Monday's Meditation: A Prayer For Right Living

 

"By mercy and truth iniquity is purged;
and by fear of the Lord men depart from evil."
(Proverbs 16:6)

Lovely Snowy Day

Picture courtesy/ Love This Pic

I asked for strength that I might achieve;

I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for health that I might do great things;

I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

I asked for riches that I might be happy;

I was given poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for power that I might have the praise of men;

I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;

I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I had asked for,

but everything I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself, 

my unspoken prayers were answered;

I am among all men, most richly blessed.



"A Prayer For Right Living"
Unknown Confederate Soldier

The Preacher And The Bear

 

A preacher went out hunting,

Was on a Sunday morn;

Of course it was against his religion,

But he took a gun along.

He shot himself some quail

And one little measly hare,

But on his way returning home

He met a great big bear.

Well, the bear got down in the middle of the road,

On all fours like a great big toad;

He looked that preacher right square in the eye;

The preacher looked at him and said, "Bye, bye."

He started down the road, took out to run,

The bear right after that preacher did come;

They run, and then run for about a mile,

They both sat down and rested for awhile.

The preacher got up and stirred again,

The bear he started out with more vim,

They run and they run 'till he spotted a tree,

Said, "Up on the limb, there's a place for me."

The bear reached out, made a grab for him;

The preacher leaped up and made the limb,

Pulled himself up and turned about,

Cast his eyes to the skies and he did shout:

O Lord, you delivered Daniel from the lion's den,

Also delivered Jonah from the whale and then

The Hebrew children in the fiery furnace,

So the Good Book do declare,

Lord, if you can't help me,

For goodness sake don't help that bear!

Just about then the limb came loose

And the preacher came tumbling down.

He reached in his pocket and pulled his razor out

Just before he hit the ground.

He hit the ground with an awful bang;

It was a terrible sight,

The preacher and the bear, with the razor in his hair,

Just a-cutting left and right.

He thought, if I'd get out of here alive,

That Good Book I will abide;

I'll never sin on Sabbath Day,

And Sunday come I'll pray and pray.

To the Heavens he did glance,

Said, "Lord, just give me one more chance."

Then his suspenders gave away

And he knocked that bear ten feet away.

Got up and turned around

To a tree where he'd be safe and sound

Pulled himself up and turned about,

Cast his eyes to the skies and he did shout:

O Lord, you delivered Daniel from the lion's den,

Also delivered Jonah from the whale and then

The Hebrew children in the fiery furnace,

So the Good Book do declare,

Lord, if you can't help me,

For goodness sake don't help that bear!

"The Preacher and the Bear"
 By Joe Arzonia
Above image courtesy of the
Levy Sheet Music Collection/Johns Hopkins University

Dear Lord Who Sought At Dawn The Day

 

"One thing have I desired of the Lord,
that I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty
of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple.

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion:
in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; 
He shall set me up upon a rock."
(Psalm 27:4-5)

Lenten Roses In The Snow

Picture courtesy/From The Garden Shed

Dear Lord who sought at dawn of day

The solitary woods to pray,

In quietness we come to seek

Thy guidance for the coming week.

O Master, who with kindly face

At noon walked in the market place,

We crave a brother's smile and song

When mingling in the human throng.

Strong Pilot, who at the midnight hour

Could calm the sea with gentle power,

Grant us the skill to aid the bark

Of those who drift in storm and dark.

As Thou at weary eventide

Communed upon the mountainside;

In reverent stillness now we ask

Thy presence for the morrow's task.

Amen

"Dear Lord Who Sought At Dawn The Day"
(1928)
Reverend Harry Webb Farrington
(1979-1930)
American Methodist minister,
hymn writer, soldier, and educator

A Winter's Tale In South Jersey

 

The heavy snowfall in southern New Jersey on this last Saturday of the month
 reminded me of the pair of beautiful snow leopards I saw last spring at the Cape May
County Zoo.  These powerful panthers, native to the mountain ranges of Central
 and South Asia, must have been in their element- with snow totals
reaching well over a foot down the shore-compliments of
 the powerful nor'easter passing by our coast today!

Snow Leopard in the snow!
Picture courtesy Natural Habitat Adventures

Lost Letter From Holocaust Survivor Returned To Family

Courage and resilience in the face of mindless evil.

A story never to be forgotten.

 Holocaust survivor Ilse Loewenberg and the recently
 discovered letter she had written to her family. 
Photograph courtesy/ABC7 New York

As a captured resistance fighter, young Ilse Loewenburg jumped from a moving
train while enroute to the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp.  She later
escaped to Berlin, Germany where for nine months she eluded capture by the Nazis.
Unfortunately, she was eventually re-captured and sent to prison.

Ilse lost her parents, two sisters, and her husband during the war.  She alone
survived, and later immigrated to America where she settled in New York.
She later remarried and began a new life for herself.

But this is not the end of Ilse's story, thanks to an enterprising
 flea market 'heirloom hunter' named Chelsey Brown
who recently uncovered a long lost letter from the past...

Letter From The Holocaust Returned To Survivor's Family

Now This Is News

(January 27, 2022)

On My Mind: Biden's Supreme Court Nominee

 

"Freedom and justice can not be parceled out in pieces to 
 suit political convenience.  I don't believe you can stand for 
 freedom for one group of people and deny it to others."
-Coretta Scott King

 Seal Of The Supreme Court Of The United States

Image courtesy/woodmetalplaques.com

President Biden has pledged to nominate a black woman to fill
 the soon-to-be vacated seat of Justice Stephen Breyer who recently
 announced his retirement from the Supreme Court.

As no one can predict this future event,  it is my sincerest hope that
whoever this person is, she will be intelligent enough to see through Biden's
pathetic political pandering in regards to her race, and choose to serve the
American people with decisions based on true equality and justice for all.

Let her not be swayed by politics, nor choose to misuse the power
delegated to her by relying on her own personal interpretation
of the law, such as in the case of Obama-appointed Justice
Sonia Sotomayor, who once intimated that her sagacity
as a "wise Latina woman" should suffice in her opinions
or in decisions handed down by the Supreme Court.

The role of a Supreme Court Justice is to interpret and apply
the law as it is written, not to re-write it to reflect party influence 
 or personal preferences as we have seen in recent years.

The future of our nation in remaining a free Constitutional Republic 
depends not only on public servants who understand the role of
the government in the lives of the people, and the application of the law,
but whose personal adherence to uncompromising integrity, while 
  serving on the bench,  in Congress, or in the White House, speaks for itself.

Reading The Past: How Animals Made An Icon

 

The Pelican Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I

(circa 1575)

Nicholas Hilliard

(1547-1619)

English painter known for his portrait miniatures 

of Queen Elizabeth I and James I England

Dr. Kat, the gracious host of Reading The Past, presents an
intriguing look back at the Tudor Dynasty and how this royal house
mastered the art of image making- especially the last member
 of this family to sit on the English throne- Queen Elizabeth I.

Shaping Elizabeth I: How Animals Made An Icon

Reading The Past

(January 29, 2022)

Break Off The Demonic Spirit - Messianic Rabbi Zev Porat Preaches

 

Shabbat Shalom, Eretz Israel!

Sabbath peace and blessings to all!

Image courtesy/So Cool Stuff/Amazon

Beloved brother in the Lord Rabbi Zev Porat brings
 a timely and faith challenging message for these
 uncertain and perilous times: "Shake it off!"

Break Off The Demonic Spirit

Messanic Rabbi Zev Porat Preaches

(January 29, 2022)

Ambitious For The Things That Really Matter!

 

An inspirational message from beloved sister
in the Lord Christine Darg of Exploits Ministry.

Ambitious For The Things That Really Matter

JerusalemChannel

(January 28, 2022)

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

 

Always Remember,  Never Forget.

Jewish children survivors of Auschwitz concentration camp.
Photograph courtesy Alexander Voroncov
USHMM/State Archives of the Russian Federation
 via Wikimedia Commons

Today is International Holocaust Day which commemorates the liberation 
 of the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland
 by the Soviet Red Army on January 27, 1945.  

Prior to the advance of the Russians, at least 60,000 inmates were taken
on a forced death march from Auschwitz by the retreating Germans.
About 7,000 people were left behind.  These included many who were 
 sick and dying and children under the age of 15.

After entering the camp, Russian soldiers discovered at least six
 hundred corpses,  thousands of men's suits and articles of women's
 clothing, and at least seven tons of collected human hair.

Many of the battle-scarred men who liberated the camp that day 
 found themselves both shocked and horrified by the ghastly
mistreatment of those imprisoned there.

 Vasily Petrenko, Commander-General of the 107th Infantry Division
of the Russian Army would later recount:

"I, who saw people dying every day was shocked by the Nazis' 
indescribable hatred toward the inmates who had turned into living skeletons.
I read about the Nazis' treatment of the Jews in various leaflets, but there was
nothing about the Nazis' treatment of women, children, and old men.
It was in Auschwitz that I found out about the fate of the Jews."

Adolf Hitler and the forces of the Third Reich set out to annihilate the
 Jewish people from the earth.  Yet, like the many generations of Amalekites
 who have waged war against God and His people Israel over the centuries, the
 Nazis were soundly defeated and their evil regime was swept into the dustbin of history.

Within three years of the end of World War II, the newly reborn nation
of  Israel rose up like a beacon of hope from the ashes of the Holocaust, 
to take her place among the nations of the world, thus fulfilling God's
promise of restoration as spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

"Who has ever heard of such a thing?  Who has ever seen such things?
Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment?
Yet, no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children."
(Isaiah 66:8)

Since that day, May 14, 1948 , the Lord has been calling His people back to 
 their homeland.  He promised through the words of the prophet Amos
 that He would never allow them to be removed from the land again.

"Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, "when the plowman
will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed.
The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all hills will flow.
I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and
inhabit the ruined cities.  They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
they will make gardens and eat their fruit.  I will firmly plant them in
their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that
I have given them," says the Lord your God.

Galil Mountain Winery

Upper Galilee

Israel

Photograph courtesy/Galil Mountain Winery

Through The Bible With Les Feldick: Am I Saved?

 

Oklahoma rancher and beloved brother in the Lord,
Les Feldick teaches on obtaining salvation through faith.

Am I Saved?

Through The Bible With Les Feldick
Les Feldick Daily

Snownado In Greece?

 

Another Sign of the Times?

Skopelos is a popular Greek resort island in the western Aegean Sea.
  Said to be one of the most greenest in the region, this island is famous
 for it's warm, sunny beaches, quaint villages,  lush olive groves, and
 beautiful array of native flowers... definitely not snow-wrapped tornadoes!

Snow and Tornado
 Skopelos, Greece

Tetova Online

(January 24, 2022)

Wednesday's Word

 

"For Thou hast possessed my reins; Thou hast covered me
in my mother's womb. I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully
and wonderfully made; marvelous are Thy works;
and that my soul knoweth right well."
(Psalm 139:13-14)

Photograph courtesy/First Cry Parenting

"We should never be angry but at sin, and this should always be that
which we oppose in our anger.  And when our spirits are stirred to oppose
this evil, it should be as sin, or chiefly as it is against God.  If there be
no sin and no fault, then we have no cause to be angry; and if there
be a fault or sin, then it is infinitely worse as against God than it is
against us, and therefore it requires the most opposition on that account.

Thousands of dedicated anti-abortion activists peacefully gather for the 49th annual

  March For Life rally held in Washington DC on January 21, 2022.
Picture courtesy/Getty Images

"And He declared to them:  "It is written: 'My house will be
called a house of prayer.' But you are making it a den of robbers."
(Matthew 2:13)
Berean Study Bible

Jesus Removing The Moneylenders From The Temple

James Edwin McConnell

(1903-1995)

British book and magazine cover artist

Persons sin in their anger when they are selfish in it; for we are not to
act as if we were our own, or for ourselves simply, since we belong to God,
and not to ourselves.  When a fault is committed wherein God is sinned
against, and persons are injured by it, they should be chiefly concerned,
and their spirits chiefly moved against it, because it is against God;
for they should be more solicitous for God's honor than
their own temporal interests."

Above quotations taken from the sermon,
"The Spirit of Love:
 The Opposition of an Angry or Wrathful Spirit."
By Jonathan Edwards
(1703-1758)
American Revivalist preacher
Portrait courtesy/ Religious News Service

God Knows Best

 

"And we know that all things work together for good to them
  that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose."
(Romans 8:28)

Picture courtesy/Pinterest

Our Father knows what's best for us,

So why should we complain

We always want the sunshine

But He knows there must be rain.

We love the sound of laughter

And the merriment of cheer,

But our hearts would lose their tenderness

If we never shed a tear...

Our Father tests us often

With suffering and with sorrow,

He tests us, not to punish us,

But to help us meet tomorrow...

For growing trees are strengthened

When they withstand the storm,

And the sharp cut of the chisel

Gives the marble grace and form...

God never hurts us needlessly,

And He never wastes our pain

For every loss He sends to us

Is followed by rich gain...

And when we count the blessings

That God has so freely sent,

We will find no cause for murmuring

And no time to lament...

For our Father loves His children,

And to Him all things are plain,

So He never sends us pleasure

When the soul's deep need is pain...

So whenever we are troubled,

And when everything goes wrong,

It is just God working in us

To make our spirit strong.

"God Knows Best"
Helen Steiner Rice
(1900-1981)
American Christian writer
and poetess

National Peanut Brittle Day

 

 Down Home country cook Becky Walker, gracious host of The Hillbilly Kitchen,

 shares her 100 year old recipe for this delicious nutty candy,

 along with an important reminder to "Put God First!"

Happy National Peanut Brittle Day everyone!

Peanut Brittle/One Hundred Year Recipe

The Hillbilly Kitchen
Down Home Country Cooking

(November 20, 2019)

The Great Reset/Our Eternal Reset

"...while we wait for the our blessed hope-
the appearing of the glory of our great God
and Savior Jesus Christ."
(Titus 2:13)

In this presentation from Christ In Prophecy,  hosts Tim Moore
and Nathan Jones discuss the Church's role in the Great Reset.

The Great Reset/Our Eternal Reset

Christ In Prophecy

(January 23, 2022)

Dr. Peter Marshall Jr.: In Defense Of America's History

 

In this most important interview from 2011, Dr. David Reagan,
 founder of Lamb and Lion Ministries, and host of Christ In Prophecy,
 speaks with Dr. Peter Marshall Jr. in defense of America's Christian heritage.

Peter Marshall On The Challenge To America's Heritage

Christ In Prophecy

(June 8, 2011)

Recommended Reading:

"The Light And The Glory"

"Sounding Forth The Trumpet"

"From Sea To Shining Sea"

Dr. Peter Marshall Jr. & David Manuel

Dr. Peter Marshall: Trumpet of the Morn

 

"Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain
that built it: except the Lord keep the city,
 the watchman waketh but in vain."
(Psalm 127:1)

A righteous voice from the past speaks to America today.

Dr. Peter Marshall/Trumpet Of The Morn

 Scottish-American minister Dr. Peter Marshall Sr.
(1902-1949)
 Twice-appointed Chaplain of the United States Senate.

 Uploaded to YouTube by James Serono

( May 6, 2017)

Monday Meditation: Wisdom Hates Evil

 

Wisdom Hates Evil

Wisdom comes to us in the Scripture sometimes as a person and speaks
to us in a very personal tone of voice.  Wisdom presents to us a choice.
Wisdom shows us the dividing of the pathway-the pathway of life
and the pathway of death.  Wisdom warns us that if we are to walk in
 the path of life we have to hate evil.  There is no room for compromise.

Those who are walking in that pathway cannot in any way permit 
themselves to entertain the thoughts of evil.  We have to watch our own lives,
our own behavior.  We have to guard against the things that wisdom hates.

Wisdom hates pride and arrogance.  These are subtle things that may begin
to grow up in our lives without us scarcely being aware of them.  Evil behavior
and perverse speech-these are things that wisdom hates, and if we are to walk
in the way of life we have to hate what wisdom hates.

We have to side with the Lord against sin and iniquity, rebellion, and
deception.   We have to dethrone these things from our hearts and to make
room there for wisdom-wisdom with prudence, with knowledge, and with
discretion.  We have to bear in mind continually that all the counsel of
wisdom, all the instruction and even the admonition
of wisdom is designed for our good.

"Wisdom Hates Evil"
A devotional by
Derek Vaughan Prince
(1915-2003)
American Bible teacher
Picture courtesy/Sermons online

Father, Who Art Alone

 

"Blessed is the man who Thou choosest, and causes
 to approach unto Thee, that he may dwell in Thy
courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness
of Thy house, even of Thy holy temple."
Psalm 65:4

The Return Of The Prodigal Son

(1661-1669)

Rembrandt van Rijn

(1606-1669)

Dutch Golden Age painter

Father, Who art alone

Our Helper and our Stay;

O hear us!

as we plead for loved ones faraway;

And shield with Thine almighty hand

Our wanderers by sea and land.

O compass with Thy love

The daily path they tread!

And may Thy light and truth

Upon their hearts be shed;

That, one in all things with Thy will,

Heaven's peace and joy

their souls may fill.

Guard them from every harm

When dangers assail,

And teach them that Thy power

Can never, never fail;

We cannot with our loved ones be,

But trust them, Father, unto Thee.

Amen

"Father Who Art Alone 
(1885)
 Written by Edith Jones
 for the Home Hymn Book

On My Mind: United We Stand, Divided We Fall

 

In a recent poll taken in regards to the most important issue
facing the Republican Party if they should regain the majority in
Congress was not one of the available choices to choose from,
 but as always been: "United We Stand, Divided We Fall".

This must be clearly understood by all members of Congress,
regardless of their party status, if our nation is to continue
 to remain in existence.

Wishful thinking again on my part!

Over the past year we have witnessed how quickly the latter
statement, "Divided We Fall" has been implemented across
the nation through Biden's unconstitutional vaccine mandates,
the free-for-all opening of our borders, the lies and propaganda
spun by the devious news media, and the general collapse of 
a once thriving economy under Donald Trump.

Mr. Trump warned us during the last televised presidential debate
of 2020 that Biden would destroy the country and he was right!

With the exception of a very small group of dedicated public
servants in Washington DC who oppose him, the dopey,
Delawarian wanna-be dictator has been given free reign
to implement freedom-crushing tyranny, primarily 
through the abuse of signing numerous "executive orders"
while the majority of the Congress has looked the other way.

When Trump won the presidency in 2016, for the first time in
years the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives
were squarely in the hands of the Republican Party.

But instead of standing behind President Trump, and demanding
the reform needed to make America great again, the majority of 
high-ranking Republicans revealed their true colors, standing
around like a passel of pathetic, catty school girls, while
consorting with the likes of Pelosi and Schumer and the
rest of the Democratic hierarchy to defeat the "outsider".

This was proven when the Democrats regained the House 
and most of the Senate in 2018.  And yet, despite this meddlesome
conspiracy between the parties, Donald Trump did succeed in
part with his plan to put America and our people first.

Now it seems like the hope of renewal, shared by so many
who love this country and believe in American exceptionalism,
has dissolved into a mind-numbing nightmare.

If the "election reform" being proposed by the Democrats
succeeds, we will never again see free and fair elections
in the United States of America.

I am convinced that the only person who can truly save
America now is God.  The question is, "Will He?"

Raintree County Revisited

 

Raintree County...

which had no boundaries in time

and space, where lurked musical and

strange names and mythical and lost

peoples, and which was itself only a

name musical and strange."

-Ross Lockridge Jr.
Author of "Raintree County"

Beautiful Promotional Portraits of actor Montgomery Clift, actresses
Elizabeth Taylor and Eva Marie Saint
"Raintree County"
(1957)

"So kiss me sweet with your warm wet mouth,

Still fragrant with ruby wine,
And say with a fervor born of the South
That your body and soul are mine.
Clasp me close in your warm young arms,
While the pale stars shine above,
And we'll live our whole young lives away
In the joys of a living love."
-Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor
(John and Susanna)
"Raintree County"
(1957)

Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, 
the story of "Raintree County" is one of infatuation
 between handsome young dreamer, John Shawnessy,
 and a beautiful "flame from the South"
 Susanna Drake, a mentally unstable young
woman tormented by painful childhood memories.

Meanwhile, John's high school sweetheart,
gentle and steadfast Nell Gaither, is heartbroken when,
after a whirlwind courtship, he marries Susanna.
Although he married another woman,
Nell still loves him.

Little do these three young people realize how
their lives will ultimately be changed forever
when the outbreak of war divides the nation...

Beautiful Nell Gaither
(Eva Marie Saint)

        "Come back to Raintree County, wandering child.

 Remember the great deaths and the great homecomings.

 Come back, and bring a sprig of lilac.

 For you will always be on trains  and coming home,

 and the legend that recalled you from the City 

 will always be tingling along the wires of the Republic."
Excerpt from the novel,

"Raintree County"

By Ross Lockridge Jr.

The Song of Raintree County
(1957)
Nat King Cole

Although "Raintree County" never attained the stature
of "Gone With The Wind" it remains an intriguing story 
 of war and it's aftermath, romance vs. true love, 
and the often unsettling events of America's past.

Updated from a 2015 post.

Shakespeare's Hamlet: A Roman Catholic Play?

 

"There are no tricks in plain and simple faith."
-William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

(1564-1616)

English playwright, poet, and actor
Portrait courtesy/ Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Dr. Kat, gracious host of Reading The Past, examines
 the possible religious origins of Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Shakespeare's Hamlet: A Roman Catholic Play?

Reading The Past

(January 21, 2022)

Shocking! Eye Opener - Messianic Rabbi Zev Porat Preaches

 

Shabbat Shalom Eretz Israel!

Sabbath peace and blessings to all.

Jerusalem From The Mount Of Olives, Sunrise

(1859)

Edward Lear

(1812-1888)

English artist and illustrator

Beloved brother in the Lord Rabbi Zev Porat

brings another inspiring message from the Holy Land.

Shocking! Eye Opener-Messianic Rabbi Zev Porat

messiah ofisrael

(January 21, 2022)

Take Time To Read Every Day

 

"There is more treasure in books than in

  all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island."

Walt Disney

Story Time

Kathy Lawrence

Picture courtesy/Great Big Canvas

Throwback Thursday: Flour-Sack Underwear

 

When I was a maiden,  fair

Mama made our underwear.

With five tots and Pa's poor pay,

How could she buy lingerie?

A maiden fair in all her flour sack flair.

Picture courtesy/General Mills.com

Monograms and fancy stitches

Were not on our flour sack britches.

Panty waists that stood the test,

With "Gold Medal" on the chest.

Little pants the best of all,

With a scene I still recall:

Harvesters were gleaning wheat,

Right across the little seat.

Tougher than a grizzly bear

Was our flour-sack underwear;

Plain or fancy, three feet wide,

Stronger than a hippo's hide.

In 1918 Gold Medal Flour sacks included patterns for
Goldie the Gold Medal Flour sack doll.
Picture courtesy/General Mills.com

Through the years each Jill and Jack,

Wore this sturdy garb of sack

Waste not, want not, we soon learned,

Penny saved, a penny earned.


Bedspreads, curtains, tea towels too,

Tablecloths to name a few.

But the best beyond compare,

Was our flour-sack underwear.

"Flour-Sack Underwear"
 A poem by  Ruth Gettle

Robert E. Lee

 

"I can only say that I am nothing but a poor sinner,
trusting in Christ alone for salvation."
Robert E. Lee

General Robert Edward Lee
(January 19, 1807-October 12, 1870)
Photograph courtesy/The Library of Congress

The man was loved, the man was idolized,

the man had every just and noble gift.

He took great burdens and bore them well,

Believed in God but did not preach too much,

Believed and followed duty first and last

With marvellous consistency and force,

Was a great victor, in defeat as great,

No more, no less, always himself in both."

An excerpt from the poem,
"Robert E. Lee"
Stephen Vincent Benet
(1898-1943)
American poet

The Raven Of Baltimore

In Baltimore there is a large graveyard

filled with many graves

each one bearing a different name,

and one of these grave markers

bears a name

Titled: Poe

for in this graveyard

the writer Poe now rests.

There too, is a lone guard

who watches over his master's grave.

A Raven.

It sits atop the resting place

only to say,

 Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore!"

There is one Person

who comes close to the grave

of the beloved writer.

On the birthday 

of this esteemed man,

before the blue hour

of the coming dawn,

the Person

only known to the Raven

comes bearing gifts-

balloon glasses

Courvoisier VS

replacing

Benny Haven's best,

and a single red, red Rose.

The Person 

gives a small toast in salute

to the unforgettable Poe

then vanishes quickly,

like an elusive phantasm,

 into the tarnished charm

of the old city streets.

Who is this Person

unknown to us

and  known only

to the Raven of Baltimore?

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore!"

 Nevermore!  Shall we know.

Edgar Allan Poe

(January 19, 1809-October 7, 1849)

Photograph courtesy/The Smithsonian

"The Raven of Baltimore"
Written by 
Aaron M. Kelly
Edited by Pamela Brida
(January 18, 2022)

Is It Really Happening? God's Name Appearing In Jerusalem?

 

"For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation:
This is my resting place forever, says the Lord; here will I dwell
for I have desired it."
Psalm 132:13-14

Is the writing on the eastern wall of the Temple Mount
another sign of the times?

Is It Really Happening?
God's Name Appearing In Jerusalem?

Israel My Channel
(October 2021)

The Bearded Bible Brothers Discuss Morality

 

In this episode, beloved bearded brothers in the Lord
 Joshua and Caleb discuss the subject of morality.

Joshua and Caleb Discuss Morality

Our Jewish Roots

January 18, 2022

I Could Never Do Without Thee

 

I could not do without Thee

O Savior of the lost,

Whose precious blood redeemed me

At such tremendous cost.

Thy righteousness, Thy pardon

Thy precious blood, must be

My only hope and comfort,

My glory and my plea.

The Glory Of Christ

(2018)

Spencer Meagher

Fine Art America

I could not do without Thee,

I cannot stand alone,

I have no strength or goodness,

No wisdom of my own;

But Thou, beloved Savior,,

Art all in all to me,

And perfect strength in weakness

Is theirs who lean on Thee.

I could not do without Thee,

For, oh, the way is long,

And I am often weary,

And sigh replaces song.

How could I do without Thee?

I do not know the way;

Thou knowest, and Thou leadest,

And wilt not let me stray.

I could not do without Thee,

O Jesus, Savior dear!

E'en when my eyes are holden,

I know that Thou are near.

How dreary and how lonely

This changeful life would be,

Without the sweet communion,

The secret rest with Thee.

I could not do without Thee!

No other friend can read

The spirit's strange deep longings,

Interpreting its need;

No human heart could enter

Each dim recess of mine,

And soothe, and hush, and calm it,

O blessed Lord, but Thine.

I could not do without Thee,

For years are fleeting fast,

And soon in solemn loneness

The river must be passed;

But Thou will never leave me,

And though the waves roll high,

I know Thou wilt be near me,

And whisper, "It is I."

Frances Ridley Havergal
Photograph courtesy of 
 the Havergal Trust

"I Could Never Do Without Thee"
(1873)
Frances Ridley Havergal
"Christ's sweet singer"
(1836-1879)
English Christian poetess
and hymn writer