ORKNEY EVENING

In glory fitted to
The day’s fineness then sun
Sank into a bank of cloud.

But shortly it shone again
Beneath the cloud, before
Sinking behind the hills.

Yet still three angel forms
Hung in full sunshine;

I thanked the Father
For sunshine beneath the cloud.

---

And then, a final grace,
The full moon rose upon Kirkwall.
29/06/2018

AT THE MANGER

A wise man? No; nor
A professional, but, bowing
To Him, I may find, "Christ
God's power and God's wisdom.

No angel: but a fallen creature
Lifted by Him.  Perhaps
As I bow to the Lord, He
May make me His messenger.

A poor shepherd, failing
In skill of hand, integrity
Of heart, yet I can bow to
The chief Shepherd.

A sheep, wanderer
In byways - but ready
To hear the Master's voice:
Lord: thus I come to Thee.

MARGARET WILSON; WIGTOWN MARTYR

Rosemary by the Wigtown monument

The waters were to the ankles:
Well had these feet followed
The Master’s footsteps.

The waters were to the knees;
How had she bowed to Christ
As the church’s only Head!

The waters were to the loins;
Where man’s ties bound her to the stake:
Where her love bound her to Christ.

A river that could not be passed through:
For if men made the waters vanquish her
She more than conquered, buoyed in love’s ocean.

The stone in the churchyard

WHAT MEANS THIS STONE?

Here were two Margarets, living stones;
They were founded on the Rock.

Man’s malice led them to the river;
But water cannot quench stones.

To the tidal river; turning
Towards two staked women.

If the officers doing duty
Acted with undue cruelty
I do not know:

But the tide, licking without taste,
Foot, leg, thigh, belly, bosom
Was indifferent.

The women, the waves whelmed;
The stones, stand to eternity
In the Christ for whom they suffered.
27/07/2018

The stone marks the point where Margaret Wilson was tied to the stake and suffered martyrdom by drowning in 1685 near Wigtown.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wigtown_Martyrs

MEANING

The Standing Stones of Stenness

These stones mean
That the ark drove a way
For a whole people to go over.
(We are risen with Christ.)

Entirely overwhelmed
By the returning river, lie stones
For our feet have stood there.
(We have died with Christ.)

That place had the name –
Ebenezer – before the victory
God was so assured of it.
(Christ was ever our Helper.)

In Beth-Shemesh
Was a great stone, ready
For the ark to be laid upon it.
(Christ will support all of Christ.)

Between two teeth, Bozez and Seneh,
Climbed Jonathan and his man,
To victory.
(Christ clung upon is health.)

29/06/2018         Finstown and Hatston

BRODGAR

Stones set
Long before Joshua crossed Jordan.

We speculate, consider man-hours,
Lines, suns and aspects

But have lost the men we could ask,
‘What mean ye by these stones?’.

Tap now the knowledge
Of those who know the settings
Of God’s stones.

28/06/2018 - Standing stones at Brodgar, Orkney
Thinking of Joshua 4: 6

MY SOUL, MAGNIFY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

My soul, magnify the Lord Jesus Christ,
For He has magnified His grace to you;
My spirit, give praise to the Lord Jesus
Since you say, “Lord Jesus” by His Spirit;
My heart, love the Lord Thy God completely
Because within you His love is broadcast;
My eyes, look stedfastly on Jesus
Since His own are the apple of His eye;
My feet, follow in the pathway of Christ
Since His feet took Him to the cross for you;
My hands, be diligent in the Lord’s work,
Remembering the hands once nailed to the cross;
My mind, be a mind of humility
Formed like the mind that was in Christ Jesus;
My body, still yourself on the altar
For your Saviour was sacrificed for you;
My soul, magnify the Lord Jesus Christ,
For He has magnified His grace to you!

SERVANT

If holiness set
Christ Jesus apart, His love
Made Him a Servant. 

GIFT IDEA!

Wondering what present to buy someone?
How about a book of Christian verse?

Try http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?contributorId=543120 for my Lulu page, or email me and I will probably be able to send you a book.

Grace be with you.

David