Thursday, January 31, 2013

The Old Chuch

The old church leans nearby a well-worn road
Upon a hill that has no grass or tree,
The winds from off the prairie now unload
The dust they bring around it fitfully.
The path that leads up to the open door
Is worn and grayed by many toiling feet
Of us who listen to the Bible lore
And once again the old-time hymns repeat.

And every Sabbath morning we are still
Returning to the altar waiting there.
A hush, a prayer, a pause, and voices fill
The Master's House with a triumphant air.

The old church leans awry and looks quite odd,
But it is beautiful to us, and God.

--"The Old Church" by Della B. Vik

Monday, January 28, 2013

Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
-Ruth 1:16 - 17
 
 

Sunday, January 27, 2013

The Long Road



I love you night and day
As a star in the distant sky.
And I mourn for this one thing alone
That to love, our lifetime was so short.

A long road to heaven’s shining meadow
And never could I reach its end.
But a longer road leads to your heart
Which to me seems distant as a star.

High above the arch of heaven bends
And light so clear is falling.
Like a flow’ring tree the world is blooming.
Overwhelmed, my heart both cries and laughs.

Paulina Barda
English: Elaine Singley Lloyd
Eriks Ešenvalds: Long Road - University of Louisville Cardinal Singers

Thursday, January 24, 2013

I Want to be Where Your Barefoot Walks



I want to be where your barefoot walks:
Because, maybe before you step you'll look at the ground.
I want that blessing.

I open and fill with love,
I open and fill with love and all other objects evaporate.

All the learning in books stays hid on the shelf.
Poetry, the dear words and images of song,
comes down over me like water.

This is how I would die.  Into the love I have for you.
As pieces of cloud dissolve in sunlight.

                             - Rumi

Beautiful choral setting by David Childs


Saturday, January 5, 2013

Twelfth Night

I Peters Jul fra 1866 står der i afsnit 10 (helligtrekongersaften):
Se, nu er da Julen strax forbi;
det er Helligtrekongers Aften.
Saa ender den rare Jul; men vi
er glade, at vi har haft den.
Tre Lys har vi tændte — tænk en Gang!-
for Kongerne, de, som bragte
Jesusbarnet en Julepresent;
vi ved det, for Faer har sagt det.
Her sidder vi ved vort lille Bord
og ser, hvordan Lysene brænde;
naar de er slukkede, siger Moer,
at saa er Julen til Ende.
In Peter's Christmas from 1866 states in section 10 (Twelfth):


See, now when Christmas is at once past,
 it's Twelfth Night.
So ends the nice Jul;
but we are happy that we have had it.
Three Candles, we have lit - think once!
For kings, those who brought
the baby Jesus a Christmas Present;
we know it, the finished've said it.
Here we sit at our little table
and see how the candles burn,
when they are off, says Moer
that so is Christmas to the end.