Exhortation to Prayer ~William Cowper
What various hindrances we meet
In coming to a mercy-seat!
Yet who that knows the worth of pray’r,
But wishes to be often there?
Pray’r makes the dark’ned cloud withdraw,
Pray’r climbs the ladder Jacob saw;
Gives exercise to faith and love,
Brings ev’ry blessing from above.
Restraining pray’r, we cease to fight;
Pray’r makes the Christian’s armour bright;
And Satan [...]

Extended on a cursèd tree,
Besmeared with dust, and sweat, and blood,
See there, the King of Glory see!
Sinks and expires the Son of God.
Who, who, my Savior, this hath done?
Who could Thy sacred body wound?
No guilt Thy spotless heart hath known,
No guile hath in Thy lips been found.
I, I alone, have done the deed!
’Tis I Thy [...]

On my heart imprint Thine image,
Blessèd Jesus, King of Grace,
That life’s riches, cares and pleasures
Have no power Thee to efface.
This the superscription be:
Jesus, crucified for me,
Is my Life, my hope’s Foundation,
And my Glory and Salvation.
 
~Thomas H. Kingo, 1689

Ah, holy Jesus, how hast Thou offended,
That man to judge Thee hath in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by Thine own rejected,
O most afflicted.
Who was the guilty- Who brought this upon Thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone Thee.
‘Twas I, Lord, Jesus, I it was denied Thee!
I crucified Thee.
For me, kind Jesus, was Thine incarnation,
Thy [...]

Ride On!
Ride on! Ride on in majesty!
Hark, all the tribes hosanna cry;
Thy humble beast pursues his road
With palms and scattered garments strowed.
Ride on! Ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
O Christ, thy triumphs now begin
O’er captive death and conquered
Ride on! Ride on in majesty!
The winged squadrons of the sky
Look down with sad [...]

CROCUS
They struggle
From the brown depths
Of cold winter soil,
Green shoots
Bearing life
To a surface
Still frozen
With frost
Sparkling
Beneath the warming sun.
In days
Tiny crocus blooms
Will grace gardens
With colors vibrant
Against the pallid hues
Of the dormant season;
Such delicate blossoms
Standing strong
Against the winter;
Perfection in miniature
These first harbingers
Of the coming spring
And heralds of renewal
For all living things.
~Rebecca S. Russell

Just when I was beginning to feel better, the coughing cold came back, then fever and chills. There’s absolutely no pun intended when I say I’m really sick of this…
And I probably won’t be doing much blogging, but if you haven’t read this, go now.

THE COLLECTOR
In our house, the first of January
heralds a resolute simplicity. No,
not just the clean calendar on the
kitchen door, nor the new date
on letters; not even the bundling out
of the dry tree with its trail
of needles to the back porch,
but a return to routine. Clearing
the Christmas clutter
signals renewal, a re-ordering;
it is a woman taking off [...]

Before the winter morn,
Before the earliest cock crow,
Jesus Christ was born:
Born in a stable,
Cradled in a manger,
In the world his hands had made
Born a stranger.
Priest and king lay fast asleep
In Jerusalem;
Young and old lay fast asleep
In crowded Bethlehem;
Saint and angel, ox and ass,
Kept a watch together
Before the Christmas daybreak
In the winter weather.
Jesus on his mother’s [...]

 
Visions of [...]