The Peace of Wild Things...

The Peace of Wild Things
Wendell Berry, Collected Poems

When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water,
and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. for a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

celebrate the Sabbath... remembering Resurrection Sunday!

Let's celebrate together again this week... and be reminded...

HE TOOK THE SCARS

Words and Music by Hamm
(John 3:16, Heb. 10:19-23, Ephes. 2:18)

Sometimes I think about the cross that He endured
Laying down His life unselfishly
And how His suffering means I can rest assured
In His saving grace
Oh when He took our place…

Chorus:
He took the scars, felt the pain
Suffered loss so we could gain
This precious life,

precious love that we are feeling
He took our sin and the fall
Left His hope here for us all

Jesus took the scars
And left us with the healing,

left us with the healing

There is no brokenness that we could ever bring
That would ever be too much for Him to bear
Mistakes and failures don’t mean a thing anymore
That’s what He was dying for…

There was beauty in the tragedy
In His death we found new birth
It was unrelenting love
For every soul on earth

Thank You, Jesus,

for Your unrelenting love!

Oh, Hoppy Day!!

Some things are just too good to stop shouting about ... I couldn't resist one last Resurrection post! The joy of the risen Savior in our lives is great reason to do a little jumping for joy!!

Oh, Happy Day!!
by Tim Hughes

The greatest day in history, Death is beaten

You have rescued me

Sing it out "Jesus is alive!"

The empty cross, The empty grave

Life eternal, You have won the day

Shout it out, "Jesus is alive! He's alive!"

Oh, happy day, happy day!

You washed my sin away

Oh happy day, happy day!

I'll never be the same

Forever I am changed

When I stand, in that place
Free at last, meeting face to face
I am Yours; Jesus, You are mine.
Endless joy, perfect peace
Earthly pain finally will cease
Celebrate!

Jesus is alive! He's alive!

Oh, happy day, happy day!
You washed my sin away.
Oh, happy day, happy day!
I'll never be the same
Forever I am changed

Oh, what a glorious day!

What a glorious way

That You have saved me!

Oh, what a glorious day!

What a glorious Name!

(photos circa 1984...hopefully they brought you a smile or two...

that combined with the amazing joy of the living Christ in our lives!)

HE IS RISEN!!!

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. ~Mark 16:1-4

The stone is rolled away...

As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. ~Mark 16:5

The tomb is EMPTY...

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. ~Matthew 28:5-6

HE IS RISEN!!!

passover....

Tonight is Passover...

This night we commemorate the "passing over" of the firstborn of Israel when God brought judgment on Egypt by killing all the firstborn in the land... the night when God made a way for His people... a way to FREEDOM.

The Israelites were told to paint the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a lamb... a lamb without defect. A perfect sacrifice.

I paint the doorposts of my home with the blood of the Lamb... the Lamb without sin. A perfect sacrifice.

And a Way is made for me-- the Way to FREEDOM--through Jesus, the perfect sacrifice. By His blood, I, too, am "passed over" by death... and given LIFE.

For this, I am amazedly grateful.

celebrate the Sabbath...preparing our hearts for the Cross

Golgotha.

Calvary.

This is what it SHOULD have looked like:

Crosses covering the hill.

Hundreds and thousands of crosses.

A line, a mass, of crosses-- stretching as far as the eye can see.

"For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

All are deserving of death.

And yet, there were only three crosses on the hill that day--

the center one being the focal point.

That ONE CROSS making a way...

A new way.

A way of LIFE instead of death.

"...the result of one act of righteousness was justification

that brings life for all men." Romans 5:18

And, instead of a hill covered in crosses,

we see but One.

One Cross--bearing ONE MAN--Who dies for the many.

Who takes on the sin of the world.

It is

THIS CROSS,

THIS SACRIFICE,

THIS LOVE

for which we must prepare our hearts.

celebrate the Sabbath...being breathless...

But the love of Jesus is utterly unaccountable--

except that He is God

and God is love.

It has no cause in us.

It reacts to,

or repays,

or rewards just nothing in us.

It is beyond human measure,

beyond human comprehension.

It takes my breath away.

~Walter Wangerin, Jr in Reliving The Passion

Thou hast created us for Thyself,

and our heart is not quiet

until it rests in Thee.

~Saint Augustine

Tonight I must just be still and know that He is God...

I pray your night, and your heart, is restful as you rest in Him.

"Be still, and know that I am God..."

~Psalm 46:10

God grant me the serenity...

Most of us have heard the very famous "Serenity Prayer"...

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

It has been used as the key motto of Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-Step programs. Today, however, a friend gave me some quotes to read which she had collected. Amongst those quotes was the Serenity Prayer, but in an expanded version I had never before seen. I thought I would do a little research to see what the original quote actually was, and I found the following, attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr:

"God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."

I like the way the original read, as it included the concept of God's grace. It is by grace, and by God's strength, we can live with this attitude and perspective. Not 'God give us serenity' but 'God give us GRACE to accept with serenity' the things of this life. It puts a different spin on it, don't you think? It is far more rich and God-focused...

I also really like the expanded version (though there seems to be some question about who actually wrote the extra portions):

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.

Wow. So very rich. So very focused on God. So very focused on how it is that we should walk as He did -- accepting hardships as the pathway to peace, taking this world as it is not as we would have it, trusting that He will make all things right IF we surrender to His will... and with the ultimate goal in sight not being happiness here on earth but SUPREME happiness with Him in the life to come! I must ponder this... Lord, grant me this grace...

...think on these things...