It was too early to get up and too late to go back to sleep so I let my mind go walkabout this morning. Megan and her three boys are coming today for a Halloween visit so I rambled through a grocery list and fun to do list for awhile. Then I began to recite Bible verses and passages I memorized as a child. I was surprised at how many I remembered. I wondered if children memorized Bible verses today in Sunday School. It was a comfort to be able to turn those ancient beloved words over in my mind, hearing and seeing those words that have been a part of my faith for sixty two years.
And then I remembered last night. After supper with mama, I went down to the stable to settle the horses in for the night. I called them in from the pasture, gave them some feed and hay, patted their suddenly wooly winter coats and began the walk up to the house. After several days of windy, cold, snowy weather, the world around me was still and calm. The dark night was lit up with thousands of pinpoint lights. As far as I could see, from mountaintop to mountaintop, stars and planets blossomed with a living light and it took my breath away. I stood still, breathed in the crisp night air and fell on my faith knees in wonder. The world of the universe is a mystery and an enormity beyond my ability to understand. All I can do is stand in silence and awe in the midst of such abundance and beauty.
It is a worry and a wonder that the One who created the stars, the One who is as far from me as the stars, is also as close to me as my heart. My mind, which cannot encompass the infinitude of the universe or the endless being of God, must make room for the presence of God in my tiny, limited self. I am, in my own peculiar particular self, a home for a part of God, the same God of the stars in the heavens. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you which you have from God?” This question in First Corinthians reminds me of God’s gracious gift of Spirit to my body. And in my body, my heart, is a universe as infinite as the stars in the skies above. “Star of wonder, star of night, star with loyal beauty bright, westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light.” May I always be able to see stars and feel the wonder, accept the mystery, and celebrate the presence of the starlight within my soul.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The Art of Advent... Let the Lower Lights Be Burning
Looking for the Lower Lights
It is cold here on the hill at the farm... 36 degrees yesterday with the wind chill factored in. And last night it was snowing as we went to bed. No accumulation was expected because the ground is still warm but there it was, snow in October. Ski slopes are rejoicing but not farmers. After a difficult dry summer with not enough hay put aside, we are feeding winter rations already. Large animals need a great deal of hay during cold weather not just for nutrition’s sake. Digestion, the work of multiple stomachs, keeps them warm during winter’s blasts.
Last night when I fed the cows, I opened the gate to the barn so the cows could have shelter. I came up the hill to our house and gathered the horses in from the grazing patch to feed them in the barn. Then I went to get the donkeys. Shirley T and Kate always slip under the electric cord to go their own way for grazing. Last night they did not want to come in and refused to let me lead them home. So I did the rational thing. I drove the mule like a horse, ran their little donkey butts over hill and dale until they gave up and ran home. Their little legs can cover some ground quickly. Shirley T was so frisky from the cold weather that she kept jumping in the air with all four feet, braying (cussing) as she outran the mule.
Mama and I were laughing about daddy getting so mad with the cows that he would bump them (gently) with his truck. I have become my father. My only excuse is brain freeze. After an hour in the cold with gusty winds blowing, my ability to think was frozen. Oh, well... The donkeys have been getting too fat from too much grain so they needed the exercise.
This morning at nine, the vet is coming to check Dakota out. Dakota has turned out to be an easy horse to ride. He has good sense and his years of experience as a trail horse make him patient with beginners. Dakota is a good influence on Junie B when Michael and I ride together. It will be cold down at the stable and I might need to take a thermos of hot tea to stay thawed out.
Winter’s cold winds remind me that the darkness of Advent is approaching. Advent is s study in paradox and contrast. We mark the passing of the Sabbaths with words like peace, hope, joy, love... warm fuzzy words that make us feel good. But the truth of Advent is the absence of light. The One who brought light to our darkness has not yet been born. Like the darkness of winter days, the darkness in our hearts and souls needs a season for recognition and release. I stand outside at the stable gate, in the night darkness, seeing the glow of far off lights in Asheville over the hills and mountains. As I prepare to enter this Advent season, I will carry the memory of those lights and all the Light that has been a part of my life for sixty two years.
An old hymn based on seafaring experience is my theme song for this preparation time. “Brightly beams our Father’s mercy from His lighthouse evermore, But to us He gives the keeping of the lights along the shore. Dark the night of sin has settled, loud the angry billows roar, eager eyes are watching, longing for the lights along the shore. Trim your feeble lamp, my brother; some poor sailor, tempest tossed, trying now to make the harbor, in the darkness may be lost. Let the lower lights be burning! Send a gleam across the wave! Some poor fainting, struggling seaman you may rescue, you may save.” Luke 12:35, the Bible verse inspiration for this hymn, says “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning...” I will try to keep my light burning through the darkness of Advent winter. I will clothe my soul in hope, love, joy and peace while I wait for the Light to shine on me again. And it will...
It is cold here on the hill at the farm... 36 degrees yesterday with the wind chill factored in. And last night it was snowing as we went to bed. No accumulation was expected because the ground is still warm but there it was, snow in October. Ski slopes are rejoicing but not farmers. After a difficult dry summer with not enough hay put aside, we are feeding winter rations already. Large animals need a great deal of hay during cold weather not just for nutrition’s sake. Digestion, the work of multiple stomachs, keeps them warm during winter’s blasts.
Last night when I fed the cows, I opened the gate to the barn so the cows could have shelter. I came up the hill to our house and gathered the horses in from the grazing patch to feed them in the barn. Then I went to get the donkeys. Shirley T and Kate always slip under the electric cord to go their own way for grazing. Last night they did not want to come in and refused to let me lead them home. So I did the rational thing. I drove the mule like a horse, ran their little donkey butts over hill and dale until they gave up and ran home. Their little legs can cover some ground quickly. Shirley T was so frisky from the cold weather that she kept jumping in the air with all four feet, braying (cussing) as she outran the mule.
Mama and I were laughing about daddy getting so mad with the cows that he would bump them (gently) with his truck. I have become my father. My only excuse is brain freeze. After an hour in the cold with gusty winds blowing, my ability to think was frozen. Oh, well... The donkeys have been getting too fat from too much grain so they needed the exercise.
This morning at nine, the vet is coming to check Dakota out. Dakota has turned out to be an easy horse to ride. He has good sense and his years of experience as a trail horse make him patient with beginners. Dakota is a good influence on Junie B when Michael and I ride together. It will be cold down at the stable and I might need to take a thermos of hot tea to stay thawed out.
Winter’s cold winds remind me that the darkness of Advent is approaching. Advent is s study in paradox and contrast. We mark the passing of the Sabbaths with words like peace, hope, joy, love... warm fuzzy words that make us feel good. But the truth of Advent is the absence of light. The One who brought light to our darkness has not yet been born. Like the darkness of winter days, the darkness in our hearts and souls needs a season for recognition and release. I stand outside at the stable gate, in the night darkness, seeing the glow of far off lights in Asheville over the hills and mountains. As I prepare to enter this Advent season, I will carry the memory of those lights and all the Light that has been a part of my life for sixty two years.
An old hymn based on seafaring experience is my theme song for this preparation time. “Brightly beams our Father’s mercy from His lighthouse evermore, But to us He gives the keeping of the lights along the shore. Dark the night of sin has settled, loud the angry billows roar, eager eyes are watching, longing for the lights along the shore. Trim your feeble lamp, my brother; some poor sailor, tempest tossed, trying now to make the harbor, in the darkness may be lost. Let the lower lights be burning! Send a gleam across the wave! Some poor fainting, struggling seaman you may rescue, you may save.” Luke 12:35, the Bible verse inspiration for this hymn, says “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning...” I will try to keep my light burning through the darkness of Advent winter. I will clothe my soul in hope, love, joy and peace while I wait for the Light to shine on me again. And it will...
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