The power of literature and stories

Nourished for hundreds of years in a literature in which Right invariably triumphs in the last chapter, we believe half-instinctively that evil always defeats itself in the long run. Pacifism, for instance, is founded largely on this belief. Don’t resist evil, and it will somehow destroy itself. But why should it? What evidence is there that it does? And what instance is there of a modern industrialised state collapsing unless conquered tram the outside by military force?—George Orwell, A Collection of Essays, 200

<idle musing>
Ah, but he is wrong about a state collapsing without being overrun. The most recent example is the Soviet Union. It dramatically collapsed in 1980. And, we are currently seeing the collapse of the US. So, military force isn't necessary. Economic collapse can happen from within.
</idle musing>

Prayer for Strength

55 Prayer for Strength

O God, You have given us life through Your Son, Jesus Christ. You have given us the security of faith in a world that longs for something on which to rely. We thank You for Your gifts to us.

Teach us to stand strong for Your Kingdom: to be free in this world in order to be Christ’s men and women.

Help us to know Your love and the love of each other. Set us free to become our true selves because we are loved, and to free others because we love.

Give us enough tests to make us strong;
enough vision and endurance to follow Your way;
enough patience to persist when the going is difficult;
enough of reality to know our weaknesses;
and enough humility to know these gifts come from You.

Go before us to prepare the way;
walk behind us to be our protection;
and walk beside us to be our companion,

through Christ our Lord, Amen.
—Richard Langfold
Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
The portion of the hymnal I'm reading through right now is entitle Comfort. Seems appropriate in light of the wholesale destruction of everything that going on right now. Perhaps it's time to pull out Augustine's City of God to get a bit of perspective!
</idle musing>

A prayer for writing and checking footnotes!

There's remarkable post today at the Christian Scholar's Review on set liturgical prayers and their value. But the thing that jumped out at me is their prayer for writing footnotes:

A Liturgy for the Writing of Citations

O Lord, you have placed me
in a community of scholars,
working together to explore your world.

As I place commas, periods, and parentheses
Let me see that care and attentiveness
Are attributes of your creativity and grace.

As I take pains to attribute my work aright
Help me be grateful for the labor of others
And see the joy of communal discovery.

You are King of Details, O God.
You send planets swirling in a dangerous dance
Just as you choreograph the cells in my own body.

You have given me this small task to do.
Clear my heart of frustration and boredom.

For annoyance, bring gratitude
For impatience, bring absorbing care

Help me to neither take for granted the work of others
Nor the work of your Son
Nor the work you give me to do in your world.

On writing history

I know it is the fashion to say that most of recorded history is lies anyway. I am willing to believe that history is for the most part inaccurate and biased, but what is peculiar to our own age is the abandonment of the idea that history could be truthfully written. In the past people deliberately lied, or they unconsciously coloured what they wrote, or they struggled after the truth, well knowing that they must make many mistakes; but in each case they believed that “the facts” existed and were more or less discoverable. And in practice there was always a considerable body of fact which would have been agreed to by almost everyone.—George Orwell, A Collection of Essays, 199 (emphasis original)

Tozer for Tuesday

The difference between spiritual things and earthly things is that the things of the spirit are so modest; the things of the spirit are not pushing in on you; they are not singing commercials to you; they are not knocking on your door and urging you to buy; they are simply waiting for you to notice.—A.W. Tozer, Experiencing the Presence of God, 38

Joy vs. feeling happy

Joy at All Times 47

We must recognize that there is all the difference in the world between rejoicing and feeling happy. The Scripture tells us that we should always rejoice. Take the lyrical Epistle of Paul to the Philippians where he says: “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice”. He goes on saying it. To rejoice is a command, yes, but there is all the difference in the world between rejoicing and being happy. You cannot make yourself happy, but you can make yourself rejoice, in the sense that you will always rejoice in the Lord. Happiness is something within ourselves, rejoicing is “in the Lord”. How important it is then, to draw the distinction between rejoicing in the Lord and feeling happy. Take the fourth chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. There you will find that the great Apostle puts it all very plainly and clearly in that series of extraordinary contrasts which he makes: “We are troubled on every side (I don’t think he felt very happy at the moment) yet not distressed”, “we are perplexed (he wasn ’t feeling happy at all at that point) but not in despair”, “persecuted but not forsaken”, “cast down, but not destroyed ”—and so on. In other words the Apostle does not suggest a kind of happy person in a carnal sense, but he was still rejoicing. That is the difference between the two conditions.—Martin Lloyd-Jones ( Hymns for the Family of God)

Origen on taking sin lightly

Sheep and goats and cattle and birds were slain for those, of former times. With such things were they sprinkled. For you, however, the Son of God was slain: and it pleases you to sin again? (Homily on Leviticus 2, 4) Translation from William A. Jurgens, The Faith of the Early Fathers, 1:207

Love is hard work!

In this yogi-ridden age, it is too readily assumed that “non-attachment” is not only better than a full acceptance of earthly life, but that the ordinary man only rejects it because it is too difficult: in other words, that the average human being is a failed saint. It is doubtful whether this is true. Many people genuinely do not wish to be saints, and it is probable that some who achieve or aspire to sainthood have never felt much temptation to be human beings. if one could follow it to its psychological roots, one would, I believe, find that the main motive for “non-attachment” is a desire to escape from the pain of living, and above all from love, which, sexual or non-sexual, is hard work.—George Orwell, A Collection of Essays, 176–77

A prayer for those whose loved one has died

45 For Loneliness in Bereavement

Father, I am only human. I need the touch of human companionship. Sorely I miss those I love who are with Thee. I pray, O Jesus, that Thou wilt reveal to me unseen presences. Help me to know how close my loved ones are. For if they are with Thee, and Thou art with me, I know that they cannot be far away.

Make real for me that contact of spirit with spirit that will re-establish the lost fellowship for which my heart yearns. Give to me faith shining through my tears. Plant peace and hope within my heart. Point me with joy to the great reunion.

But until then, enable me to live happily and worthily of those who are with Thee. In the Name of Him who is the Lord of Life, I pray, Amen. —Peter Marshall ( Hymns for the Family of God)

No One Understands Like Jesus

36 No One Understands Like Jesus

1. No one understands like Jesus.
   He's a friend beyond compare;
   Meet Him at the throne of mercy;
   He is waiting for you there.
   No one understands like Jesus
   When the days are dark and grim;
   No one is so near, so dear as Jesus
   Cast your ev'ry care on Him!

2. No one understands like Jesus;
   Ev'ry woe He sees and feels;
   Tenderly He whispers comfort,
   And the broken heart He heals.
   No one understands like Jesus
   When the days are dark and grim;
   No one is so near, so dear as Jesus
   Cast your ev'ry care on Him!

3. No one understands like Jesus
   When the foes of life assail;
   You should never be discouraged;
   Jesus cares and will not fail!
   No one understands like Jesus
   When the days are dark and grim;
   No one is so near, so dear as Jesus
   Cast your ev'ry care on Him!

4. No one understands like Jesus
   When you falter on the way;
   Tho' you fail Him, sadly fail Him,
   He will pardon you today.
   No one understands like Jesus
   When the days are dark and grim;
   No one is so near, so dear as Jesus
   Cast your ev'ry care on Him!
                         John W. Peterson
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
I wasn't familiar with John W. Peterson until I moved to Madison. All of a sudden his hymns were everywhere—at least it seemed that way. The story behind this hymn is told here. Take the time to read it. I think you'll be glad you did.
</idle musing>

Near to the Heart of God

35 Near to the Heart of God

1 There is a place of quiet rest,
   near to the heart of God,
   a place where sin cannot molest,
   near to the heart of God.

Refrain:
   O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
   sent from the heart of God,
   hold us, who wait before thee,
   near to the heart of God.

2 There is a place of comfort sweet,
   near to the heart of God,
   a place where we our Savior meet,
   near to the heart of God. [Refrain]

3 There is a place of full release,
   near to the heart of God,
   a place where all is joy and peace,
   near to the heart of God. [Refrain]
                         Cleland B. McAfee
                         Hymns for the Family of God

On overlooking the wrongs of those "on our side" (Orwell)

I have little direct evidence about the atrocities in the Spanish civil war. I know that some were committed by the Republicans, and far more (they are still continuing) by the Fascists. But what impressed me then, and has impressed me ever since, is that atrocities are believed in or disbelieved in solely on grounds of political predilection. Everyone believes in the atrocities of the enemy and disbelieves in those of his own side, without ever bothering to examine the evidence. Recently I drew up a table of atrocities during the period between 1918 and the present; there was never a year when atrocities were not occurring somewhere or other, and there was hardly a single case when the Left and the Right believed in the same stories simultaneously. And stranger yet, at any moment the situation can suddenly reverse itself and yesterday’s proved-to-the-hilt atrocity story can become a ridiculous lie, merely because the political landscape has changed.—George Orwell, A Collection of Essays, 191

A Psalm for today

94:1 Lord, avenging God—
  avenging God, show yourself!
2 Rise up, judge of the earth!
  Pay back the arrogant exactly what they deserve!
3 How long will the wicked—oh, Lord!—
  how long will the wicked win?
4 They spew arrogant words;
  all the evildoers are bragging.
5 They crush your own people, Lord!
  They abuse your very own possession.
6 They kill widows and immigrants;
  they murder orphans,
7 saying all the while,
  “The Lord can’t see it;
    Jacob’s God doesn’t know
    what’s going on!”
8 You ignorant people better learn quickly.
  You fools—when will you get some sense?
9 The one who made the ear,
  can’t he hear?
The one who formed the eye,
  can’t he see?
10 The one who disciplines nations,
  can’t he punish?
The one who teaches humans,
  doesn’t he know?
11 The Lord does indeed know human thoughts,
  knows that they are nothing but a puff of air.
…
16 Who will stand up for me against the wicked?
  Who will help me against evildoers?
17 If the Lord hadn’t helped me,
  I would live instantly in total silence.
18 Whenever I feel my foot slipping,
  your faithful love steadies me, Lord.
19 When my anxieties multiply,
  your comforting calms me down.
20 Can a wicked ruler be your ally;
  one who wreaks havoc by means of the law?
21 The wicked gang up against the lives of the righteous.
  They condemn innocent blood.
22 But the Lord is my fortress;
  my God is my rock of refuge.
23 He will repay them for their wickedness,
  completely destroy them because of their evil.
  Yes, the Lord our God will completely destroy them. (CEB)

Snow!

Ok, we've been having a "snow drought" for the last two years. Last year I shoveled twice. This year, I've shoveled three times. Last night, we got a dusting. But, it made me realize it's been ten years(!) since I posted my favorite meditation on snow:

When rain turns to ice and snow I declare a holiday. I could as easily resist as stay at a desk with a parade going by in the street below. I cannot hide the delight that then possesses my heart. Only God could have surprised rain with such a change of dress as ice and cold...

Most people love rain, water. Snow charms all young hearts. Only when you get older and bones begin to feel dampnesss, when snow becomes a traffic problem and a burden in the driveway, when wet means dirt—then the poetry takes flight and God's love play is not noted.

But I am still a child and have no desire to take on the ways of death. I shall continue to heed water's invitation, the call of the rain. We are in love and lovers are a little mad. (Space for God, 64)

The snippet above is from the first edition. I just realized today that there is a second edition. I have no idea what they changed, as the page count is only different by three pages, which could just be a new preface…

Useful?

as Gandhi himself says, “in the end deceivers deceive only themselves”; but at any rate the gentleness with which he was nearly always handled was due partly to the feeling that he was useful. The British Conservatives only became really angry with him. when, as in 1942, he was in effect turning his non-violence against a different conqueror.—George Orwell, A Collection of Essays, 172

O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

24 O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

1. O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
   Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
   Rolling as a mighty ocean
   In its fullness over me.
   Underneath me, all around me,
   Is the current of Thy love;
   Leading onward, leading home-ward,
   To my glorious rest above.

2. O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
   Spread His praise from shore to shore!
   How He loveth, ever loveth,
   Changeth never, nevermore.
   How He watches o'er His loved ones,
   Died to call them all His own;
   How for them He intercedeth,
   Watcheth o'er them from the throne!

3. O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
   Love of ev'ry love the best!
   'Tis an ocean vast of blessing,
   'Tis a haven sweet of rest.
   O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
   'Tis a heav'n of heav'ns to me;
   And it lifts me up to glory,
   For it lifts me up to Thee.
                         Samuel Trevor Francis
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
Surprisingly, this hymn only occurs in about 60 hymnals. I don't recall when I first heard and sang this. It wasn't in either Methodist hymnals I grew up with, so it wasn't there—unless it was a piece we sang in the church choir. But, more likely, it was when I moved to Madison, because the author was Plymouth Brethren. Either way, once I heard it I loved it. Maybe it's the tune that seems to fit the words so well.
</idle musing>