Scribblings

Washington D.C. is a city brimful of unspoken words; the whole place dances to the rhythmic humming of the wind and the water, the paintings and the sculptures, the statues and the museums all whispering verses. To the composer it speaks themes and cadences, to the choreographer pirouettes and port de bras. To the creative, do not all persons, places, and things breathe life?

For this writer, at least, the metropolis I find myself living above never fails to proffer the stuff that creative dreams are made of. So enjoy a couple of virgin lines, hastily pinned to paper whilst walking from one monument or one painting to another.

The Adoration of the Shepherds,  by Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo,
housed in the National Gallery of Art; photograph credit to Katie

The Adoration of the Shepherds

April 27, 2012

Come, warm your hands

'round the Refining Fire.

Come, worship Him with

thy shepherd's lyre.

Behold, He comes,

God and Man as One.

Behold His face with 

hearts undone.

Wonder at the myst'ry

with aged mind.

Wonder, for the Lost

this Babe can find.

The World War II Memorial in Washington; photograph credit to Katie

World War II Memorial

April 27, 2012

Words engraved forever in stone.

Faces frozen forever in bronze.

Wreaths undying,

Eagles unflying

Only the water now whispers their names.

Thousands of stars shine night and day.

Thousands of bombs overpower their grace.

Oceans are battlefields

Islands are forts

But only the water remembers their names.

Nativities and Pruning

(Gerrit van Honthorst, The Nativity)

Today I set up our nativity. As I unrolled each wooden figurine from its cozy cocoon of brown paper and fingered each familiar carved face, I mulled over all that God has done with me in the past year, specifically all the pruning the Gardener has done in my patch. As God has shed this Christmas of all its pleasant extras -- sparse decking of halls, few gifts to give and receive, next to no dear ones to share it with -- I realized how God has been shedding my soul of bonuses, too.

He's cut away so much legalism, all my man-made rules and self-sufficient "salvation"; he's cut away so much baggage from my relationships, the pent-up bitterness and distance from years of tension; he's even cut away much of my perception of self. I'm left with the bare-bones, glorious Gospel, the precious, worthy-to-be-cherished friendships, and the core of who I am by His creative power and through His redemptive blood.

Gone are the trappings and trimmings that I once thought were my faith, my friends, my self. Gone are they with the Christmas garlands and gifts and guests. Here to stay, forever on earth and through eternity, are the pure and simple truths of Scripture.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed usin the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

"*In him* we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.'

-Ephesians 1:3-14 (emphasis added)

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

Ephesians 2:1-10

"For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

- Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas.

Wish For Quiet

(The Bluebell Wood, Alfred Fontville de Breanski)

I lead a small life: eventful, trying at times, but small. And I know it is such because I love it that way. I am not a brave soul -- I am a quiet soul. And I am painfully aware of it when the sweet thrummings of the earth are constantly made war upon by machines in air, under water, and on land. As I wait for one airplane to pass, another advances. Every now and then a lawn mower, leaf blower, hedge trimmer, or some other such labor saving device wafts toward me. Then there is the ever coursing stream of cars, driven on by a busy, scattered people, and in the north at least, the constant "vroom-vroom" is accentuated by angry car horns. There is no serenity here.

Oh, the noise! That ever present distraction driving everyone to distraction. Even I, a self-diagnosed "quiet soul," being so accustomed to constant din, find silence discomforting. And if that be the case -- I shudder to think of the consequences for those who love the racket. If the Lord calls for solitude, for rest, for being still and knowing, we must quiet the noise.

I sit perched on a little bank in my Maryland neighborhood. Down where the rain water collects and drains has grown a patch of pinkish wildflowers. They are quiet; they are still.

Oh, to be a wildflower in a field of largest acreage, of broadest boundaries. We have so few fields, few forests, few green spaces anymore. When I leave the driveway, I am confined to a busy neighborhood surrounded on either side by crowded streets.

So I sit alone, wishing for quiet.

Not Just the Girl

(Peeling Potatoes, Ernest Walbourn)

"You say you love her. . . . And what does that mean exactly?"

"Means I don't want to leave her."

"It's not just the girl you have to want, Fisher Bloom; it's the life you'll have with her, the home, the children. It's all too easy to make someone else pay when all the art, the beauty is gone from your craft and it's just about putting food on the table. It can make a man more cruel than he thought he had it in him to be. Not wanting to leave -- it's not the same as wanting to stay. If there's any doubt now, go. Break her heart now."

"No."

"Better that than stay and break her spirit over years."

This, by far, is one of my favorite conversations in Larkrise to Candleford.

Choice

(Lazy Days, Margaret Collyer)

"The history of free men is never really written by chance but by choice -- their choice." - Dwight D. Eisenhower

I discovered this quotation in an Uncle Eric book, Ancient Rome: How It Affects You Today, by Richard J. Maybury (whose books I highly recommend, by the way). As you probably surmised from the title of his book, Mr. Maybury uses this single sentence with regards to the broad scope of history. However as I read it and the rest of the chapter, I couldn't help but reflect on the consistency of that idea on a smaller scale.

To use an example from my own life, this statement holds true when the alarm clock sounds or mealtime approaches. (Recently, I have been pulling weeds from the discipline bed in my garden, especially when it comes being disciplined with my body, the earthen-jar-turned-holy-temple, so such things have been on my mind.) Jolted from slumber, do I switch off the alarm and fall back into sleep, or do I rise up and begin my day? Craving all the "wrong things," do I fill myself with fleeting fancies, or do I nourish my body with necessities for functioning? Perhaps it seems a simple choice in the moment, but sleeping in and slipping treats will affect the rest of my day, if not my week, month, year, and life!

Almost everything I read is analyzed through the lenses of a girl hoping to be a wife and mother. Consequently, I considered the implications of Eisenhower's statement in just one generation. Even last night, my family conversed with another Pastor's College student about his conversion. In one evening he went from a drug addict destroying his own life to a gospel addict burning with a fiery passion for Jesus. Just one small choice reversed the course his life was taking. Actually, and here come my reformed roots, just one small choice of God's reversed the course his life was taking, the course my life was taking.

Thank God for the "small" choices He makes. May he impart the sobriety of the small choices to His children, for indeed, life is a never ending decision waiting to be made.

Who Am I?

(Leonardo da Vinci, La Scapigliata)

"You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body." ~ C.S. Lewis

This is my soul-song right now, that driving thought which feeds every fiber of my being. True, I've read this line time and again, yet until recently, I've not truly digested it.

Think about it for a moment. Do you live this way? When asked for your profile or for your "about me," does it favor this one, the likes of which I see too often? "My name is Bryan. I'm ~5'11" Brown hair, brown eyes, average body build..." Is this skin what defines you, what defines me?

Such thoughts aren't merely for the Augustines and the Luthers and the Spurgeons the Lewises of our age. The answers are key to every aspect of life. For instance ...

... are we more apt to care for our bodies or nurture our souls? I cannot count the number of mornings that a physical breakfast has trumped a spiritual one. I cannot count the minutes that I analyze my face before a mirror yet continually leave my soul -- or should I say "my-self" -- in disorder, filth, or plain and simple neglect.

Who am I? Jane Ellen, 5'7" (and three-quarters, might I add... ;-) ), blonde hair, fair skin, brown eyes, average build? Or an orphaned, worm of a girl, utterly eaten with and enslaved to sin, who has been chosen out of billions to become a beloved daughter, an heiress, a bride by and to the Creator of the World, the Personal God?

Who am I? Who are you?

A Renoir Monday

(The Lovers, Pierre-August Renoir)

One of my favorite Renoir pieces.

Absent Daughter

It's Mother's Day.

Typically at this time every year, I am with my father and sisters finishing off the "secret" breakfast that we'll soon serve to Mama on a tray with her cards and flowers. This year, I am an ocean away, on another continent probably eating lunch on a bus driving me to Ille-de-Noirmoutier, France.

I miss you, Mama, even now as I sit at the computer desk here tucked away in the nursery. Actually, I miss you all.

I'll be home soon, with stories and pictures. (But no wedding ring... Sorry, Cecelia!)

I love you.

Godward

Between finals, performances, trips, and home-life, this little kingdom hasn't received much attention. For this evening, I'll just post an inspirational quotation and promise a more substantial entry later.

"I assure you the church is not in need of more girls in their late teens and early twenties who are investing their lives in relationships with young men. What we do need, however, is an army of young women with laser-sharp focus on the Lord and his bride. We need more young women serving, praying, and giving. We need more young women developing and using the spiritual gifts and talents with which they have been blessed.

"The time will come soon enough when they will be weighed down with the responsibilities of husbands, children, and households that will hinder their ability to give of themselves outside their homes. In the meantime, let's call our daughters Godward in their focus and encourage them to keep that keen focus until a young man comes along with equal or greater focus that will allow them to do more for the King together than either of them could do on their own."

- Voddie Baucham Jr., What He Must Be

Keep your eyes set upon the King and His glory, and all your worries will melt, while all your needs with fall into place. Keep thou steady eye, ladies!

Today, I Have...

(Lady in the Water, Toni Frissell)

... the strangest desire to put on a dress and go swimming in it.

Foolish or Wise?

(Abbey Altson, On the Balcony)

A thought provoking quotation I read yesterday afternoon. Hopefully it will encourage some other young ladies out there:

"We have so few years as young women to cultivate and embrace the character of the Wise woman of Proverbs. The Foolish woman is so ready to step into our shoes, it's such a natural fit, but the Wise woman takes work and investment.

"I have two (very) handsome eligible brothers, and my sisters and I warn them of this foolish woman. While they may laugh and joke with this girl because they share the social circle, they will never marry her."

- Christa Taylor (empoweredtraditionalist.com)

Which am I -- the foolish, flirtatious woman or the godly, contented woman?

Out of the Heart

(Henry John Yeend King, The Love Letter)

If any man wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Every man's work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself. - Samuel Butler

A Today Thought

If friends are trenches, I'd rather dig mine narrow and deep, not broad and shallow. - Joel H.

First Day

"There is nothing inorganic. These foliaceous heaps lie along the bank like the slag of a furnace, showing that Nature is "in full blast" within. The earth is not a mere fragment of dead history, stratum upon stratum like the leaves of a book, to be studied by geologists and antiquaries chiefly, but living poetry like the leaves of a tree." ~ Henry David Thoreau

It's here -- the first day of spring. Someday, I want to celebrate these "first days" as holidays. I want to nurture in my child a love of nature as strong as my own!

Here's to...

(Charles Haigh-Wood, Picking Flowers for a Posy)

Spring Fever

(Peruse the picture's link at your own discretion. Unfortunately, mixed amongst the whimsical pictures and beautiful inspiration are occasional suggestive photographs.)

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want -- oh, you don't quite know what it is you want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!

~ Mark Twain ~

Different Times, Different Struggles

(The Clothes-Line, Helen Allingham)

For a girl who is guilty of romanticizing the past and envying its citizens, this article proved interesting and insightful. Comical, too, for my attempts to imagine my American foremothers in modern supermarkets was amusing!

"We have read them all, the organic, no colarisation, 'hemp-your-own-dress' websites that leave us in awe. And then we realize that people used to do this as a matter of fact. People ate what they grew and raised. We sometimes seem to have trouble getting a wholesome dinner on the table every evening, and our gardening attempts ... well, let's just say that some people are more successful than others. . . .

"Put your pioneer woman in our modern supermarket again and try to tell her that we can't just buy anything named "bread," but that we need to read the labels to know what is actually in it. Or that "whole wheat" doesn't really mean whole wheat, and that those green beans are so sodium covered that it's almost not worth it. Then there is the organic, which really just means that it was grown the way she would have grown it, but is so expensive that you can only afford certain items and then you should prioritize ... never mind. She would star at you as if you com from another planet and wonder how you remember it all. But we do. Or we try. As they tried. . . .

"Let us enjoy the stories of our pioneer mothers. Let us admire what they have done for us. Let us learn form the wise among them, as there are wise women called forth to teach the young in any generation. And the let's put our shoulders under our own workload without comparing it to another's. . . . And next time we hear that sly voice whispering inside us, 'You will never live up to what they did,' let us joyfully answer, 'No pioneer woman ever stepped on a Lego' and go back to our work."

'Tis true, I know, but why do their tasks seem so much more bearable? The grass is always greener, isn't it? ;-)

Happy and Contented

(Ernest Walbourn, Feeding the Doves)

" 'I want my daughters to be beautiful, accomplished, and good; to be admired, loved, and respected; to have a happy youth, to be well and wisely married, and to lead useful, pleasant lives, with as little care and sorrow to try them as God sees fit to send. To be loved and chosen by a good man is the best and sweetest thing which can happen to a woman; and I sincerely hope my girls may know this beautiful experience. It is natural to think of it, Meg; right to hope and wait for it, and wise to prepare for it; so that, when the happy time comes, you may feel ready for the duties and worthy of the joy. My dear girls, I am ambitious for you, but not to have you make a dash in the world, -- marry rich men merely because they are rich, or have splendid houses, which are not homes because love is wanting. Money is a needful and precious thing, - and, when well used, a noble thing, -- but I never want you to think it is the first or only prize to strive for. I'd rather see you poor men's wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than queens on thrones, without self-respect and peace.'

" 'Poor girls don't stand any chance, Belle says, unless they put themselves forward,' sighed Meg.

" 'Then we'll be old maids,' said Jo stoutly.

" 'Right, Jo; better be happy old maids than unhappy wives, or unmaidenly girls, running about to find husbands,' said Mrs. March decidedly. 'Don't be troubled, Meg; poverty seldom daunts a sincere lover. Some of the best and most honored women I know were poor girls, but so love-worthy that they were not allowed to be old maids. Leave these things to time; make this home happy, so that you may be fit for homes of your own, if they are offered you, and contented here if they are not. One thing remember, my girls: mother is always ready to be your confidant, father to be your friend; and both of us trust and hope that our daughters, whether married or single, will be the pride and comfort of our lives.' "

- Lousia May Alcott's Little Women

Liberty

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. . . .

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. . . .

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated . . .

"nor [shall any person] be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. . . .

"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

~ Excerpts from the Bill of Rights ~

Renewal

"The martyrs in heaven mentioned in Revelation 6:9-11 clearly remember what happened on earth, including the great suffering they underwent. . . This passage argues against the prevalent belief that to remember any unpleasant things would automatically strip us of happiness in heaven. Heaven's joy is not dependent upon an erased mind, but a renewed mind. That will include a sense of the relative greatness of the eternal joys of heaven in comparison to the brevity of our earthly sufferings (Romans 8:18)." -Randy Alcorn

May ya'll's minds be renewed today as you face trials of various kinds!

Loverly

All I want is a room some where,

Far away from the cold night air

With one enormous chair.

How wouldn't it be loverly!

Oh! How loverly sitting abso-blooming-lutely still!

I would never budge 'til spring crept over the windowsill!

Someone's head resting on my knee,

Warm and tender as he can be,

Who takes good care of me.

How wouldn't it be loverly!

Loverly, loverly!

~ Frederick, Loewe, My Fair Lady ~