IN PROGRESS

A few weeks after this photo was taken,
we enjoyed colorful tulips. By summer's end,
the sticks at upper left become a mass of 
yellow (see photo at bottom).

An old weathered tub planter helps us welcome two growing seasons. In March we see the first hints of tulips. Within a month, after they've bloomed their hearts out and curled up, the cut-back twigs of marigolds stir and bring on a glowing yellow crown by August. What both have in common is many hours of sun from a south and west exposure.

And isn't that like our spiritual walks? The more we walk with God, absorbing the Son-reflected truths of scripture, the stronger the spiritual bloom. I thought of that principle in reading a devotional book by David Roper, The Strength of a Man (Discovery House, 1989). (It was a gift to my husband, but I read it, too.) As is my habit, I dog-eared pages that said “something more” to me. One was this, quoting an ancient spiritual thinker, Spain's St. John of the Cross (1542-1591), probably best known for his writings about the “dark night of the soul.” Roper drew these observations from the ancient writer:

St. John of the Cross says that walking with God produces three distinguishing characteristics in men—tranquility, gentleness, and strength. When He's by our side all our actions can be peaceful, gentle, and strong. Which suggests an immense depth of relationship that comes from time spent with our Lord, who 'works always in tranquility.' Anxiety, intensity, intolerance, instability, pessimism, and every kind of hurry and worry—even on the highest levels, are signs of the man who walks alone, the self-made and self-acting soul. God's men are seldom of that order. They share the quiet and noble qualities of the One with whom they walk. (p. 112)

The pandemic has forced people to more “alone” time, which has also translated to more media exposure (television, internet) as well as more reading time. Each of us has faced choices in how to use that time in feeding our minds and spirits. The character of those who entertain us on the media are not likely to reflect the “quiet and noble qualities of the One with whom they walk.” Sadly, for many, they become role models that pull us away from the character of God.

The reflective, spiritual walk is not achieved in spurts of guilt and “getting back to God.” It's the long, patient growing process that the Bible gives: The Word (scriptures), prayer, meditation and service. Or, to go back to my plants-in-tub illustration, it's daily seeking the life-giving rays of the Son of Righteousness in this slow process called “spiritual growth.” When we turn things over to Him, oh the possibilities!

LOST & FOUND

Where could it possibly be? I asked myself in mild panic as I searched for my heirloom watch. My father gave it to me for high school graduation in 1965—a traditional gift in that era. He even had my name and graduation year inscribed on the back. So yes, it was special to me and I'd just recently had $60 of repair service on it. But I couldn't find it. I have about four spots where I put it when I take it off to do dishes or yard work. It was in none.

Could I have possibly (and absentmindedly) tossed it in the trash? I went through the kitchen garbage (which included a broken glass and other “yuck” stuff). I took a “grabber” tool out to the big garbage bin, full of thorny rose clippings, and searched there. Then back inside, on a hunch, to go through my dresser drawers. Third drawer down (my “sock drawer”) I caught a glimpse of silver. There it was.

Apparently I'd stacked my just washed and “rolled/tucked” socks on top of the dresser. (No, I don't gently and lovingly fold and stack socks as though they had personality--like a current “organizer” fad advises.) When I grabbed them to move them to the third drawer, my watch (in its usual place on top) got grabbed with the whole bunch. And there it languished in the darkness.

In my frantic search for the watch I could identify with a lady in one of Jesus' parables in Luke 15. In those days, women wore headbands with coins on them. Brides wore them for their wedding attire, and hung onto them as a “savings account” for dire emergencies. With no welfare checks in those days, those coins were a valuable possession. No wonder she looked carefully, taking an oil lamp to every little dim corner of her house and listening carefully as she swept. It was a big deal when she found it. She didn't have Facebook but she did holler to friends and neighbors to come and celebrate how the lost was found.

By itself it would have been an interesting little domestic story, except for these key words in verse 16: “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Its context is also telling: it's the middle parable of three: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. All highlight the amazing truth that God never loses sight of us, even when we go our confused and willfully wrong ways. Both the shepherd and the housewife asked others to “rejoice” when they found their lost items (vv. 6-7, 9-10). The father of the prodigal son threw a party to celebrate his son's repentance and return.

As I have re-read these Bible accounts, I am struck by the term “rejoice.” Yes, I rejoiced to find my lost watch. But have I rejoiced over others' spiritual turnarounds as much as I should? And if they seem to turn back to God, but then return to old God-rejecting habits, have I remained faithful in praying for them? This was Jesus' compelling purpose: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). Not lost heirloom watches, but lost souls of infinite value.

CROWN HIM!

 (A monthly feature on a beloved hymn.)

One of Easter's most joyful and enduring hymns was, well, the “crowning” achievement of two men from different theological traditions who wrote thirty years apart! The hymn, of course, is “Crown Him With Many Crowns.”

Its story began in 1851 with Matthew Bridges (1800-1894), who had once written a book condemning Roman Catholicism. Then, in 1848, he ended up converting to that faith. Three years after his “conversion,” tying his poetic thoughts to Revelation 19:12's vision of Christ in Heaven with many crowns, Bridges published a hymn he called “The Song of the Seraphs.”

Then along came Godfrey Thring (1823-1903), an Anglican cleric. He felt the lyrics of Bridges' hymn had too much Catholic doctrine in them for Anglicans to sing. One verse, for example, gave extra attention to Mary, mother of Jesus. The lyrics called Jesus “fruit of the mystic rose, as of that rose the stem.” He also felt the song needed a stanza on Jesus' resurrection, so added:

His glories now we sing/Who died and rose on high,

Who died, eternal life to bring,/And lives, that death may die.

He ended up with six eight-line stanzas for the revised hymn; most hymnals now use only four stanzas. But it's the music that gave the lyrics their majestic cadence, and credit for that goes to Sir George J. Elvey (1816-1893), who composed the tune called “Diademata,” Greek for “crown.” Sir Elvey was born in Canterbury (yes, home to the famous cathedral) to a family long associated with music in that city. In his long career at St. George's Chapel in Windsor as a church musician and composer, he was also an organ teacher to royalty—two princes and a duke. How fitting that a man who worked with human royalty should write the music exalting the King of kings and Lord of lords!

Over the years, the twelve combined stanzas of Bridges and Thring have appeared mixed and matched by hymnal editors in different abridged versions. In the original hymns, the “crowns” were these:

Newman (Catholic): the Lamb upon His throne, virgin's son, Lord of love, Lord of peace, Lord of years, Lord of Heaven.

Thring (Anglican): crowns of gold, Son of God, Lord of light, Lord of life, Lord of lords, Lord of Heaven.

No matter whose verses are chosen, they have one purpose: to praise Jesus for His person and ministry. And that's the most important thing to remember of this timeless hymn about our eternal Savior.

Inspiring scenery, plus the hymn's words, will help you sing along at this site:

Crown Him With Many Crowns - Bing video

SIMPLY

They're powerful words for a culture smitten with more...and more. “Live simply. Be grateful.” I spotted this sign in a gift shop for a small tourist attraction in central Washington. By “small,” I mean seasonal and certainly no Disneyland. It included a few home-brew “attractions” like a corn maze, jumping pit, a basic farm animals “zoo,” and old barrels turned into wheeled kiddy cars pulled by a tractor. But it was enough to charm our little granddaughter, who turned four that day. Her family lives 200 miles away but it could have been a thousand with nearly a year of being apart during the coronavirus pandemic. But that day we were grateful for our short reunion midway between our homes. Yes, we wore masks (hers featured “Frozen”-motif fabric, her current little-girl love) for the masked mini-party in the shelter of the gift shop.

There, amidst acres and acres of various farm crops, some of them mega-farms, I considered again the plaque's message of “live simply” and “be grateful.” These words from Proverbs came to mind: 

Two things I ask of you, O lord; do not refuse me before I die; Keep falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches, But give me only my daily bread. Otherwise I may have too much and disown you and say, “Who is the Lord?” (Proverbs 30:7-9)

One day a friend and I talked about contentment and the materialistic pull of our culture. As one example, how the computer changed our world. Forty years ago, they were an expensive novelty in homes. Now, they (and the tiny computers called “smart phones”) are considered “essential” for modern life. When you fill out a form, you're asked your E-mail address. You're told to “text” for something via your phone. (A disclaimer: our cell is old and doesn't text...and its monthly fee relatively cheap.) Computers helped us weather the pandemic's quarantines with virtual school and virtual work. It's now how our culture works. But that doesn't mean it has to dominate our lives. There is an “off” button, and a world outside.

I find the “essentials of life” given in these few verses of Proverbs very insightful. The writer wants these qualities in his life before it ends.

1. Honesty and transparency. “Keep falsehood and lies far from me.”

2. Enough for basic life. “Neither poverty nor riches.” “My daily bread.”

3. Gratitude to God for “enough.”

Our consumer-focused culture chafes at such advice. It preaches bigger and better. More and more aps. More and more television channels to entertain us. But God's way is “just enough.” If we have more than enough, we share, glad for the opportunity.

I didn't buy that sign, but it expressed my outlook. Less stuff. More gratitude. Spiritually as well as physically.

SUCCINCT

We faced one more assignment in our church's young teens two-year doctrine instruction class: to choose a “life verse” that we would memorize and quote to gathered family and church members. “And don't choose John 11:35,” the minister warned. One kid quickly looked it up: “Jesus wept.” Too easy! I'd already decided on mine, 45 words long in the RSV version I was using: Galatians 2:20 about being “crucified with Christ.” I really liked that verse as a challenge to spiritual growth. Decades later in my Bible-reading, I've noticed several other verses with huge impact despite their brevity.

First, regarding “Jesus wept.” It's tucked into the heart-wrenching story of Jesus coming to the cave holding the body of his friend Lazarus, whose sisters Mary and Martha often offered Jesus their warm hospitality. Their home was a safe and loving place from the demanding crowds and disgruntled religious leaders. The verse pulses with angst as Jesus, threatened Himself recently with death by stoning (John 10:31), showed His humanity by grieving with people He loved. This was the One of whom Isaiah prophesied, “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4). The two words, “Jesus wept,” are powerful and emotional before He rebukes Death.

Second, there's no special significance to the number of words in a certain Bible verse. The Bible wasn't divided into chapters (for easier reference) until the 5^th century. The first versification—of the Greek New Testament—came in 1551 A.D.

Still, there's something to be said about “versification” that spotlights just a few words. We're drawn to succinct truths. Even the meaning of the word “succinct” hints at why. It comes from the Latin succinctus, meaning “prepared, ready, contracted, short.” Its word family (going back 600 years) includes one that means to tuck up from below, as gathering up long robes to better move about. Theirs was no jeans culture!

Still, in my Bible reading, I pause and think when I come across "succinct" verses, like these, stair-stepped in 1 Thessalonians 5 (NIV):

Be joyful always. (v. 16)

Pray continually. (v. 17)

Avoid every kind of evil.(v. 22)

Brothers, pray for us.(v. 25)

Then, there's the profound “don't-go-there” lesson of Luke 17:32:

Remember Lot's wife.

The warning comes out of her story in Genesis 19. Married to Abraham's nephew Lot, she lived in the wicked city of Sodom-Gomorrah. They had two daughters and apparently blended into their evil community. The angels' warning to get out right now didn't sit well with her. Her home, her belongings, her friends, her status, her whole lifestyle, were enmeshed within those city walls. As they fled, she paused to look back to look and was incinerated by the mysterious, deadly explosion. Her momentary longing for her “old life” removed the possibility of “new life.” And could that be the problem we face today—of being enmeshed in the compromises of our culture, and having our pure desire for Jesus polluted? The rest of that terrible story is that her daughters got their father drunk and conceived children by him. The mother's sins...passed on, and on.

Jesus died for such sins. When we “look back” and inch back to bad choices, He weeps.

HALF-WHAT?

Is your life half-full or half-empty? Our answer to that rhetorical question depends a lot on our spiritual walk. That truth came to mind when I read the newsletter that came recently from a Bible translation ministry we support. A lesser person would have given up. But a persecuted man, who loved Jesus with all his heart, soul, and mind, persevered. Reading his story was a “wow” moment.

This man lived in war-torn Africa, part of a tribal community with a language only 26,000 people spoke. Hostilities became so intense that one day his family hastily fled their village with just the clothing they wore. For seven days, night and day, they walked. There was no food and many in their community died of thirst or starvation. One night, half way to a country which would shelter them, they heard gunfire. The group ran one way, but this man sensed a voice telling him to go another. Later he learned his family escaped an ambush that killed hundreds.

Settling into a refugee camp in another country, he started working with some Bible translators who wanted help with his language. Then, the translators had to flee to a safer area. Compelled to continue, he and another man rode bikes 200 miles to continue their work with the translators.

The rebels didn't give up, kidnapping this man and eight others from the translation office. One by one, they killed his companions. One night they came for him—but released him. More trials came his way, but he persevered in his quest to have the New Testament translated into his native tongue.

Thirty years after the translation effort began, the New Testament in his language was published and distributed in a great celebration. Of that event, he said, “At that time, I forgot all the challenges I went through.”

As I finished reading that, the words of Paul came to mind: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13).

Working with the half-full glass of opportunity and skills he was given, he filled it with determination and faith. And finally, his cup runneth over.

A good message, I think, for the fears and inconveniences that have come upon us in the coronavirus pandemic. Half full, and still filling, with Jesus? Or half-empty, and draining, with complaint?

HERE IS LOVE

Wales, tucked between England and the Irish Sea, birthed this month's featured hymn. As our world groans under civil unrest and pandemic losses—many praying for revival—there's encouragement in the hymn that marked revival a century-plus ago in Wales: “Here is Love, Vast as the Ocean.”

Wales had a long history of Catholic, Anglican, and Calvinistic faith expressions with periodic revivals. In the mid-1700s, William Williams (known as the “Sweet Singer of Wales”), brought not just revival but some thousand hymns to the people, including “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.” That movement was followed by translation to Welsh of the Catechism, Psalms and the Book of Common Prayer. Literacy was promoted; an estimated half of the 450,000 Welsh learned to read. Into this increased literacy came the Wesley brothers and their Methodist revival. Between the middle of the 18^th century and the middle of the 19^th, Wales experienced some fifteen major revivals.

In 1878, a coal miner and his wife welcomed their second son, Evan Roberts. A devout child, he attended church regularly and memorized scripture at night. From age 11 to 23, he worked in the coal mines with his father, then became a blacksmith's apprentice. His faith-walk deepened as he spent long hours of prayer. He began studying for the ministry and had a vision of “all Wales being lifted up to God.” In late 1904 he preached at his home chapel, then taking his message to other parts of Wales. Soon thousands attended the meetings. He believed God would give him 100,000 souls.

Wales began to change. Sporting events (particularly the nation's passion, rugby) drew fewer crowds, church more. Hundreds would come to church if it was even rumored that he would preach. Unlike the typical fiery evangelists or structured delivery of Welsh preachers, Roberts' preaching style was prayerful and reflective. At the end, he'd invite the audience to participate in sharing their experience with the Holy Spirit. Services went late into the night.

A HEART-MOVING HYMN

One revival meeting drew 18-year-old Annie Davies, also daughter of a coal miner and a trained singer, who experienced a deepening of her faith. At a subsequent service, invited to come to the platform to sing, she chose a song that had recently been on her heart: “Here is love vast as the ocean.” Overcome with emotion, tear-faced, she couldn't finish it that night. But she would continue to sing it at future meetings, joined by other young women, including her sister. The women also sang at local pubs, inviting men drinking there to come to the revival meetings.

Wales changed in that brief year of Roberts' preaching. Churches reported 80,000 more attending. Drunkenness and beer sales faded. People strove to be more honest, repaying their debts. At the mines, the pit ponies which dragged coal-laden wagons to the surface, were confused when their usually foul-mouthed handlers stopped using obscenities to order them around.

Roberts became front-page news. The revival was intense and exhausting, and after about a year in the public eye, Roberts experienced a physical and emotional collapse and had to quit. He went to England to recuperate, later returning to Cardiff to live quietly, appearing at a few meetings. He never married, dying at 72 in 1951.

Two decades ago, the 100^th anniversary of the Welsh Revival brought his story to light again, and also reintroduced his meetings' theme song about God's love, sung simply by young women who loved Jesus.

The hymn was composed by William Reese (1802-1883) and translated to English by William Edwards (1848-1929). It was sung with two tunes. One was “Ebenezer” with its rolling, wave-like rhythms (now used for the hymn “Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus”). Most hymnals now use a tune by prolific American composer Robert Lowry (1826-1899).

The full English lyrics are here: Here Is Love > Lyrics | William Rees (timelesstruths.org)

A moving performance of the hymn by Welsh tenor Huw Priday is here: 

Here is Love vast as the Ocean - Bing video