Oh Yet We Trust

Oh, yet we trust that somehow good

Will be the final goal of ill,

To pangs of nature, sins of will

Defects of doubt, and taints of blood;

That nothing walks with aimless feet,

that not one life shall be destroyed,

Or cast as rubbish to the void,

When God hath made the pile complete;

That not a worm is cloven in vain,

That not a moth with vain desire

Is shriveled in a fruitless fire,

Or but subserves another’s gain.

Behold, we know not anything:

I can but trust that good shall fall

At last- far off- at last, to all,

And every winter change to spring.

So runs my dream: but what am I?

An infant crying in the night:

An infant crying for the light:

And with no language but a cry. 

Alfred Lord Tennyson.

You can hear this poem read on YouTube, I put the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLryC-N196s

Importance of labor

  For many of us who had little instruction growing up, our employers become our teachers, or parents if you will; they take over the roll of teaching us the practical skills of work and living such as –

The ability to focus, attention to detail, perseverance, resourcefulness, submission to authority, self-discipline, exercise, organization and order, cleanliness, overcoming obstacles, working through common pains and discomforts, the use of many tools that prove useful in our personal lives, as well as a sense of achievement. Proverbs 14:23 states that, “In all labor there is profit.” These are some of the reasons why. I might add, the training process is costly and requires a great deal of patience; if we are employed we should be grateful.

  “Our most exalted feelings are not meant to be the common food of daily life. Contentment is more satisfying than exhilaration; and contentment means simply the sum of small and quiet pleasures. We ought not to seek high joys. We may be bright without transfiguration. The even flow of constant cheerfulness strengthens; while great excitements, driving us with fierce speed, both rack the ship and end often in explosions. If we were just ready to break out of the body with delight, I know not but we should disdain many things important to be done. Low measures of feeling are better than ecstasies, for ordinary life. God sends his rains in gentle drops, else flowers would be beaten to pieces.” H. W. Beecher.

Why I’m a Christian -

  

I’ve seen, I’ve watched, I’ve heard and this is my report why I believe and follow Christ.

 In this fraternity of sinners saved by grace I’ve seen the clearest revelation of goodness, love and perseverance in well doing than anywhere else. 

It's been my privilege to work alongside men and women who lay aside their personal desire and selfish ambitions to work for the betterment of others. Accepting the sacrifices as worthy to be born as I see an infectious, Godly-fire burning within, leading them on to care for the downcast and hurting. 

 I’ve seen, over and over, vicious, brute beasts inflamed with self-destructive lusts and addictions, fall down before the feet of Christ and rise up with a new life beating so fervently in their hearts that hell and all of its arts are to no avail. I’ve watch men and women stumble, stagger, pitch and fall in their pursuit of wholeness, when friendless and alone, only to encounter this heavenly force of mercy, and watch them rise and walk on to victory. Too many times, too many miracles to deny! I’ve seen death bed saints with hope in their eyes as they leave this world for the next. Infants protected and advocated for by hearts that beat with love for the unwanted. I’ve seen faces alight with such a heavenly glow and hope that the world and all its punishments could not dampen nor extinguish. 

I’ve witnessed souls abused, neglected and damaged beyond any human repair, crumble under God’s forgiveness and extend that forgiveness to those who least deserve it. I’ve watched as prayer has transformed the most deteriorated, shanty into the Sistine Chapel and felt the Holy Spirit’s electricity arc between brothers.

I’ve watched the downcast lifted up, the refugee cared for, the poor and destitute assisted, the darkest evils resisted, the clasping jaws of addiction crushed, the estranged restored.

 I know not where I can go to watch the lives of the least the last and the lost so cared for, so loved, so invested in; and then to watch that rescued person join the fray and do unto others. I testify not of creeds or party’s, studies or schools, but this raw, life changing power that runs through all of Christianity, reaches down to the least, changes the brute to the gentleness of a child; changes the child to a man with noble vision, holy purposes and care for all, and gratitude to God.

 I care not to wrestle or wrangle about it, but only to live in it.

 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” I have seen and I believe!