If - In God's Keeping

•If the Lord didn't lead me beside the still water,
  Who Then would satisfy my heart's need?

•If the Lord didn't make me lie down in green pastures,
 I would never know His perfect peace.
 I would never know His perfect peace.

 I will lie down and sleep though I'm lonely;
 I will lie down and find resl far from home.
 I will know peace though the dark night surrounds me;

 I'm in God's keeping wherever I go.
 I'm in God's keeping wherever I go.

•If the Lord didn't lead me thro' the dark valley,
 How would I find the way on my own?

•If the Lord didn't give me the love for the Savior,
 I could never call heaven my home.
 I could never call heaven my home.

•You have declared me as perfect in Your eyes.
You always cared for me in my distress.
Lord, see in me a sacrifice pleasing.
Send me contentment and perfect rest.
Send me contentment and perfect rest.

 I will lie down and sleep though I'm lonely;
 I will lie down and find rest far from home.
 I will know peace though the dark night surrounds me;

 I'm in God's keeping wherever I go.
 I'm in God's keeping wherever I go, wherever I go.

Will Leave the Light on for You

Where the Spirit Shall Bask in the Summer of Heaven

'Tis the Last Day of Summer

'Tis the last day of Summer,
    Now fading away,
As behind yon blue mountain,
    The sun hides its ray;
And the low breeze is sighing,
    So chilly and drear,
That, methinks, the wood whispers,
    Stern Autumn is near!

'Tis the last day of Summer,
    And sad is the smile,
That now lights up the gloom,
    Where it lingers awhile;
Whilst the cloud that is wreathing,
    So gaily the west,
But reveals by its brightness,
    The tempest's dark crest.

'Tis the last day of Summer,
    And fleet as its ray,
Hath departed, so fleetly,
    Doth life speed away!
But beyond this drear gloom,
    Is a resting place given,
Where the spirit shall bask,
    In the summer of Heaven.

T.J.S., 1836
Frederick County, Aug. 31st, 1836.

Poeta Non Fit Sed Nascitur

Dusk in Tuscanny by Stephen Hannock

Dear B:

An eminent English Renaissance playwright and poet says this about Shakespeare. He is “not of an age, but for all time.” Surely, the latter is poeta non fit sed nascitur. Indeed, the English Bard was not made, but a borne poet and playwright. Therefore, on your upcoming birthday, I like to quote this Bard verse, “in honor of whose birth these triumphs are.”

As God says, “gray hair is a crown of glory.” Even so at our different stage of life, we are ever the contingents of God. So it is, you filled my heart with quiet joy in this milestone. May you continue to embrace His wisdom where you are,“where the vine and fig bask hand in hand.”

In shadow or shine, in flower and thorn, I leave you this birthday thought and evermore: a gentleness of heart, a firmness of mind, and a simplicity of life.

in gratia Dei,

L’

‘A’ Train to Zarathustra

12 August, 2024

Dear B_: 

I wish you a very special birthday coming very soon; soft years ahead; a long life fill with the God’s love. As His truth is innate, wait for God and surely He will guide your journeys on the path of life (cf. Psalm 52:9; 16:11).

Shakespeare writes, “So that as clear as is the summer’s sun”. Far be it that I can (no one can) write like the Bard, much less in poetry. So then, I will impart these thoughts to you. 

Life’s tapestry in this world is constantly as Yates says, “stitching and unstitching.” Mankind in God’s tarnished image is always building a better mousetrap on earth from time immemorial. Furthermore, since east of Eden, one sees the Godless culture and the Goliathan shadow of humanism. Parallel with humanism is the violence and self-righteousness garnered in a technological world. From the ‘A’ Train to Zarathustra, i.e., A to Z, mankind is always striving against self and God (cf. Genesis 4:16-24). The palimpsest of man has two elements in its vicious circle: the joyful or vacuous days of wine and roses, and days of despair and bitterness of the souls. For the redeemed, however, time and again God has shown pleasure to adorn or glorify them (cf. Psalm 149:4; Isaiah 60:9). In accordance to His divine will and mercy, anthropomorphically speaking, He has kept count of the tosses and tears in a bottle (cf. Psalm 56:8). With or without the modern version of balms and physicians of Gilead, God in His timing always provides exodus to the afflicted. With tender mercies, He guides the redeemed into an everlasting peace (cf. Jeremiah 8:22; Ezekiel 37:26; Luke 1:78-79). 

Therefore, B_, the recherché on your upcoming birthday and forevermore is this: may you 

utmost embrace not man’s but God’s wisdom and His power (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:5).

 

Take care. 

in gratia Dei,

L’ 

More Firmly Bound to the Country We Inhabit

July 4th

“...We find a race of men living in that day whom we claim
as our fathers and grandfathers;they were iron men, 
they fought for the principle that they were contending for; 
and we understood that by what they then did it has
followed that the degree of prosperity that we now enjoy has come to us.
We hold this annual celebration to remind ourselves of all the good done 
in this process of time of how it was done and who did it, and how we
are historically connected with it; and we go from these meetings
in better humor with ourselves---we feel more attached the one
to the other, and more firmly bound to the country we inhabit.
In every way we are better men in the age, and race, and country 
in which we live for these celebrations...”

- Abraham Lincoln, Chicago, ILL., 10 July 1858.
   

First Day of Summer, Northern Hemisphere, 2024

  
The Woods in Summer

Pleasant it was, when woods were green,
And winds were soft and low,
To lie amidst some sylvan scene,
Where the long drooping boughs between
Shadows dark and sunlight sheen,
Alternate come and go;

Or where the denser grove receives
No sunlight from above,
But the dark foliage interweaves,
In one unbroken roof of leaves,
Underneath whose sloping eaves
The shadows hardly move.

- Longfellow


It is only in heaven that Christians shall find metaphorically 
the abiding beauty of spring, 
the recurring enjoyment of summer,
the constant fruition of autumn. 
There, the redeemed shall have no winter at all. Because  they shall have the ever shining Sun of Righteousness, 
and invariably the river of nourishing Living Water.

A Correspondence Reply

Les Braves, Vierville-sur-Mer,
Omaha Beach, Normandy, France (April 2024)

Dear S_:

It was good to hear from you returning from a visit to Lois, a Christian sister in Idaho. Perhaps you are now in Winthrop Harbor, IL., enjoying the lake and being with C_’s family. As God through the apostle John, we pray all goes well for you. I hope you are as strong in body, as I know also you are in spirit. (3 John 1:2)

Monday, 27 May, was the last Monday in May; it was Memorial Day in these United States. This yearly federal holiday was first inaugurated in 1868 to commemorate the dead of the Civil War; henceforth, all U.S. armed forces who died in global armed conflicts.

Today is 6 June. Here in the U.S. will honor the eightieth years of D-day for the liberation of Europe from the tyrannical Nazi Germany. On that day eighty years ago, this country loss many young men on the shores of Normandy, France. Perhaps there are still “a few of those collected here” in this country still remembered and honored the relinquishment of so many young American lives on 6 June 1944. (e.g.,The Bedford Boys Hometown Memorial )

Now, for some home front news. My neighbor put up in a new fence on the east side last week or so. It took 2.5 days; and it was a tall wooden fence which gave them and us more privacy. As for me, for the last few weeks I cleared about 35’x 4.5’ of Golden Poppies and weeds grew among the tree roses and gardenias on the south fence line. The area looked dried and messy after spring. In lieu, I am now planting more heat tolerant succulents with plenty of spaces in-between for removing resurgent weeds. These succlents were transplanted from established plants in the backyard. In addition, I trimmed some Spanish, French and Englih lavender shrubs. In addition, I repaired several drip line leaks. By the way, at this writing it is 100 °F (the max is forecast at 103). The planted succulents are doing nicely in the heat (so far). I still have several pots of the different succulent plants potted and readied for new locations. Finally, I had a handyman came and looked at the patio lattice-fence and the garage florescent tubes. Since these are non-urgent projects, he could prioritize the tasks. I think he will start the patio lattice this month.

So long for now.

L’

Eighty Years Ago: D-day, June 6, 1944

WARS

In the old wars drum of hoofs and the beat of shod feet.
In the new wars hum of motors and the tread of rubber
     tires.
In the wars to come silent wheels and whirr of rods not
     yet dreamed out in the heads of men.

In the old wars clutches of short swords and jabs into
     faces with spears.
In the new wars long range guns and smashed walls, guns
     running a spit of metal and men falling in tens and twenties.
In the wars to come new silent deaths, new silent hurlers
     not yet dreamed out in the heads of men.

In the old wars kings quarreling and thousands of men
     following.
In the new wars kings quarreling and millions of men
     following.
In the wars to come kings kicked under the dust and
     millions of men following great causes not yet
     dreamed out in the heads of men.

- Carl Sandburg, 1916

Memorial Day Weekend, 2024

THE BATTLEFIELD

They dropped like flakes, they dropped like stars,
      Like petals from a rose.
When suddenly across the June
      A wind with finger goes.

They perished in the seamless grass,—
      No eye could find the place;
But God on his repealless list
      Can summon every face.

    — Emily Dickinson