The grand, final stanza of America the Beautiful will echo across the majestic “purple mountains” and fruited plains” of our country this Fourth of July: O beautiful for patriot dream/ That sees beyond the yearsThine alabaster cities gleam/ Undimmed by human tears.America! America!/ God shed His grace on thee,And crown thy good with brotherhood/ FromContinue reading “From Sea to Shining Sea”
Tag Archives: forgiveness
A Vacancy?
A fresh, early summer morning; fog lingering down the bay; smells from the sea; beauty all around! Beautiful but empty! We know how to present cheerful facades when actually feeling empty. We hope nobody will detect our loneliness. “Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains. (Proverbs 14:13) LikeContinue reading “A Vacancy?”
Sense or Senseless?
“Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea.” (Ecclesiastes 1) That statement is a fragmented thought from King Solomon’s larger assessment of life’s meaningless monotony. Despite their power and wealth, both Solomon and his father, King David,Continue reading “Sense or Senseless?”
Does Peace Have a Chance?
John Lennon’s lyrics of “All we are saying is give peace a chance” “are familiar to those who remember the antiwar songs of the sixty’s. It may seem cynical to say, but history has proven that world peace will always be an elusive, utopian ideal. There is no trust among those who seek power andContinue reading “Does Peace Have a Chance?”
More Precious than Gold?
In 1923 Robert Frost wrote the short poem “Nothing Gold can Stay”. Nature’s first green is gold,Her hardest hue to hold.Her early leaf’s a flower;But only so an hour.Then leaf subsides to leaf.So Eden sank to grief,So dawn goes down to day.Nothing gold can stay. The poem beautifully but sadly states the ancient lament thatContinue reading “More Precious than Gold?”
all shepherds we…
Like the shepherds, we … anxious, waiting, wrapped in Bethlehem’s darkness listening for circling wolves… unseen, lurking, howling, threatening, fearsome, snarling… imagined phantoms of loss, impossibilities, hurt, grief, shame terrifying death… Like the shepherds we… Waiting, Waiting, Waiting… for the dawn. Have we not heard the angel? Fear not! Immanuel! God is here! A SaviorContinue reading “all shepherds we…”
Journeying Through the Mist
The day was promising, the forecast favorable. The sun was burning it’s way through lifting fog. All information pointed to a good sailing day. The Captain gave the order. So the sails were hoisted. Decision making is a familiar, daily but complicated process although it may be either instantaneous or prolonged depending on urgency orContinue reading “Journeying Through the Mist”
The Grace of Sun and Rain
As this storm blows across the Camden hills and down Penobscot Bay, rain will fall indiscriminately on those in its path, a reminder of a statement Christ made in his inaugural sermon: “God makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” (Matthew 5-7)Continue reading “The Grace of Sun and Rain”
A Promise for Safe Passage
Someone has said that “A ship is safe in harbor, but that is not where it is meant to be…” Sometimes safety is prudent, and “sticking close to home” is wise when we are unable to fully define the course ahead. However, timidity can be diminishing. Our personal world will not expand until we pushContinue reading “A Promise for Safe Passage”
Unrepeatable History
This photograph suggests there is merit in the adage “History repeats itself.” However, even though the old painting on the wall and the current photo of the man in the window are similar, they are not replicas. In this case, there are not only different men, different flags, and different boats, but technology has intervened.Continue reading “Unrepeatable History”
Sweet Words from Maine 