O WONDERFUL

              (Isaiah 9: 6)

O Wonderful, Thou hast come here

Where sins had left me ailing;
Where sorrow, death and evil reigned
Thy grace was never-failing;
More wonderful, the precious blood
Flowed when Thy side was riven;

Till grace abounding was revealed

And sinful souls forgiven.
 
O Counsellor, disciples came
For teaching on the mountain;
The woman of Samaria gained
Thy guidance by the fountain;
Two saints were helped although their way
Led outward to Emmaus:
Thy word comes still from depth and height,
Or where life’s sorrows fray us.

O Mighty God, Thy universe
Is wonderful and spacious;
Yet Thou hast come within its scope
And shown that Thou art gracious;
The Mighty God who dwelt in light
Came near to men in meekness
And so we praise Thee for Thy power
Is perfected in weakness.
 
O Father of eternity
Thy power shall rule the nations
And all shall flow to Israel
To join their celebrations.
Relationships with God and man
Will have their true connexion
And everything shall gain from Thee
Its temper and complexion.

O Prince of peace, Thou hast brought peace
And reconciliation;
Thy blood and cross secure the ground
Of peace for every nation;
Now righteousness and peace have kissed,
And grace and truth have flourished;
And through the work of peace Thy saints

Are comforted and nourished. 

(Sing to tunes for "I've Found a Friend, O such a Friend.)

POSSESSION

1 Peter 2: 9

Where all had been waste
And empty God has secured
For His heart's satisfaction
"A people for a possession".

Amongst the races of men
Diverted to their diverse
Cultures God can see
"A chosen race".

Where there were undignified
Priesthoods and unsanctified
Kingships He has for His
Delight "a kingly priesthood".

Enjoying some shellfish

 

"CHRIST MINDS"

The blog Christian Nature Poetry has posted the sonnet "The Lantern Out of Doors" by Gerald Manley Hopkins.  It includes the phrase, "Christ minds", which bears a lot of thinking about.  So a few thoughts follow.  For stanza three I have used Scots, firstly because "minds" is "remembers" in Scots, but then since a few double meanings are possible.  So I have put an English version below.  For stanza one "hind" can mean both a female deer and a peasant.

Christ minds.

He seeks and finds, us, His wandering

Hinds; heals our diseases, our blindness,

Holds our hearts and binds their breaks.

Yet Christ minds

Our wandering; grieves at unaligned 

Living; see our confined and unconfined

Wilderness paths: all kinds of revolt.

But, aye, Christ minds

Whit He his dien fer tyned

Craturs; whit He his tholed that

They mith be kynd.

But, [yes or always], Christ remembers

What He has done for [lost or antlered]

Creatures; what He has endured that

They might be [kindred or caring].

NUMBERED

 The Lord of glory

was numbered with the dead

so that you should

be numbered with the living.

18/10/2026

HEBREWS 2

What is man? – that old Adam,

Fushionless as tiller and guard –

And the son of man...? – One

Who has sown and reaped; One

Who is securer and protector:

The true Adam.

But we see Jesus – faith grasping

More than a true report – and the splendour

Of the accompaniments of royalty,

Because the Lord His God delighted

In Him, – crowned with glory

And honour: the true Solomon.

Once the warrior led God's people

To an earthly inheritance, having

Suffered along with them: One now,

The leader of our salvation, leads

The “many sons to glory” -

The true Joshua.

Now the One who makes reconciliation,

And the Head of the priestly family,

Glad of our association with Him,

Having taken His place with them,

Merciful and faithful High Priest

Is the true Aaron.

A prophet that He would be like

Shepherded His people from bondage,

Having declared Jehovah's name:

Now He declares the fuller light

– The Father's name – to His brethren

As the true Moses.

If someone who had known the shadow

Of death, and the brightness of regality,

Was the sweet psalmist of Israel,

Who but Christ, who invaded death,

And dwells now in God's light, could sing

As the true David?

The father of all who believe traversed

The land where his seed would dwell. The Lord,

Expressing, “I will trust in him”, journeyed

That the children God gave Him should be

Wonders too, dwelling in faith's demesne,

Is the true Abraham.

30/12/2012

For "fushionless" see Fushionless

On the Aberdeenshire coast

 

Coullie Stays, Auchenblae, Aberdeenshire

Having worked out that I need to convert .heic files to .jpeg ones I thought I'd just post photos today.  These are the views from the windows of a cottage we stayed in for a few days last summer.

Handy for the sea and the eastern Scottish highlands, but fine in itself. The area is called the Mearns. 

 

In the mid-forest's mirk

In the mid-forest's mirk I grope

For the straight way; gloom enhances

Proneness to mope; how may I

Cope? The Morning Star arises:

Christ Jesus our Hope.

Futile words soft-soap; ignes

Fatui distract; no mere dope

Beguiles senses; not toping

On human religion, behold

Christ Jesus our Hope. 

Antelope on my high bluff,

I may lope elegantly

On the King's highway; soon

I shall elope skyward:

Christ Jesus our Hope.

(28/08/2026: on the Newcastle to Edinburgh train!)

Begins with a little reference to Dante:

Midway in the journey of our life

I came to myself in a dark wood,

for the straight way was lost.

Old photos of the Scottish Highlands: I still can't upload new ones.

THE TRUTH OF THE ASSEMBLY

 

We will not leave the truth of the assembly

Because it is Christ's body here below,

Formed by the Holy Spirit which we know,

And joined to Christ from whom its actions flow.

Because she is the subject of Christ's care

We will not leave the truth of the assembly:

For the ascended Man delights to share

His thoughts with one He thinks of as all fair.

Because the holy city shall descend

In bridal glory when this age shall end

We will not leave the truth of the assembly

Through power from God on which we may depend.

Depending on the Holy Spirit's power;

Depending on the Lord in every hour;

Depending, as the Father's blessings shower,

We will not leave the truth of the assembly.

The rolling refrain is a quotation from A John E Welch of London; "the assembly" is the word used in the Darby translation for what is often translated as church.

Did I invent the rolling refrain?