Gratitude

Today I would like to take the opportunity to thank all my friends and family for being a part of my life, for being patient with me, for exhorting me, for forgiving me, for helping me, and for occasionally letting me help them. Life is meant to be lived in relationship. Kevin, I miss, you. Come back safe. May the Lord bless you all.

Quote of the Week XV

"The ghosts of regret did not return today to mark the anniversary of your death. This time, there was no struggle to hide from memory and imagination. Where once I braced for a backward slide into confusion and guilt, I now prepared to celebrate the years of our mystical companionship.
So when you were there to greet me at dawn, your presence was warmly welcomed. Together we ushered in the day. -Molly Fumia

Sonship and You

What does it mean to be a son (or daughter, for that matter)? What does it mean for you? What does it require of you? Does it benefit you? Does it tell you anything about who you are? These are the questions I will be exploring here in the immediate future. Comments and questions are always welcome.

Adoption Again

"Q. 34. What is adoption?
A. Adoption is an act of God's free grace, whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges of, the sons of God."

(From the Westminster Shorter Catechism)

Adoption

Here is a Sermon titled "The Doctrine Of Adoption 1" I found at sermonaudio.com (Pastor Paul Michael Raymond from Reformed Bible Church, Central Virginia)

Daughter

"DAUGHTER, n.
1. The female offspring of a man or woman; a female child of any age.
2. A daughter in law; a son's wife. Ruth iii.
3. A woman; plu.female inhabitants. Dina went out to see the daughters of the land. Gen. xxxiv.
4. A female descendant; lineage of females. Luke i.
5. The female penitent of a confessor
Shak.
This word is used in scripture for the inhabitants of a city or country, male and female. Is. xvi. 2 Matt. xxi. Also as a term of affection or kindness.
Daughter,be of good comfort. Matt. ix."

American Dictionary of the English Language. Noah Webster. 1828.)

Son II

"SON,
2. A male descendant, however distant; hence in the plural, sons signifies descendants in general, a sense much used in the Scriptures. The whole human race are styled sons of Adam."

(American Dictionary of the English Language. Noah Webster. 1828.)

Son I

"SON,
1. A male child; the male issue of a parent, father or mother. Jacob had twelve sons. Ishmael was the son of Hagar by Abraham."

(American Dictionary of the English Language. Noah Webster. 1828)

To My Love IV

I love you tomorrow; I love you always.
I feel you forever, forever inside me
I break in the waiting, and long for the joining
And ever and always I dream of your heart.

I am the least, the least of my brethren
And I am the weakest of men that I know
And I cannot fathom a love to remember
And I am afraid it will go up in smoke.

I long for death as one still born
And all in the valley is dark and cold
And you are a light and gift to adorn
But I fear when I find you I will be much too old.

You are not my salvation and not my rest
Yet I am afloat and I cannot sleep
You are beauty inside me and mostly the best
And I dream that you are real.

"I do not deserve you," is the thing I say
And I am hardly able to call aloud
I feel the confusion and fear for the sway
But I feel alone and haunted right now.

I've never seen an angel
But I am still here
Faith is rewarded
Remember, my dear.

Quote of the Week XIV

"Political pragmatism dug this hole. Abandoning principle one more time won't help America or the Republican Party get out of it." (Vox Day)

Rescue Me

You are worthy oh my God
All your works declare you great
You are worthy Oh my Lord
Far above the highest things

Rescue me out from the pit
Rescue me for I am low
I cannot restore myself
Rescue me Lord; rescue me.

I have drug my weary heart
Through the mire of lustful sin
I feel I've made your goodness naught
I feel I've ruined everything.

Rescue me out from the pit
Rescue me for I am low
I cannot restore myself
Rescue me Lord; rescue me.

Thank you for my beating heart
And all the wonder deep inside
Thank you Lord for what you've done
In your shelter where I hide.

Rescue me out from the pit
Rescue me for I am low
I cannot restore myself
Rescue me Lord; rescue me.

Hear my cry, Lord, for I am faint
Do not leave me with this heart
Create in me what I cannot
Make me like your son.

Rescue me out from the pit
Rescue me for I am low
I cannot restore myself
Rescue me Lord; rescue me.

Keep Me Lord I Pray.

I cannot take the pain tonight
It hurts too much
It hurts too real.

I cannot raise my sword to fight
I have no strength
I only feel.

I am overwhelmed tonight
And all the world just turns and turns
I can never make it stop
While everything just burns and burns.

I am lost at sea tonight
And nothing ever gets quite through
And everything that I had held
Is now what's left and holding you.

I am not alone.

I wish the pain would stop tonight
I wish that it would go away
I am running out of fight
And I don't like to feel this way.

I don't see the end right now
But I know that it's there
And everything that isn't right
And everything that isn't fair--

I know that He will come again
Keep me Lord I pray.

Delta Blues

I have just discovered something monumental. It is called the Delta Blues. Sure I'd heard one or two songs in a movie here and there... but tonight I walked into a pub and there was this guy playing this music. He was up on stage playing the weirdest looking guitar I had ever seen. He was using a slide and singing things that... I am speechless... I have never heard anything like it before. It moved me in a way that, up till now, only Thomas Tallis and J.S. Bach had been able to do- and it wasn't just the songs, it was the style itself. I just do not know what to say...

Quote of The Week XIII

"For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." (James 2:26)

On The Wishes Of The Burdened

To the dead and to the dying
It's not enough to live again
It's not enough to start it over
It's not enough at all my friends.

To the ones we always ever
See before our very eyes
You have gone and we are left here
But most of us just want to die.

To the ones we wish were with us
Life has never been the same
And ever since you left our presence
We just can't quite play this game.

To the ones who left too early
We just don't know what to say
We are lost and broke without you
And truth is hidden behind the pain.

To the ones who'd have us hate God
As if I could, as if I would
You never ever seem to get it
But I guess you never ever would.

To the stricken who lash and wander
To the ones who cannot cope
To the ones who find the bottle
And the ones who find the rope,

To the ones who pull the trigger
To the ones who cut and bleed
We all of us forget each other
We all of us forget we need.

To the ones whose drugs are faster
Faster than our medicine
To the ones who will not weather,
The ones who cannot rise again,

I and all of us before you
Know this world is full of pain
But we just wish that you would call us
so we could hear your voice again.

Identity

Where do I come from?
I just want to know
(thinking somehow I'll know then something).

If I come from nowhere
Where can I go?
(Perhaps it is nowhere and I wait to die).

Why can't I see you?
Inside my mind.
(Are you a figment of my broken soul?)

I do not know me
And I cannot find
(I have no hist'ry and nowhere to hide)

Please tell me something
Something that's true
(For I am a vapour yearning for you).

Please do not leave me
For I am all fear
(And I do not know, how to be here).

To My Love III

And then again and all at once
I couldn't hear and couldn't fight
And all my strength was washed away
And everything was hanging...

I don't know the smallest thing
And I can't hold to everything
and every single word I hear
Is like again to kill me dear...

I am so low
I am so low
Down here we go
Down here so low.

I never thought you'd ever hear
And all the dreams I wasted dear
I never thought that I would land
Just thought that I was drifting...

I always wanted just one thing
But never ever could begin
And every time I close my eyes
I see the dead before me...

I am so low
I am so low
Down here we go
Down here so low.

I used to think so many things
that now I think are terrible
And all the times I thought of you
I never thought you'd come...

I am dreaming of my God
And everyone is seeking Him
And I am running through the throng
Running home to Him...

I am so low
I am so low
Down here we go
Down here so low.

Until the day when every wrong
Is made to right- I can't go on
But on and on the world just goes
And all inside is broken...

But I hold out this very hope
And I just thought that you should know
And every time I think of you
I'll pray that you are flying...

Quote of the Week XII

"Why would you have Denny's lighting in your home?"

(From the illustrious thug, "Bonesey")

Why?

Have you ever thought about how bad things make you appreciate good things? For instance, if you are really thirsty, a tall cool glass of water is appreciated a lot more than if you are not. If you have been poor, money may be appreciated a lot more when you have it than if you had always had plenty. How many times have you realized just how much you cared for someone after it was too late (one way or another)? We all know of some things that we not only appreciate better after some sort of lack or suffering-- but also we know of things that we probably would not appreciate at all if we had not, "gone without."

It may very well be that the pain of this life is for something in "the next." I sure would like that. I think you would, too.

To My Love II

Will it be safe to hurt with you?
I hope so.
Will it be as I could hope
And will you take from me this coil?
And will you not turn me away
When you are not enough to cheer?

I will wait and hope some more
And everything that I wish for
Will be out there and me in here
As you are not yet with me dear.

I am not well tonight.
I hope that you are better off
But if you're not I'll still be here
But I am not enough to cheer
And if you're not I'll sit by you
A long way off until it's true
And if you're not remember this
I am broken, too.