Lord, take me home!
This world’s so full of woe
Sin and sadness all around —
Suffering abounds.
[…but where sin increased,
grace abounded all the more…]
Lord, how do I cope?
Please give me abundant hope.
Strengthen my song
And help me long …
For justice, peace,
Love and good will, until
All people love You,
And still ..
I’ll always long,
Until I can sing Your song.
Hold on; you’ve got to hold on.
Tough times come and go,
But beauty continues everywhere —
Lord, teach us to be aware.
You’re not alone; God is by your side.
He shares your pain; He shares your joy.
The universe sings of His love —
Hold on to the One from above.
Every pain is worth the joy.
Every heartache will be healed.
We don’t know all the reasons —
Still — hold on through the seasons!
One day we’ll see it’s all worth it.
All we went through becomes perfect.
A joy is waiting on the other side,
But you’ve got to hold on for the ride.
“How is your weather?”
We often say.
What if we meant,
“How is your day?”
What if we meant,
“How do you feel?
Tell me your story;
Tell me what’s real.”
“Tell me the longing
Deep in your heart,
Your joys and your sorrows —
That would be a good start.”
Longing for sunshine
On a dark, cloudy day?
Longing for peace –
Putting turmoil at bay?
Deep in our hearts,
Only God can fulfill
Our need for His love —
Let Him make your heart still.
In a recent Sunday homily, the priest stated, “There is nothing you can do to make God love you less.” Perhaps superfluously, I might restate what he said like this: “There is nothing [bad] you can do to make God love you less, [and there’s nothing good you can do to make Him love you more.]
The priest went on to say something like, “It is we who turn from God, not He from us. We’re afraid to come to Him after we’ve sinned, but He’s waiting for us with open arms. He wants us back.”
What is our response to such a love? It might be fear, grateful acceptance, or something else. Fear, because that kind of love might demand something of us that we’re not willing to give — perhaps letting go of our anger, unforgiveness, blaming others, bad habits, etc. Or, in realizing the immensity of that kind of love that no human can give us, an overwhelming gratitude that responds by giving to and serving others — and yes, letting go.
All day long, the snow fell,
Softly, quietly; you couldn’t hear —
When your eyes were closed.
All the next day, we shoveled;
The mail was undelivered.
Could we hope for it the next day?
Or the next?
Yes, after dark the mail truck came,
One day, or two; some hours late,
Bringing news, and things to read;
The carrier freezing in his truck.
(But I’m hoping not –.
Do they wear electric suits,
Like astronomers, watching distant stars?}
I trudged out to get the mail,
And sorting it, found it not all ours.
Four pieces each, for neighbors next –
Should I venture out to deliver the rest?
Perhaps foolishly — yes, I went.
And on the way, looked to my left.
Two deer stood silently, watching me.
In the silence, dark, and cold,
We watched each other, warily.
Some days we see the animal tracks,
And even trails, worn in the snow.
Squirrels, birds, and chipmunks, too —
Deer and rabbits have passed through.
And today, with sun on snow,
A flash of red in bush does show.
A cardinal has come to eat
Some seeds I set out for a treat.
A rabbit came to our porch, too.
He tried some parsley, grass –
But few, the blades that he had picked to chew.
So blessed we are, with all these creatures,
God, through nature, a constant teacher.
Passing through, don’t you know
We’re just passing through?
This journey of life, so full of strife —
We’re just passing through.
It’s all just a dream, or so it seems —
Sometimes a nightmare of terrors,
Or at it’s best — a comedy of errors.
The saints and sinners,
The losers, the winners.
The rich and famous,
The poor and infamous.
The weak, the strong,
The hopeful, the wrong.
All loved by God,
All beautiful in His eyes —
No time to compromise
His love for you.
For some weeks (even years, off and on), I had been burdened, even depressed, about two people close to me who seemed unconcerned about going to heaven, knowing and loving Jesus, and really are agnostic or atheist. I wondered if they had not come to faith through some fault in my own witness or character. I tried hard to show them love, and hopefully through my love, and the genuine love of other Christians, they might see their need for Jesus. At times when I got more explicit and asked about having a personal relationship with Jesus, it didn’t go as I’d hoped.
Then one day while pondering all this, this Scripture popped into my head: “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12, NLT).” Suddenly I saw it all in a new way. This is not a battle between myself and others, but it’s a battle against evil forces that have influenced others negatively or even destructively. I even fight these battles within myself at times.
So, once again Scripture has set me free of a burden that I wasn’t meant to bear, at least the burden of blaming myself. Yes, I will pray and try to act on promptings from the Holy Spirit to share Jesus, but the outcome is not up to me.
“For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, NRSVCE)
Until a few years ago (and I’m 70 as I write this), whenever I heard or read this Bible verse, I thought, “Slight? Momentary? It doesn’t feel that way.” My own hardest personal cross might be chronic mild depression (dysthymia). It has never felt “momentary”. It is probably “slight” compared to major depression. But I also think of many who carry what look like quite heavy crosses: chronic physical problems, financial struggles, family breakdown, and emotional or mental health issues. They never looked “slight” or “momentary” to me.
Here is another translation of the verses. I am adding this and the next one just to give different shades of meaning, hopefully helping all to understand the verses. “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, NIV)
And again: “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, NLT)
This immediately preceding translation might give the clearest or simplest meaning for us. And the two verses actually explain themselves, if we think about it.
It’s all about perspective, eternal perspective, that is. When I began to focus on eternity, which after all, is a lot longer than an earthly life, the quote started to make a lot of sense. Yes, I or others may be suffering now, but COMPARED TO the rewards, joy, and glory of eternity, what we’re going through is NOTHING. Yes, it doesn’t feel good if we focus on the current suffering, but if we focus on what awaits people of faith in heaven, it’s incomparable!
This is not to dismiss the very real pain that all of us go through, but to give hope that it won’t last forever. And, we probably should try to alleviate others’ suffering, if not our own. But I’ve found it very helpful to forget myself and focus on the glory to come, while always working to improve what can be improved in my little area of the world.
Three boys ride bikes along the road,
Fishing poles bending as they go –
Nearby must be a fishing hole.
Three deer burst through the dense woods deep;
Their hooves ring loud along the street.
I wonder if they’re good to eat?
Three rabbits pranced among the clover,
A baby and two others, older;
And then they run for shelter, cover.
Three stars danced in the sky so bright –
Planets, or just meteorites?
They spread a fantasy of light.
Three Persons in eternity,
One Being in infinity,
One bond in perpetuity.
clarakatalin 
16 Tons …
Here are four renditions of the song “Sixteen Tons”. Which one is your favorite?
What an ode to a rough life — a working man’s blues. If you know nothing about
“company stores,” read up on it. Also, worth thinking about: where did such people
find hope — I think it would have to be in God — otherwise people turn to drink.
The original version by the original writer (Merle Travis):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pfVvqLM_e4
Fun version; seems to be filmed in a place not unlike Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9kb4-wUAU4
Incredible bass voice; English might not be his native language, but wonderfully done:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjevsnCRQ_A
Tennessee Ernie Ford; starts around 2:00 minute mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjmdEBgsu_g
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