Dewy-Feather'd Sleep

Hide me from day's garish eye,
While the bee with honied thigh,
That at her flowery work doth sing,
And the waters murmuring
With such consort as they keep,
Entice the dewy-feather'd sleep.

John Milton (1608-1674)
from Il Penseroso

While preparing dinner in the kitchen, I heard a buzzing that was loud enough to be detected, despite the radio playing. The buzzing was insistent enough to make me peek through the blinds, which were drawn to keep the sun's afternoon heat at bay.

Was it a wasp or a bee? I silently planned to check on it later. Dinner seemed the more important thing to attend to at the moment.

Later didn't come soon enough.

The next morning, I spied the forgotten bee on the window sill. Well, not actually on the window sill. That would have been more poetic. Instead, she was in the metal track in which the window slides. She had spent her last moments of life valiantly trying to return to the hive with her hard-won sustenance. I couldn't bear to see her there. A life all used up, without getting to return home. So I took her outside and lay her in a bed of golden flower petals. This seemed a more fitting resting place for one so driven to obey God's command for her life.

How often have I hurridly dismissed someone's plea for help, and thought, "Later..."?
Lord, help me to be mindful of hurts, burdens, and pleas.

"My Shepherd Is the Lord My God"

An unknown writer paraphrased Psalm 23 into a rhyming poem, suitable for singing. These words were put to the music of English composer, Thomas Tallis (1505-1585). Tallis, a church organist, com­posed Ro­man Ca­tho­lic li­tur­gic­al works in La­tin. Although he re­mained a Ca­tho­lic, Tallis composed music for the Anglican church, as well. He was one of the first com­pos­ers of Anglican sa­cred mu­sic to write in Eng­lish.

My Shepherd Is the Lord My God

My Shepherd is the Lord my God;
What can I want beside?
He leads me where green pastures are,
And where cool waters hide.

He will refresh my soul again,
When I am faint and sore,
And guide my step for His Name’s sake,
In right paths evermore.

Though I should walk the vale of death,
I should not know a fear.
Thy rod and staff they comfort me:
Thou, Lord, art ever near.

A table Thou hast spread for me
In presence of my foes;
Thou dost anoint my head with oil,
My cup, Lord, overflows.

Thy goodness and Thy mercy, Lord,
Will surely follow me,
And in Thy house forevermore
My dwelling place shall be.

(The link above will take you to the melody, as well as the printed words. I am unable to locate a source for the painting of Tallis, above. Variations of this painting seems to be the only rendering we have of him. It appears that the painting was modeled after an etching of Tallis.)

Motes and Beams

Excerpts from The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis
Book 1 Chapter 14
On Avoiding Rash Judgment

In judging others a man laboureth in vain;
he often erreth, and easily falleth into sin;
but in judging and examining himself
he always laboureth to good purpose.

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye
and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"
Matthew 7:3 (NIV)

"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye,
but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"
Matthew 7:3 (KJV)

The King James version likens our sin to a beam, not merely a plank. I picture a lodgepole pine tree; not some puny 2" X 4" board.

We have a tree trunk in our eye! Several, actually. And we love to fret and complain about the speck in our brother's eye.

Dear Lord, help me not to unfairly judge others. Help me not to grumble in my mind over little petty things whilst ignoring my own faults.

(Photo taken by my son on the Texas Gulf coast. Notice that you can see lots of beams, but nary a mote.)

"Redeemer! Whither Should I Flee?"

British priest, Augustus Toplady (1740 - 1778), is probably best known today for penning the words to the hymn "Rock of Ages". In his all-too-short life, he also wrote The Doctrine of Absolute Predestination Stated and Asserted in 1769. Historic Proof of the Doctrinal Calvinism of the Church of England was written in 1774. In 1775, Toplady left the Anglican church and began preaching at a French Calvinist church in London. Toplady died of tuberculosis a few months shy of his 38th birthday. Quite sobering when one thinks of how much he and others accomplished in far fewer years than many of us have already lived.

Here are the first two verses of one of the many hymns Toplady wrote.


"Redeemer! Whither Should I Flee?"

Redeemer! whither should I flee,
Or how escapee the wrath to come?
The weary sinner flies to Thee
For shelter from impending doom;
Smile on me, gracious Lord,
And show Thyself the Friend of sinners now.

Beneath the shadow of Thy cross,
The heavy-laden soul finds rest;
I would esteem the world but dross,
So I might be of Christ possessed.
I'd seek my every joy in Thee,
Be thou both life and light to me.

(Photo taken by my son on the Gulf coast of Texas. It makes me think of Jonah fleeing via ship from his appointed mission to Nineveh.)

Anniversaries

On May 25, my dad had been gone for five years. Five years. Seems like yesterday. Seems like ages ago. I tried to write something. Couldn't get the words right. It still sits in my blog queue, with Draft staring at me in blue letters.

This past Sunday was our wedding anniversary. Twenty-nine years we've been married. Seems like yesterday. Seems like ages ago. Some of my childhood memories are still so fresh, that it seems impossible that I've been married longer than I was single.

Here is one of the prayers spoken at our wedding, back when we weren't even Christians yet. It's only one sentence, but there's a lot of meat in that sentence.

O God, who hast so consecrated the state of Matrimony that in it is represented the spiritual marriage and unity betwixt Christ and His Church; Look mercifully upon these thy servants, that they may love, honour, and cherish each other, and so live together in faithfulness and patience, in wisdom and true godliness, that their home may be a haven of blessing and of peace; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Form of Solemnization of Matrimony
Book of Common Prayer