Clearly I need to listen to classical guitar more often. As I drove to work this morning, popped in a CD of Christoper Parkening’s(Elmer Berstein – Concerto for Guitar) and was a bit surprised by how much I enjoyed it anew. I’ve had this CD for a while(I want to say – since 2002/2003??!) and I’m sure part of the enjoyment was due to the nostalgia factor and the good memories associated with it. Nonetheless, I now have a great desire to write more. Most likely because this used to be some of my best writing music back in high school! My problem now…what to write!? Frothy poetry? Gritty science fiction? Moody fantasy? I know not…I need some prompt, or a grand idea…or…something! Alas for my muse and the dearth of her song. Someday I shall write again. Someday.
Tag: journal
Three Steps to Summer Redux
Happy Wednesday friends!! During my drive over to work, I listened to a quality old CD I burned oh…five years ago? As I prepared for summer in Scotland? Wow, was it really five years ago? Anyway – great music, even though apparently my mix CDs were even more random back in the day! Andrew Belle, Lost Prophets, Needtobreathe, T-Swift…and of course – Hope Bible Church! Anyways, one of the songs there brought some good verses back to mind and thought I would share…
So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord,
is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to
them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has
fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of
the earth.”
And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were
looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they
were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men
in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee,
why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken
up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have
watched Him go into heaven.”
-Acts 1:6-11
Two points. Firstly, do we oft consider that we have the power of the Holy Spirit in us? We are the witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have received the Holy Spirit. We are imbued with the very power of God. Secondly, Jesus is indeed coming again – in a physical and most real sense. Let us long for that. But – let us not be melancholy and tarry our days away in mournful anticipation. Let us be filled with joy and do the deeds of the Lord as we walk upon this earth! We are the witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is who we are, now.
And one day, we will witness the return of the Lord to this earth and we shall see Him face to face. And then we will be with Him, forever.
At that, our hearts can only be full of joy, continually. At that thought, I bow my head in worship.
Have a most lovely day, dear friends.
The White Rider
Just had a sweet chat with Maryanne on phone…now about to have a cuppa and read a bit from Lord of the Rings. What a beautiful afternoon. How I love you all, my friends!!
One Day under the Rainbow
It is beautifully cold outside this morning. It is fifty-nine degrees F. FIFTY-NINE. And it is May 24th! This is absolutely fantastic…to walk outside into the early morning and feel the crisp, late springtime air – oh frabjous day, callooh, callay! And now it is time to sit in peace and enjoy my most lusciously warm peppermint mocha. Farewell and happy Wednesday, dear friends.
A Drink of Water on a most Hot Day
Good morning friends! I have not long to write this day(the only reason I’m writing now at all – is that I fear I will not have time to write later on tonight!)…but just wanted to share a few verses that encouraged my soul this morning…be at peace and rest in God, dear friends.
And this I pray,
that your love may abound still more
and more in real knowledge and all
discernment, so that you may approve
the things that are excellent, in order
to be sincere and blameless until the
day of Christ;
having been filled with the fruit of
righteousness which comes through
Jesus Christ,
to the glory and praise of God.
-Philippians 1:9-11
Thus is my prayer this day. Thus is my song.
A Loveliness Upon the Horizon Waits
A wonderful Sunday of peace and rest slowly winds to a close.
And deliciously-spiced chicken cooks on the stove in anticipation of a beautiful chicken parm dinner – it may be a slightly late 9 o’clock dinner, but all the better for the waiting. And now – shall I mar this evening with more writing? A plethora of words does not a masterpiece make. I shall just share a few words from my afternoon reading that warmed my heart…
The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places;
but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now
mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.
-J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, page 348
Strangers and Exiles
…and yea, another perfectly lovely Sunday afternoon has my God blessed me with. Gorgeous weather outside…and so another reading session on the porch of EQ was heartily enjoyed…sunshine and blue skies and bird song abounding…and my book lay open upon my lap as I read and I prayed and I pondered.
No one answered. The noon-bell rang. Still no one spoke. Frodo
glanced at all the faces, but they were not turned to him. All the
Council sat with downcast eyes, as if in deep thought. A great dread
fell on him, as if he was awaiting the pronouncement of some doom
that he had long foreseen and vainly hoped might after all never be
spoken. An overwhelming longing to rest and remain at peace by
Bilbo’s side in Rivendell filled all his heart. At last with an effort he
spoke, and wondered to hear his own words, as if some other will
was using his small voice.
‘I will take the Ring,’ he said, ‘though I do not know the way.’
Wind roars Over the Highlands now
Hey all – happy Friday! I realise this is an odd time for me to post an update. But you won’t be surprised when I say where I’m writing this from…Starbucks! I’m meeting someone in about half an hour and this Starbucks is a very convenient place to wait at…so I simply couldn’t resist. Something else I just couldn’t resist was a hot chocolate. Even though it is approximately 90 degrees outside. I don’t care. It is creamy and chocolaty and delicious. And now it is mine.
In other news…I have been thinking about how I really am not a fan of the proliferation and prominence of social media these days. There are definitely some positive uses of online social spaces, but as I gaze into the void that is social networks(whether it be the facebook, the twitter, the tumblr, the instagram, the snapchat, the etc, etc, etc….), it seems the main goal and purpose is to project yourself into that void and indeed, to promote the idealized image of yourself. Of course I can understand the allure of presenting yourself in the most flattering of surreal light…indeed, I’m not always happy with my “real” self either, nay – may it never be! But too often, these online forums are used as mechanisms for propping oneself up atop the bones of all others. Our arrogance and pride is such that every action we take in the hyper-glare of the net is taken with the end goal of self love above all. And that self love comes in so many different forms…depending on the user’s preferred image to project to the audience…world-weary ideologue, earth-loving naturalist, quirky free-loving spirit, hyper attention-seeking adventurer, sarcastic filter-shunning individualist. There is a space for all and for all there is space. And each user feels self-righteously good about who they are…except for those who don’t. For there are those that drown in the maelstrom of lies and deceit, yet they too long to achieve a modicum of normalcy and so they too strive to be known – even if it is only as a depressed soul. And my time is quickly spinning away. I will write more at a later day. But for now, it is fascinating and not at all surprising – we all long to be known. And so these new media? That is what we use them for – to project the song of ourselves to the world. And we consume the songs of all others and out of these songs we revel and we despair and we are desperately, exceedingly envious. Are we now entertained? Oh so superficial. Oh humanity. We dance and sing in the marketplace, fearing to look to the sky.
Standing at the Prow
So once again it is Friday morning…hello all!! I only have moments before I need to start work in earnest, but thought I’d write a few words -just because! I really meant to write something a bit more substantial about humility, contentedness, thankfulness and the wonders of God’s love for us, His children…but you will just have to imagine I did that now. I think I just wanted to say how sometimes it is quite easy for us to complain about our current state of affairs and wonder why God allows certain things to happen in our lives. So easy, right? Yet I realize that God is refining me, making me more like Him. And that is truly what I desire, is it not? I may wonder how much humility I really need – apparently much more than most people! – woe unto me for my pride. Yet I am grateful to my God for caring for me as a son – for disciplining me and keeping me humble before Him. Again – one thing do I long for – to be more like Christ and to honour my God in all that I do. It would be useful for me to think less of myself and more of my God. May I remember this. And may I be oh so thankful for the gift of eternal life that has been given to me, a sinner. Do I deserve such blessings? Surely not. Yet God of His own good pleasure deemed it good to bless me so. Oh wondrous joy – a vista of unending beauty is mine forever!
Now pardon this ill-structured paragraph…maybe later I shall write more. Maybe not. For now, my hand waves farewell. My heart calms. My soul is at peace.
Day of Days
Hello friends! It’s Sunday evening here and I’m enjoying my chamomile tea and a little MLJ reading and really should get ready for bed momentarily. Quickly then…just know that today was a simply wonderful day. From being at church with my brothers and sisters and worshiping God together…to having some wonderful chats with friends old and new…and then getting home today and realizing after I finished my workout that I simply could not stay indoors as it’s been gorgeous all day!! After lying by the pool and finishing Steelheart(Brandon Sanderson) – I went for a walk…then thought how nice it would be to read outside at EQ. So walked back to the flat, picked up Lord of the Rings and walked back to EQ and sat on the porch with the sun warming my face…truly, this has to be one of my favorite days of the year. Blissful. I got many chapters of LotR read(from Bree to Rivendell!) and then finally walked back home to make my salad for dinner. Now…I prepare for the upcoming week. Knowing that God is good and has set my path in front of me, I cannot wait to walk in it. Give me the strength, Lord. Give me the strength. Sometimes I feel I know not why I take the steps I do…nonetheless, I trust my God. May this week be blessed of the Lord – only for His glory. Always. Now, I take my leave. Before I do…might as well write out a few of my favorite words from my latest chapter of MLJ:
What hope is there for the world? There is none. There is no comfort for the world now. But for the Christian man
who mourns because of sin and because of the state of the world, there is this comfort – the comfort of the blessed hope,
the glory that yet remains. So that even here, though he is groaning, he is happy at the same time because of the hope
that is set before him. There is this ultimate hope in eternity. In that eternal state we shall be wholly and entirely
blessed, there will be nothing to mar life, nothing to detract from it, nothing to spoil it. Sorrow and sighing shall
be no more; all tears shall be wiped away; and we shall bask for ever and ever in the eternal sunshine, and experience
joy and bliss and glory unmixed and unspoiled. ‘Happy are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.’ How true it is.
Unless we know that, we are not Christian. If we are Christian, we do know it, this joy of sins forgiven and the knowledge
of it; the joy of reconciliation; the joy of knowing that God takes us back when we have fallen away from Him; the joy
and contemplation of the glory that is set before us; the joy that comes from anticipation of the eternal state.
-Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, page 50
Thus sings my soul.
