O BETHLEHEM WHAT SIGHTS YOU'VE SEEN (VII)

 "We have seen his star",

They divulged to Jerusalem.

The word redirected their path,

Tendedtowards Bethlehem,

Questing for God's Shepherd.

Word and star directed

To the little Child.

Homage only to Him;

Gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh,

Only for Him.

Praise with these magi!

More of Dawyck Gardens in Summer including blue poppies.

O BETHLEHEM WHAT SIGHTS YOU'VE SEEN (VI)

 

I see no stable
In my Bible; no ass
Bearing Mary; no oxen
Around the manger.

“No room”, I do
Read, “in the inn”.

There is no winter
Or bleakness. But
Shepherd’s faithfully shepherding,
A mother faithfully mothering,
And angels faithfully angelling.

Swaddled in faithfulness
The Word, become flesh,
God manifested, and to be manifested,
Everything provided in Him; found:
Good pleasure in men.

Dawyck Botonic Gardens

O BETHLEHEM WHAT SIGHTS YOU'VE SEEN (V)

 

(2 Samuel 23, 13-17)

Alert to the longings
Of their beloved captain
The three advanced;

Deep desire for water
In Bethlehem’s gate;
And for someone to give it.

If Philistines garrisoned
David’s city, the three
Invaded their camp.

Water was their prize.
Not mere refreshment
But, at David’s hand,
Jehovah’s libation.

Scotland's Oldest Pharmacy

Moffat Ram ("It his nae lugs")

Shortest Street in Scotland

Maybe

O BETHLEHEM WHAT SIGHTS YOU'VE SEEN (IV)

 

An old man approaches

Travelling with a sacrificial heifer,

A horn of oil on his person.

 

Peaceably, he says, he has come,

To the trembling elders.

He hallows Jesse and his sons.

 

Seven sons pass before him:

Who is the missing man

Of Jehovah’s choice?

 

Where is the missing man

Of Jehovah’s choice?

Feeding the sheep.

 

He sent and brought him in,

His complexion glowing with health,

His face lovely to God:

 

Jehovah’s anointed,

Anointed by the glad prophet

Among his brethren.

Yarrow Valley

O BETHLEHEM WHAT SIGHTS YOU'VE SEEN (III)

 

You, O Bethlehem, have seen

These griefs:

 

A young man, a Levite,

Launching out on the way

To idolatrous priesthood.

 

A young woman, led

To this indignity:

A concubine;

 

And led again

To degradation, death,

Dismemberment.

 

Children to be reason

For Rachel’s tears.

O BETHLEHEM WHAT SIGHTS YOU'VE SEEN (II)

 

On the way to Ephrath

Rachel died by me.

 

Did he dream of arriving

With twelve sons and four wives?

Rachel’s sepulchre, nearly at Bethlehem

Became a liaison landmark.

 

“Son of my right hand” eclipsed

“Son of my sorrow”.

 

Yet in Bethlehem time would hear

Rachel’s lament for her children.

 

O BETHLEHEM, WHAT SIGHTS YOU’VE SEEN (I)

 i

Two widows enter the town,
And if one returns bitterly
The younger has brought honey.

She goes empty to the field,
Returns not only with her gleanings
But with food reached by the owner.

She goes needily to the threshing-floor;
Returns, not only with a cloakful of corn
But a heartful of promise.

He goes to the city gate:
Returns as the redeemer
And bridegroom.

Ettrick Valley

Deo iuvante, by Lady Jane Grey

 Deo iuvante, nil nocet liver malus;

Et non iuvante, nil iuvat labor gravis;

Post tenebras spiro lucem.

Lady Jane Grey 1537-1554

(Nine days queen of England: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Jane_Grey)

My version of this is:

If God should help, no harm shall bruise;

Without Him, we will only lose:

After the dark, I hope for light.

More of the Ettrick Valley

To M. Jhone Welshe by Elizabeth Melville, Lady Culross

 

My dear brother, with courage bear the crosse,

Joy sall be joyned to all thy sorrow here;

High is thy hope; disdain this earthlie drosse!

Once sall you see the wished day appear.

Now it is dark, thy sky cannot be clear;

Efter the clouds, it sall be calm anone.

Wait on his will whoes blood hath bought thee dear,

Extoll his name, tho’ outward joyes be gone;

Look to the Lord, thou art not left alone,

Since he is there quhat pleasure canst thou take! -

He is at hand, and hears thy heavy groan,

End out thy faught, and suffer for his sake!

   A sight most bright thy soul sall schortly see

   When store of Glore thy rich reward sall be.

Elizabeth Melville, Lady Culross  (c.1578–c.1640)

(Notice the acrostic)

On Captain's Road