TREES

 More of Glensax

Gopher wood had the capacity

To sustain life’s

Capacity for differentness.

“A vine was before me”

Purple with fruit for

Another.

Acacia wood could bear,

Could form unity

And could be borne.

Cypress gave its tone

To the instruments

Made from it.

Fruitfulness was the apple tree

Distinguished among

The trees of the wood.

Excellent as the cedars!

Dignity and stateliness

Amongst the twisted thorns.

What a grand entrance

Was through

The doors of olive-wood.

Was that too inferential for you?

Perhaps various qualities of wood

- Grains, textures, fragrances, strengths -

Interest or enlighten. History too,

Ancient sources and customs, might provoke

Emotions or thoughts. But that is below

My purpose here: as the cup-bearer

Had a vine before him I have a

Man: His qualities, mien, customs.

The grain always straight, the textures

Beyond man’s apprehension, the fragrance

What delighted God, the strength to break

Death’s power, to bear us through. Name

Once again - Man according to God.

WOOD AT MARAH

Exodus 15: 25

Jehovah showed Moses wood

Because
Without God showing us
We would not discern
The distinctiveness of His Man.

Jehovah showed Moses wood
Not distinguishing the variety
Because
No species can encompass
The distinctiveness of His Man.

Jehovah showed Moses wood
Because
Our bitterness
Would only be dispelled by
The distinctiveness of His Man.

Jehovah showed Moses wood
Because
It has always been His delight
To see, and to bring to our sight,
The distinctiveness of His Man.

Glensax, Scottish Borders

TREE

 

Amid man’s constant grappling,

His insolence and fraud

Christ was a tender sapling

Before the eye of God.

He did not take resources

From man’s domain of dearth -

But drew from heavenly sources

Untrammelled by this earth.

And God’s heart was observant

Of that exotic Shoot,

The One who was His Servant,

Who rendered God His fruit.

Here He was the Succeeder

In God’s eternal plan -

His bearing as the cedar,

Our Bridegroom, and God’s Man.

Nations will find Him tender

As He returns to stanch

Their wounds when come in splendour -

“The Man whose name is Branch”.

In power He will have finished

Man’s wilfulness and strife;

Men will taste undiminished

Fruit from the Tree of Life.

STAFFS: RESPONSE

Three Photos From East Lothian

You may know the interpretation

Of each passage. But for a moment
Think of it like this - each one
Clung to something of Jesus; whether
In peace or war, whatever they confronted
They clung to Him. Oh! let me follow their
Example, cling to Christ if in conflict,
Lean on Him in worship. And if we
Can speak of one who will keep us
Without stumbling, how are we sustained?
Depending on our Lord Jesus Christ. 

This and the previous are parts of a sequence I wrote some years ago on Wood.

STAFFS

Benaiah, the soldier,
Could use his staff as a weapon
To wrest the Egyptian’s spear.

David, the psalmist,
Knowing God’s staff and rod
Bore his own staff to the conflict.

Jonathan, gatherer,
Used his staff at the time of his triumph
To harvest honey.

The princes, princely,
Dug with their staves
The well in the plains.

Aaron, the priest,
Was possessor of the rod which
Budded, blossomed, and brought forth almonds.

Moses, shepherd,
Had the staff of God
For authority and supply.

And Jacob, wanderer,
Home at last,
Worshipped on the top of his staff.

THE TREE

The Tree of Life planted within the garden
Was even then attractionless to Adam
And when at length the Lord was seen in manhood,
One Sprout of green, within a desert landscape,
Men saw no beauty and found Him unattractive.
But by God's grace saved from the power of darkness
Our taste is changed with all our hearts' reactions
So that to Christ our new affections answer:
We are replete in scenes that once seemed barren.
We love the Olive Tree whence we gain fatness;
We love the sweetness hung in the Fig Tree's 
branches;
We love the Vine which moves our hearts to gladness.

HANDS AND FEET

(Gen 41: 44)

No foot or hand to be lifted

Except at the behest

Of the Man the King appointed!

(John 11: 44)

Lazarus emerged

Bound feet and hands:

"Loose him and let him go!" .

(Psalm 22: 16)

He said, the Man

Fit to command,

"They pierced my hands and my feet".

MICAH 2: 13 VIDEO

 A reading for a change!