He Who Shuts the Lion's Mouth

Her Dancing Day

Today shall be my dancing day

I would my true love did so chance

To see the legend of my play,

To call my true love to my dance:

Sing, O my love, my love.  Oh!  My love, my love,

This I have done for my true love.

Then was I born of a virgin pure,

Of her I took fleshly substance;

Thus was I knit to man's nature,

To call my true love to my dance:

Sing, O my love, my love.  Oh!  My love, my love,

This I have done for my true love.

In a manger laid and wrapp'd I was,

So very poor, this was my chance,

Betwixt an ox and a silly ass,

To call my true love to my dance:

Sing, O my love, my love.  Oh!  My love, my love,

This I have done for my true love.

Then up to Heaven I did ascend,

Where now I dwell in sure substance

On the right hand of God, that men

May come unto the General Dance.

Sing, O my love, my love.  Oh!  My love, my love,

This I have done for my true love.

Having taken a slight liberty with the traditional English carol "Tomorrow Shall be my Dancing Day", I am posting today in honor and memorium of my dear and sweet cousin, Cindy Lou Torres Owens, whose heart's desire was to dance.  To dance vibrantly and beautifully through life and then into the arms of her Lord and Savior.  This she did today, where she now dances with the one who loves her best, Who came as man and as man to die, to make a way for us

 to dwell with Him, the Lord of the Dance, Who lent her to us for all too short a time.  

Boys, oh, boys!

Hmmm...... Gilbert contemplates that perhaps getting into the sugar bowl wasn't really what he should have done.  But, Nana would've loved to be there to ask him - once again - for "some sugar".  That would've been a sweet kiss!

Meanwhile, Patrick rides his bouncy seat-pony and chases down any stray bad guys.  He's even got his black hat disguise in hand!

Up is Down

"Exertion, self-denial, endurance, these make the hero, but to the spoiled child they connote the evil of nature and the malice of man."    ~ Richard Weaver (1910-1963)

Just another reason why some can declare that the day is night, and the night is day.

Seas of our Souls

"And it shall be said,

"Build up, build up, prepare the way, 

remove every obstruction from my people's way."

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,

who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy.

I dwell in the high and holy place,

and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,

to revive the spirit of the lowly, 

and to revive the heart of the contrite.

For I will not contend forever,

nor will I always be angry;

for the spirit would grow faint before me,

and the breath of life that I made.

Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry,

I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,

but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.

I have seen his ways, "But I will heal him;

I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,

creating the fruit of the lips.

Peace, peace, to the far and to the near," says the Lord,

"and I will heal him.

But the wicked are like the tossing sea;

for it cannot be quiet, 

and its waters toss up mire and dirt.

There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked." 

~ Is. 57:14-21

As it is said elsewhere, "If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, surely the raging waters would have swept over our souls."  Because of the great mercy and lovingkindness of the Lord we are not swept away in our sin.  He who is mighty, He who is Holy could destroy us for our consistent backsliding, but instead He says, "I will heal, I will lead, I will restore, I will comfort, I will heal."  Not only that, but causing our very lips, the lips so prone to sinfulness, to become fruitful, and to give us peace.  

Why is it that He grants mercy to us sinful children of men?  Because he notes a contrite heart, and a lowly, humble spirit.  "A contrite heart He will not despise."  But, "He opposes the proud."  

So, there is peace for the one with a contrite, lowly spirit.

But, what about those who just won't let it die?  Won't forgive?  Won't forget?  Want to see the ugly details hashed out again and again?  They are like the tossing sea, constantly stirring up dirt and mire.  And for them there is no peace.

Psalm 33

The Steadfast Love of the Lord
33:1 Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

4 For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

13 The Lord looks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.
16 The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.

Weighing the Baby

Welcome to little Lydia Mae, newest granddaughter of dear friends Randy and Susan. Lydia arrived yesterday in Germany, and isn't she a lovely little rosebud?

How many pounds does baby weigh?

"Baby" who came a while ago;

How many pounds from crowning curl

To rosy point of the restless toe?

Nobody weighed the baby's smile,

Or the love that came with the helpless one.

Nobody weighed the threads of care

From which a human life is spun.

Nobody weighed the baby's soul,

For here on earth no weights there be

That could avail;

God only knows its value through eternity.

Oh Mother, sing your merry note!

Oh Father, laugh, but don't forget

From baby's eyes looks out a soul

To be in Eden's light reset!
~ Ethel Lynn