Author: rattleyrow@gmail.com

 

To gain a further understanding of the meditation that follows, a reading of the suggested scriptures will be most helpful. The Editorial Notes at the end of the post may prove to be beneficial)
Suggested Reading: John 21: 1 – 25; 1 Peter 1: 3 – 13

“1 Peter 1:13
Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.” (1)

Crossing 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. (2)

Alfred Lord Tennyson uses the inevitable occurrence of day’s surrender to evening, as the parallel for our passing from life to death. His masterful use of the simple, captivating images of’sunset, and evening star” are enough to make clear an invitation to consider the exquisite beauty inherent in a day’s ending. Beyond the need for human intervention, the magnificent pageant unfolds. The darkness gathers, and the stars begin to appear in the heavens. For Tennyson, the attractive beauty of the days ending is a veiled invitation to consider the inevitability of the passing of this life into death. He hints that it is possible to experience a more exquisite satisfaction, personal fulfillment, and contentment in that final twilight than is possible in viewing thousands of sunsets.
We are living in a society where it is not fashionable, nor is it desirable to talk about the end of our days.There is too much of the day still beckoning to us to bother with reading any further in Tennyson’s poem about, “Sunsets and evening stars.”

In truth, however, Tennyson awakens a curiosity in each of us that is hard to ignore. Circumvent it as we may, when all is said and done, we each nurture a hope to leave behind us at the last, a legacy of accomplished dreams and an example of a positive influence.Tennyson induces an appetite to investigate how one can come to life’s end so filled with the meaning and the purpose of life, now complete, as to know no regrets or uncertainties.
More specifically he prompts the consideration, of where to gather the materials for building such a daily life?

Drawing upon the poetic imagery of Tennyson’s
” Crossing The Bar,” I dream of a small town which is girdled about with hills, except for the one quarter that opens out to the sea. It is the place of my birth.
In the very center of that town, there is a quiet, placid pond into which three rivers flow. In the winter the pond was the location of choice for many a “highly professional ” hockey game or even more importantly, as the romantic point of rendezvous for moonstruck skaters. In the summer it was the perfect place for our home-made tall ships to set their card-board sails, and head for the opposite shore. The most striking feature about the pond, however, is where it narrows to enter the sea. Many of the local town’s people refer to the wooden bridge spanning that opening and the narrow opening itself as” the bar.” At low tide, the little pond empties itself with gurgling sounds, into the waiting sea. But then at high tide, the pond ‘draws from out the boundless deep’ of the mighty ocean, to supply every cranny and cove. Many times I have stood at the bar watching the tide come in. It came rushing in with an  eerie silence, “too full for sound or foam.”

Tennyson captures the fullness of the eternal hope in the semblance of the rising tide! Peter endorses that same hope for the human race: ” set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
1 Peter 1:13.
Peter makes it abundantly clear that it is Jesus who comes to us in the ebb and flow of our God consciousness in life. Jesus shows each one of us that God’s love is always at high tide level, and is forever seeking the backwaters of individual lives that need an infusing of new life.

And who better than Peter to give living testimony of that? There was a time when Peter’s life was fraught with low tide experiences. Rocks and shoals were threatening on every side. Gross mediocrity and shameful memories were chasing every promising star to its setting. At last, they demand a retreat:” I am going back to the fishing ground,” Peter announces.Thus, he proposes to close the book of high adventure, he was writing before Jesus’ crucifixion. Then the very next morning the tide sweeps in, and Peter meets “the Pilot” face to face.” At that moment Peter’s all-consuming ministry begins anew. Drawing upon his experience of the Risen Christ, Peter, with absolute confidence, advises all to set there hope on Christ. Then when the flood tide ushers them back to the waiting boundless deep even there, they will meet the Pilot face to face. Let Tennyson, who lives nearly 2000 years later than Peter relay to us how he lives by that same hope.

“Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For though 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.”(2)

A PRAYER TO FOLLOW THIS MEDITATION

Dear God, thank You for creating us with the spirit that liberates us from the confining prison walls of our bodies.
Our spirits can travel far when conditions or circumstances make it impossible for our bodies to accompany us; and the barriers of time’s measurement, such as yesterdays, and past years and decades may be melted into the present. Thank You for the liberating freedom of our spirits.
Thank You for an even more excellent gift of the spirit; the ability to be able to transcend the barrier between life and death. The ability, through our spirits, to experience traffic between heaven and earth here and now, like Jacob, on the ladder that reached from earth to heaven.Thank You for the greatest gift of all, the One who is our only spiritual liberator.Thank You for Jesus, who is the Saviour and Keeper of our spirits. May we see Him ‘face to face’ now and evermore. Amen

Hymn:   Jesus Saviour, Pilot Me

https://youtu.be/m8-9Bg9ZXtU

 

 

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.Alfred Lord Tennyson. “Crossing The Bar”
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/crossing-the-bar-2/

3. Hymn: Jesus, Saviour, Pilot Me                                                                                   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo5qEkZHXUg&feature=youtu.be

4. Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/deanspic/2571459575           Brigus,  Newfoundland,  on the website, “Brigus FolksThen And    Now.” This is the area known to me as “The Bar”

 

 

 

 

 

 

(To gain a further understanding of the meditation that follows, a reading of the suggested scriptures will be most helpful. The Editorial Notes at the end of the post may prove to be beneficial)

Suggested Scripture: John 2: 1 – 11. ” Jesus Changes Water
to Wine”

TEXT : John 2:9 The master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. (1)

Any approach to Scripture, particularly the scriptures of the New Testament, brings a definite challenge. One must rescue the Scriptures from the mists of antiquity and permit them to be contemporary. By doing so, the Good News of the transforming Gospel comes to life in the present world, through human personalities.The intensity of the challenge depends upon our willingness to engage our imaginations to supplement our critical faculties, and find a fuller response to the question: What Is Truth?”The present Christian milieu is not responding to some ecclesiastical stained-glass representation of the Christ.It is Jesus, our contemporary who must be put forward on our stage of history. Today, Capitalism seeks to shrink societies into smothering cells where opportunities exist just for a few. One’s particular worth depends, not on what makes an individual unique in his or her personality, but what she/he can mass produce that is more important than anything else. It is time to halt the shrinkage and the exclusivity and deepen our horizons to the limits of God’s Kingdom where everybody is a somebody, and God is Lord of all!

I invite you now to relive one such an occasion where a humble servant comes to exult in the mystery of being set free from limitations and fear. Also, his experience allows him to become a messenger to invite still others to partake of the Wine Of New Life.
Imagine him telling his story!

I am Ruben Ben Hadad, a hired servant in the house of Suzanna. I am the eldest child of a peasant woman, who became a widow at an early age. All these years I have the responsibility of caring for my mother who has a severe disability. Because of this circumstance, I know little of the freedoms and the excitements of childhood.There was neither time nor money available for me to go to school. My waking hours were spent searching for bread for my brother, my sister, my mother and me.
I came to work here at Suzanna’s house as an assistant steward one year, six months, two weeks and three days ago. I keep a strict account of every minute I have to be in this place.
Suzanna is kind enough towards me. It is the chief steward who shows an extreme dislike of me. He is a bully who has forgotten his humble beginnings, and his not so meteor-like ascent to his present position. He is always finding some reason to put me down and to flog me at the slightest of pretense.
I so wish I could escape. I often look towards the horizon as I wend my way home, following a hard day’s work here.I dream of some far away place where perhaps life might be more gentle. I try to imagine a situation where a fellow might count for something, and his dreams have a hope of survival. Is there anywhere on earth where justice awaits everyone, and there is unconditional love, and peace, and contentment for all?

The chief steward is beside himself these days! He is putting the finishing touches on the celebration plans for the mistress’ son’s wedding. Yesterday the steward flogged me mercilessly after accusing me of misplacing one of the six clay water jars. At his insistence, I have been into the cellar four times in the last three days checking on the wineskins. I tell you, if anything untoward happens at this event, he will kill me! Ah, it’s time to walk by the sea again and to look out towards the horizon.

There now! Preparations are complete, and the guests are already arriving.The tiny hawkish eyes of the chief steward leer into every corner of the banquet hall.

” Ruben Ben Hadad ! you thieving, no good scoundrel.Where are you? Get here, this instant! You have neglected to put wine on the head table. I will have your hide for this! ” His growling tones are audible in spite of his intense effort to hide them behind his fake smile, from that corner of his mouth reserved for the arriving guests. I race down the stairs to the wine cellar! Oh, horror of all horrors, not one more full wineskin remaining! Should I head for the horizon? I pondered.

Crushed, I made my way back to the kitchen. Then. I saw Him! And everything I ever dreamt might be possible beyond the horizon, suddenly flooded my being! I was looking into the eyes of Jesus of Nazareth. It seemed to me that someone had opened the doors to Suzanna’s house, and Heaven’s glory was touching everything.
I took notice when His gaze slowly turned towards the chief steward. There was a perceived glint of light in His eyes as he looked again at me.
” Go and fill one of those stone jars with water.” He suggested. For a mini-second, the obvious thought of protest flashed into my mind. But courage and a feeling of reckless liberty soon made hesitation vanish. I was dancing inside as I obeyed the next suggestion from Jesus. “Now bring some of THIS wine to the Chief .”

With a look of complete disdain, the chief steward took the goblet from my hands and began to drink. His beady eyes shot open wide. ” Where did you get this”: he growled towards me .”, It’s the best wine I have ever tasted.” “From my Friend there, “I said pointing in Jesus’ direction. “I must inform you, sir; I won’t be reporting for work tomorrow, My friend has invited me to follow Him. I gladly accept His invitation. Tomorrow  morning you and Suzanna will have to find another helper.” A feeling of complete exhilaration was mine as I danced into the night with Jesus and His other friends. I will remember forever how Jesus chose me to help Him perform His first Miracle.

Hymn:      I Can Hear My Saviour Calling

https://youtu.be/e9FqFC0WA-o

 

 

PRAYER TO FOLLOW THIS MEDITATION

Lord, stand beside us as we look out towards the horizons of our lives.Challenge us if our horizons form prison walls, shutting us in with restrictive views of what we could accomplish, walking forward with You. Horizons realistically viewed keep receding. And as long as You are with us, we will encounter no overpowering problem, nor will there be any crisis that will send us into the cellar looking for humanly made solutions.Give to us the faith that will let us know that You always act to protect our dignity and our self-worth, not to promote self-aggrandizement, but instead so that the glory of our God is in evidence against every force that would destroy it
Keep us on the tip-toe of expectancy, so that we too will help Him make others aware of the future wonder awaiting them.

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.

Photo: Fishing Schooner Arriving Grand Bank, Newfoundland. Courtesy of Wm. Tibbo, Grand Bank

 

 

There Follows the reading of the Parable of ‘The Prodigal Son’ ( ABOVE),  an audio meditation based on the Old Testament Text: Psalm 7:1  O Lord my God, I take refuge in You;  save and deliver me from all who pursue me.

ON THE RUN

 

A Prayer To Follow This Meditation
Searching God;
You hold steadfast in Your belief in us.
Day and night, night and day You keep watching the road we would travel on the way home.
You know, that love will finally produce the scene which You so earnestly wait to see! Your love never fails. The triumph of Your love is assured.

Many have already committed themselves to join You in Your unending vigil. Yet there is room for millions more to help. The task of making a straight highway to our God, always requires that we stay close to You. Help us to sight, even at a great distance, someone wandering homeward, who needs our words of encouragement and the assurance of our companionship.

Shield our eyes from the glare of complacency, and the self-absorption that results in nearsightedness.
Forgive us when we let the enticements of the far country sneak even through the church doors from where with You we are supposed to keep that vigil.

It is the Presence of the Risen Christ who equips us for service. For His sake and our own, call a halt to our running around in circles, Help us to find our refuge in the Lord. Then tomorrow we will see a new day dawning. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE LORD BLESS THEE AND KEEP THEE

TRANSCRIPT OF ON THE RUN

(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)

Psalm 7: 1
“LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me,” (1)

A person on the run creates an immediate, and intriguing spectacle, and even more so if a pursuer is made visible in the scene. Then,  if more than one spectator is observing the scene, the storyline may change and develop in many different directions simultaneously. This scenario usually presumes an assumption of guilt, but the truth of the matter is, nobody knows. Ordinarily, we would conclude that the people who know the reason for the activity in the scene are the one at the front of the pack, and those in pursuit. The Biblical narrative under present consideration, however, provides for an entirely different review: here, David, the one pursued is uncertain why this action is happening. There is a conscious uncertainty that is making it impossible for him to claim either innocence or guilt. A guilty conscience is a torturing experience. But to be uncertain of innocence or guilt is destructive. It is difficult to imagine the burden of loneliness that David is being forced to carry under such circumstances.

When David was a young man, he was in the employ of Saul, King of Israel. As David became more well known, he became the most popular personage in the land. His fame quickly spread. Consequently, his popularity stirred the wrath of Saul who avails himself of every opportunity to exterminate David. Cush, a member of the tribe of Benjamin, invents a false tale, that it is David who is plotting to kill King Saul. When Cush reports this malicious plot to Saul, the subsequent drama which unfolds finds David fleeing and Cush, a Benjamite,  in hot pursuit.

While our situations are not of the same dramatic vein as David’s, it is by no means unknown to us that individuals often are ‘ on the run.’ Sometimes, both the pursued and the pursuer are known to each other, as is the case between David and Saul and Cush. That situation is often wrought with unrelenting fear, nervous surveillance and possibly a heart-wrenching regret by the pursued.
Quite often the pursuit is between a person and an invisible pursuer. It is also this fact we must consider in the story of David. While David knows his pursuers well, he is also hunted by an unclear conscience: ” Am I guilty or am I not guilty? Did I perpetrate this felony of which I stand accused?

Where does the debate between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ behaviour originate in the first place”?
To feel the urge to define ‘ right’ and ‘wrong’, ‘guilt or innocence is, to begin with, a belief in a divine being, One who is omniscient ( all-knowing). Wherever one wrestles with feelings of ” good or bad,” ” right or wrong,” ” guilt or innocence,” it is indicative of God being already on the scene. Unless there is a God by whom ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ can be reliably assessed, moral judgments can be no more than opinions influenced by upbringing, training, and propaganda. (2)
Unlike the many people who thereby conclude that ‘conscience ‘ is synonymous with God, David provides us with a more dynamic, and I believe, a much healthier understanding of God than that. It is true that God indwells humankind, yet God is not dependent upon human nature when it comes to a fuller revelation of Himself to the world. God can and does act independently of human understanding and belief. The poet, Frederick William Faber expresses it well:

“There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea;
There’s kindness in his justice,
Which is more than liberty.

For the love of God is broader
Than the measures of man’s mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.” (3)

Because it is not within a person’s intellectual ability to understand Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand; or to understand Jesus’ walking upon the water, solely from a reference to our exclusive belief in natural law, it is somewhat presumptuous to conclude that these events are beyond the realm of possibility. Our Biblical knowledge of God must never be adjusted to avoid offending our poor atrophying brain cells. The belief in the everlasting Presence of God must never contain the slightest hint that His Presence depends upon suitable human behaviour.

David, the frightened, guilt-stricken, remorseful individual that he is, seeks to enter into close quarters with God. Without any empirical evidence of personal guilt or innocence, he surrenders himself to the investigation of Who God Is and as a consequence arrives at profound self-knowledge.

‘The Hound Of Heaven’ is the deeply moving autobiography of the poet, Francis Thompson.
As the hound follows the hare, never ceasing in its running, ever drawing nearer ‘ with unhurrying chase, And unperturbed pace, so does God follow the fleeing soul by His Grace. Thompson makes every effort to avoid God. He hides in art, in science, and in deeply demanding emotional experiences. But the unrelenting chase continues, with the inevitable encounter approaching closer and closer. And then,
“That Voice is round me like a bursting sea;” he confesses,
” Halts by me that footfall:
Is my gloom, after all,
Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?”
” Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,” God responds,
” I am He whom thou sleekest,
Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me.” (3)

Is “The Hound Of Heaven” hidden somewhere in your restlessness, or in the never-ending marathon in which you are engaged? ‘Is your gloom, after all, the shade of His hand outstretched caressingly’? That was the learned experience of David that permits him to pray: “Lord, my God, I take refuge in You.” And is that not at the very center of the story that Jesus once told of a “Prodigal Son, who having been on the run for years, finally “came to his senses ” I will arise and go to my father,” he decides I will tell him: father I have sinned against Heaven and I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired servants.” And when he is still a great way off his father sees him. He runs out to meet him. He throws his arms around him and kisses him. Thereupon the son begins his halting  soliloquy: ” Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and I am not worthy……” The father interrupts his rehearsed soliloquy and addresses his servants.  Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger  and sandals on his feet” Bring the fatted calf and kill it and let us celebrate,  for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Amen.

A Prayer To Follow This Meditation
Searching God;
You hold steadfast in Your belief in us.
Day and night, night and day You keep watching the road we would travel on the way home.
You know, that love will finally produce the scene which You so earnestly wait to see! Your love never fails. The triumph of Your love is assured.

Many have already committed themselves to join You in Your unending vigil. Yet there is room for millions more to help. The task of making a straight highway to our God, always requires that we stay close to You. Help us to spot, even at a great distance, someone wandering homeward, who needs our words of encouragement and the assurance of our companionship.

Shield our eyes from the glare of complacency, and the self-absorption that results in nearsightedness.
Forgive us when we let the enticements of the far country sneak even through the church doors, from where with You we are commissioned to keep that vigil.

It is the Presence of the Risen Christ who equips us for service. For His sake and our own, call a halt to our running around in circles. Help us to find our refuge in You. Then tomorrow we will see a new day dawning. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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. An indirect reference to the thought expressed by J.B.
Phillips in his book: Your God Is Too Small.

          3.William Faber. There’s A wideness In God’s Mercy

Fredhttps://believersportal.com/theres-a-wideness-in-gods-mercy-hymn-lyrics/erick

4. Francis Thompson. THE HOUND OF HEAVEN.
https://www.easyenglish.bible/psalms/psalm007-taw.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hound_of_Heaven

        5.  Photo : Valley Pond, Newfoundland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A  PRAYER TO FOLLOW THIS READING

What language shall I borrow to speak to You of Love, O God? It will have to be the language of Heaven to capture the unspeakable beauty of such a gift. Please grant it to me now!

Love are the eyes that see the good in everything and especially in everyone, coupled with gentle and beautiful ways of expressing it to the world.

Love are the ears that hear the faint melodic bird songs of hope in the souls of others, despite bellowing expressions of hate filling the air.

Love beats one’s own heart in perfect rhythm with another person’s heart, who feels alone in unwelcome places.

Love is a sensitive response that lets that person secretly know that you saw their swift motion to brush aside a tear when no one else noticed.

Love is so much more than all of this:

Love is a Cross; Love is A Resurrection, Love is the ” I will never leave you  nor forsake you.” Thank You, God, for YOU are LOVE.

Amen

Hymn: Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring

 

 

EDITORIAL NOTES

The Scripture is 1 Corinthians  13:1 – 13. KJV. I have substituted the word CHARITY used in this translation for the more familiar word, LOVE, common in other translations.

Photo: Vera reflecting the many happy memories of her childhood spent swimming here at Crescent Lake, Robert’s Arm, Newfoundland.

(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)

Luke 2: 41 – 51

Lule 2:49-51 ” Why were you searching for me? Didn’t
you know I had to be in my Father’s
house?” (1)

The stirring to life of the spirit is by far the most auspicious event in our development as human personalities. Before that happens, one is little more than one of the inanimate objects that surround him.

Robert Frost’s poem, “Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening “ brings some enlightenment to this truth.

“Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”(2)

The poet becomes an integral part of the rustic wintery scene. The picture would be incomplete without the presence of the one who deliberately stops and becomes completely integrated into it.To a degree, he is indistinguishable from the frozen lake, the snow-covered trees, and every day, occurrences of a winter’s artistry. It is the sound of the warning bells on the horse’s harness that resurrects the memory of his purpose for travel and warns him of a responsibility awaiting his fulfillment.

The Birth of Jesus at Christmas Time is God’s poignant reminder of the urgent need for everyone to continue the essential journey, and embrace the responsibility that we own as humans. Only to the degree that our spirits are fully awake can we fulfill the mission for which we are born. St Irenaeus of the early second century identified the mission in this way:” The Glory of God, is man fully alive.”
The wisdom of ” the Wisemen” might have faded into the background of their own culture, as nothing worthy of note, if their spirits had not stirred within them the responsibility to search for the New Born King.

The shepherds returned to the lowly responsibility of caring for their sheep but now were more fully alive with an acute consciousness of God.

Twelve years later Jesus is in attendance with his parents in Jerusalem for the ” Feast of the Passover.” On the return journey home, Jesus becomes separated from his devout parents who begin a frantic search among the many pilgrims. That journey ends back in Jerusalem in the Temple. In response to his parent’s anxious inquiry, Jesus responds: ” Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”

In reality, this story mirrors God’s chosen destiny for each of His children, that they may dwell all the days of their life in ” The Father’s House.”It was David, the Psalm writer, of the Old Testament, who embraced that vision as his destiny.
” One thing have I desired of the
Lord, that is what I seek:
That I may dwell in the House of the Lord
all the days of my life” ( Ps. 27:4)

In our Father’s House, we share His permeating presence and learn that His House is not reserved as our’s to inherit after death, but is also a present reality.

In our Father’s House, we develop the way of faith.

In our Father’s House, we view the world with Him, in the way He intended this world to be.

God deposits a “Baby” on the world’s doorstep on that first Christmas Day so that our spirits, being stirred to live fully, will choose to give that Baby a place to live in our hearts. In this way, the world will be rescued from its present erratic journeying. Together let us journey to find that place anew, where Heaven and earth embrace. Then, as the Gospel record bears witness concerning the shepherds in the Christmas Story, we will return to our responsibilities glorifying and praising God.

1″ Come, let us anew our journey pursue,
Roll round with the year,
Roll round with the year,
And never stand still till the Master appear.

2.His adorable will let us gladly fulfill,
And our talents improve,
And our talents improve,
By the patience of hope, and the labor of love.

3.Our life is a dream, our time, as a stream,
Glides swiftly away,
Glides swiftly away,
And the fugitive moment refuses to stay”

3 O that each on the day of His coming may say,
“I have fought my way through,
I have fought my way through;
I have finished the work thou didst give me to do!”(3)

A Prayer to Follow This Meditation

Father, here on earth the necessity for Your people to journey forth into unchartered territory, is often met with two distinct attitudes. There  is an uncertain reluctance, and there is an optimistic commitment.
Forgiveness we ask of You for the first, and unfettered praise we offer You for the second! The first is ours and is due to our lack of faith; the second is Yours and due to Your unconditional Love!
You responded to Moses’ reluctance to lead the journeying Israelites out of Egypt, with the heartwarming embrace:
” Certainly, I will be with you.”

When the disciples of Jesus were being overwhelmed with the prospect of being left to carry on Jesus’ Mission without their beloved Companion, He spoke with absolute certainty: Don’t be afraid, lo, I am with you always unto the end of the journey.

O Blessed Lord, another journey awaits us. No longer is the way unchartered because You have traveled the Way ahead of us. It is not easy to be a Christian now, and it never was. We make far too many compromises, and the milk and water version of our religion is no match for the militant forces of evil around us still. You understand our reluctance and our fears. Nevertheless, clear the eyes of faith, that we shall see. Open, our ears, that we may hear, ” Certainly, I will be with you all the way.” Open our hearts that we receive the Love as strong as steel, and determine to journey with You. Asking for no reward only to know we do Your Will. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

EDITORIAL NOTES:

1. All quotations of Scripture are from The NIV. The New
International Version of The Holy Bible; unless
otherwise noted in the text.

2. Robert Frost. ” Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy
Evening
“https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42891/stopping-by-woods-on-a-snowy-evening

3.Hymn: Come, Let Us Anew, The Journey Pursue
Source: Songs of Faith and Triumph 1, 2 and 3
https://hymnary.org/text/come_let_us_anew_our_journey_pursue_roll

Prayer: Franklin Curtis

Photo:  “Caplin Seining” Leading Tickles, Newfoundland                                               Summer 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Prayer To Follow This Post
Father we are filled with inexpressible hope as we stand on the threshold of the New Year. You have made to us the most heart-warming of all promises : “Behold I make all things new.” A new beginning, to replace all our failed efforts to make this world a more peaceful and beautiful place for all? Another new hope springing up within our souls that we may reach out in love to embrace our sisters and brothers of every nation, creed and color? A renewed hope that human hands may form a solid chain of respect and love around the world, so that each person may feel the hug of God and be comforted and never be afraid again?

Father , on this cold frosty morning , we experience the warmth of Your loving embrace  and we know that You are replacing all of our broken promises to You, with a greater ; effort to do better ; all of our missed opportunities, with Your consuming love; all of our lethargy, with renewed passion!
O God You are the author of ever experience of love that we know in life. We now give a new expression to the greatest blessing we own: Our love to You.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Amen.

Editorial Notes

Old Testament Reading from The Holy Bible. KJV. Ecclesiastes  3:1-8  and  1 Corinthians 5:17

“The Gate Of The Year”  is an excerpt  from a poem by Minnie Louise Haskins.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gate_of_the_Year

Prayer to follow this reading by Franklin D. Curtis

 

 O Come, Let Us Adore Him

Into the astonishing splendour of this scene, we come, O God. Unworthy though we are to be here, we respond to the magnetic pull of Your unconditional love that will not let us go. We now offer the only gift we possess, the gift of self. We know that none who offer that gift will turn away, fearful of unacceptance. Thank You, Father, Amen.

Hymn: Silent Night

https://youtu.be/CPhQcoSktkE

 

Suggested Scripture Reading ; Isaiah  11; 1 – 9

New Living Translation – Isaiah 11:6

In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all.

 

One, Two, Three (1)

By Henry Cuyler Bunner

It was and old, old, old, old lady
And a boy that was half-past three,
And the way that they played together
Was beautiful to see.
She couldn’t go romping and jumping,
And the boy, no more could he;
For he was a thin little fellow,
With a thin little twisted knee.
They sat in the yellow sunlight,
Out under the maple tree,
And the game that they played I’ll tell you,
Just as it was told to me.
It was hide-and-go-seek they were playing,
Though you’d never have known it to be–
With an old, old, old, old lady
And a boy with a twisted knee.
The boy would bend his face down
On his little sound right knee,
And he guessed where she was hiding
In guesses One, Two, Three.
“You are in the china closet!”
He would cry, and laugh with glee–
It wasn’t the china closet,
But he still has Two and Three.
“You are up in papa’s big bedroom,
In the chest with the queer old key,”
And she said: “You are warm and warmer;
But you are not quite right, “said she.

“It can’t be the little cupboard
Where mama’s things used to be–
So it must be in the clothes press, Gran’ma,”
And he found her with his Three.
Then she covered her face with her fingers,
That were wrinkled and white and wee,
And she guessed where the boy was hiding,
With a One and a Two and a Three.
And they never had stirred from their places
Right under the maple tree–
This old, old, old, old lady
And the boy with the lame little knee–
This dear, dear, dear old lady
And the boy who was half-past three.

A Prayer To Follow This Reading (3))

Father,  Thank You for directing the gaze of our world towards the face of a Baby. How  refreshing it is to turn away for a time from the  many overbearing ,self- aggrandizing individuals who profess  to possess the knowledge of all that is best for the human race. What a jolt of surprise it was on the first Christmas morning:

‘They all were looking for a king
To slay their foes, and lift them high:
Thou cam’st a little baby thing
That made a woman cry.”(2)

Give us Grace once more we implore You , to look into the face of innocence .We need to learn anew the genesis of Human trust in You our God. It is here before us that the only Hope for this world is wrapped, and lying in the manger in Bethlehem. Give us the humility of spirit to confess the limitation of our knowledge, but also give us the trust in You to realize that where the first on-lookers saw a Baby, You could see the Savior of the World.

Every new born Baby brings Your renewed hope into this world, O God. And where the seeds of trust and love are permitted to germinate in the soil of the child’s birth , there is found Your dream of a brighter and more beautiful tomorrow. Open our eyes to see You, our hearts to love You; and our souls to trust You. Through Jesus, Joy Of our desiring . Amen

Editorial Note

(1)  Poem:  Henry Cuyler Bunner,    “One, Two, Three”

(2)  Poem:  George MacDonald, “That Holy Thing”

(3) Prayer: Franklin D. Curtis