Faith’s Question

Tags

Christ, Death, Eternity, God, Hope, Jesus Christ, Life, Poem

“To whom, O Savior, shall we go?

The night of death draws near;

Its shadows must be passed alone,

No friend can with our souls go down

The untried way to cheer.

Thou hast the words of endless life;

Thou givest victory in the strife;

Thou only art the changeless Friend,

On whom for aye we may depend:

In life, in death, alike we flee,

O Savior of the world! to Thee.”

-Frances Ridley Havergal, final paragraph of “Faith’s Question”.

Nature’s Encore

Tags

Autumn, Beauty, Colors, Fall, Poem, Season, Weather, Wonder

Autumn comes

on blustery wings,

in breeze that sings

through thinning boughs

festal bedecked

bright, orange-flecked

plumage waving.

 

Autumn leaps

upon the year

in breezes clear

as trumpet blasts,

triumphant casts

its colored cape;

wond’ring we gape

nature’s encore.

Song for a Dreary Day

Tags

Grace, Hope, Mercy, Poem

Rain fall,

come pattering upon the panes

with your memory of sorrows

–there is ever tomorrow.

O dreary day,

yours is the moment;

paint it gray and grumble

over souls you humble.

Heaven sees,

and God is kind;

clearer come the dawning skies

and mercy with sunrise.

Ode to the Welsh Brew Tea

Tags

Nonsense, Poem, Tea

Here’s three cheers for the Welsh Brew Tea,

who, summoned under a Summer sun

fulfills his oath faithfully,

putting to rout tension.

 

Faithful, vigilant, Welsh Brew Tea,

Receive my encomium to thee!

 

Here’s three cheers for the Welsh Brew Tea,

who comes in Autumn no laggard,

but stalwart in his steaming station

leaves my brow less haggard.

 

Faithful, vigilant, Welsh Brew Tea,

Receive my encomium to thee!

 

Here’s three cheers for the Welsh Brew Tea,

who, welcomed on a Winter’s day,

slackens not in his sworn duty

to chase the chill away.

 

Faithful, vigilant, Welsh Brew Tea,

Receive my encomium to thee!

 

Here’s three cheers for the Welsh Brew Tea,

who sprightly springs at Spring tea-time

to invigorate the languid day

with essences sublime.

 

Faithful, vigilant, Welsh Brew Tea,

Receive my encomium to thee!

Lord of Light

Tags

Eternity, God, Light, Poem, Truth

Lord of light, invincible,

the light by which we see,

the light beyond that lights our eyes

and lights the way to thee,

Lord of light, unfading,

enlighten us to see

only in your consuming radiance

burns bliss eternally.

Unhidden

Tags

Heaven, Life, Nature, Poem, Revelation, Truth, Wisdom

That bold azure canopy above shows,

rather than hides,

the brilliant gates of heaven to our eyes,

and every blossom that unfolds

unfolds to us.

The twining grapevine molds

a sculpture of suggestive power

as songbirds herald

celestial tidings with each daylit hour.

We search, but cannot find what we

refuse to see–

that every moment apes eternity.

On Silvery Wing of Holiest Song

Tags

Gospel, Jesus Christ, Poem, Praise

“Hush! while on silvery wing of holiest song

Floats forth the old, dear story of our peace,

His coming, the Desire of Ages long,

To wear our chains and win our glad release.

Our wondering joy, to hear such tidings blest,

Is crowned with ‘Come to Him, and He will give you rest.’

Rest, by His sorrow!  Bruised for our sin,

Behold the Lamb of God!  His death our life.

Now lift your heads, ye gates!  He entereth in,

Christ risen, indeed, and Conqueror in the strife.

Thanks, thanks to Him who won, and Him who gave

Such victory of love, such triumph o’er the grave.”

–from “Threefold Praise,” by Frances Ridley Havergal

A Brighter Light

Tags

Beauty, Celebrities, Celebrity Culture, Culture, Faith, Glory, God, Life, Meaning, Truth

So small the glitterings that satisfy

our little minds, the fading glamor

which captivates our child-eyes,

the sparks we take for stars eternal,

entrancing flickers in the night.

We are too satisfied,

too soon bewitched

by shadows vague and fading fast.

How brighter, fuller, shines celestial

the fiery pillar everlasting;

how brighter burns that majestic

Light of all light,

Light unending,

which alone can satisfy.

Beauty’s Prophecy

Tags

Beauty, Creation, Eschatology, Nature, Poem

Thank you, Lord, for this world

that you have made;

for the glory of its spreading skies

and every leaf and tree

and bit of painted paradise,

green fields of morning mist-veiled

or dew-bejeweled,

proud trees boastful with verdant plumage,

and every leaf and flower,

harbinger of that new age

and worlds renewed.

The gift of beauty prophesies

in fields and trees and spreading skies.

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

Tags

Ephemeral, Eternity, Frailty, Glory, God, Humanity, Life, Poem, Temporality

These fragile fields

and cities vain,

titanic labors of thought and limb

–ephemeral

–lights so sprightly shimmering

and so soon dim,

our monuments of data,

steel, and stone,

lifeless remnants

and dry as bone.

Look down, Everlasting,

upon these fragile fields;

when all things fade,

all sepulchral,

Your grace is new

and ever giving.

Awake our hearts

to ever-living hopes

undreamt in vanity,

and fix us

on eternity.