Reformed. Christianity. Evangelism. Modern Culture.
In 1939 when King George had to muster some courage and give his Christmas speech – as the second world war loomed heavily over the future of Great Britain, Europe and the world, he borrowed the words of a poem written in 1912.
The poem had actually been first published just two years before the first world war. Interestingly it is so suitable for such a time as ours when now with the COVID-19 virus pandemic we see a foggy darkness descend and grip the world and life as we know it appears to be coming to a slow distressing ebb for the 21st-century millennial. For such a time as this…
“The Gate of the year” also titled ‘God Knows’:
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.
One book that I would recommend (if you are looking and searching for a gift as a birthday, wedding or anniversary present) is The Valley of Vision. It has wonderful thoughtful poems and prayers like this prayer-poem called Paradoxes….
O Changeless God,
Under the conviction of the Spirit I learn that
The more I do, the worse I am,
The more I know, the less I know,
The more holiness I have, the mores sinful I am,
The more I love, the more there is to love.
O wretched man that I am!O Lord,
I have a wild heart
And cannot stand before thee;
I am like a bird before a man.
How little I love thy truth and ways!
I neglect prayer,
By thinking I have prayed enough and earnestly,
By knowing thou hast saved my soul. …Read More!
There is a lot of theological depth and richness in the Puritan prayers and Poems. Just drawing a lot of encouragement from reading through them.
Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley.
A Twisted Crown of Thorns ® 