hatred and selfishness from the sound of the ‘still small voice of God’s approach.
The ways of coercion and force from the Romans to submit, and engage in the worship of the emperor, threatened to annihilate the experience of God’s chosen path for many of His people. It is imperative to give recognition to the patience, the gentleness and the loving way by which God enables this centurion, to bring the golden touch of kindness and beauty into the Gospel Narrative.
Threats and punishments are never acceptable means of bringing another into the presence of God. The centurion’s response when we trace it to its origin, reveals a spiritual source! The ability to show such empathy as he does originates deep within the person whose essence remains in the hands of his Creator!
It is God who chooses this Centurion, and prepares him to show to the world the relevance of the Gospel to change the way individuals see one another, and the way they see their world. It is God who sows the seed of belief in the Centurion that Jesus can, and will bring healing to his beloved servant, and it is God who inscribes on this outsiders heart the message that love conquers all hate and division. It is God who gives to this prominent official the Grace to remain humble and to continue to be a tyro in the unfolding mystery of God’s plan for His creation.
All of this reveals that God reserves for Himself the right to choose the direction of the wind!
A sobering silence falls upon us as we consider how those who are waiting for a fuller demonstration of God, catch a glimpse of God’s will and purpose for the world, from one who is a foreigner, an outsider, an immigrant. ! Concerning this Centurion, Jesus said to the crowd following Him, ” I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” It is God’s Presence within each person that makes ONE, all nations on earth.’ (3)
For so the whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.
“If thou shouldst never see my face again,
Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?
For so the whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.
But now farewell”(4)
A Prayer To Follow This Meditation
Father, it thrills our souls, like when one hears the soaring crescendos of the Hallelujah Chorus bursting upon his ears for the first time : “God has made peoples of all nations to live together and to share the face of this planet as ONE. None can arrogate to themselves a higher and more excellent origin than another. Father, forgive that relic of arrogant blindness which still insists that ” there is something greater for the human race than being created in Your Image, O God. Some want to BE God!
Lord, teach us to beware of those whose minds can “make a Hell of Heaven and a Heaven of Hell’.
Father, forgive those who distort the message of Jesus with an obsessive care of self while condemning all others of different race and creed as being unworthy to receive minimal concern. In Your mercy, return to this world the heart of ‘the Good Shepherd, and provide more people for service, whose hearts are prepared to act in love as Jesus, did.
Let the Strains Of A Hallelujah Chorus burst upon Your world again to obliterate the noise and rumors of war. Let it mark the celebration of Your Kingdom Come and Your Will done here on earth as it is in Heaven. In Jesus Name. Amen
Hymn: Blest Be The Tie That Binds
Editorial Notes
1. Here and throughout this meditation the quotations from The Holy Bible are from the New International Translation
2. Spirit Of The Living God http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/religious+music/spirit+of+the+living+god_20887570.htm
3. See 1. Above
4. Le Morte d’Arthur
Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.
5. Photo: Robert’s Arm, NDB., Newfoundland. Taken summer 2017.
5.