The Quality of Mercy

From Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, 1596.

PORTIA: The quality of mercy is not strain'd,

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.

Listen Lord, A Prayer

Reading this again today, I am moved by the passion and the realization of a powerful Devil & an even more powerful God.

"We come this morning---

Like empty pitchers to a full fountain,

With no merits of our own."

From God's Trombones

by James Weldon Johnson

Listen Lord, A Prayer

           

            O Lord, we come this morning

                         Knee-bowed and body-bent

                         Before thy throne of grace.

                         O Lord -- this morning --

                         Bow our hearts beneath our knees,

                         And our knees in some lonesome valley.

                         We come this morning --

                         Like empty pitchers to a full fountain,

                         With no merits of our own.

                         O Lord -- open up a window of heaven,

                         And lean out far over the battlements of glory,

                         And listen this morning.

                         Lord, have mercy on proud and dying sinners --

                         Sinners hanging over the mouth of hell,

                         Who seem to love their distance well.

                         Lord -- ride by this morning --

                         Mount your milk-white horse,

                         And ride-a this morning --

                         And in your ride, ride by old hell,

                         Ride by the dingy gates of hell,

                         And stop poor sinners in their headlong plunge.

                         And now, O Lord, this man of God,

                         Who breaks the bread of life this morning --

                         Shadow him in the hollow of thy hand,

                         And keep him out of the gunshot of the devil.

                         Take him, Lord -- this morning --

                         Wash him with hyssop inside and out,

                         Hang him up and drain him dry of sin.

                         Pin his ear to the wisdom-post,

                         And make his words sledge hammers of truth --

                         Beating on the iron heart of sin.

                         Lord God, this morning --

                         Put his eye to the telescope of eternity,

                         And let him look upon the paper walls of time.

                         Lord, turpentine his imagination,

                         Put perpetual motion in his arms,

                         Fill him full of the dynamite of thy power,

                         Anoint him all over with the oil of thy salvation,

                         And set his tongue on fire.

                         And now, O Lord --

                         When I've done drunk my last cup of sorrow --

                         When I've been called everything but a child of God --

                         When I'm done travelling up the rough side of the mountain --

                         O -- Mary's Baby --

                         When I start down the steep and slippery steps of death --

                         When this old world begins to rock beneath my feet --

                         Lower me to my dusty grave in peace

                         To wait for that great gittin' up morning -- Amen.

Thought: The Battle Against Sin

Here's something I've been thinking about.....

Someone shared this with me few years ago as an exercise to encourage and refocus Christians who are striving to grow and see sin defeated in their spiritual lives.  

Consider the following passage from I Samuel 17 as an example of God winning the battle against His enemies.  No, really, read again the familiar passage once more in that light.

40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

41 And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.

42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.

43 And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

44 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.

45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

46 This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

47 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.

48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

Now then, read it again, but every time you see "the Philistine," substitute for it the name of that persistent, pernicious sin that is coming between you and the Lord.  Watch how God can and will defeat that enemy as well, if we fight it in His name.

40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

41 And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.

42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.

43 And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

44 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.

45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

46 This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

47 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.

48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

59 Years And Counting....

Today Nana & Pop Campbell are celebrating 59 years of marriage!  

Their faithfulness to God & each other is an extraordinary example and blessing our family.  

When I talk to her on the phone, Nana recounts God's blessings and reminds me of the merits in "routine faithfulness" for the Lord.  

Pop tells us every time we are together of God's goodness & what a joy it is to serve Him.  

Both share openly & often the love they have for each other.

By far, I count my grandparents one of my greatest treasures in this life.  

Psalms16:6

"The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage."

Still, Still With Thee

Here's a new song we sang in church tonight.  Enjoyed the words by #HarrietBeecherStowe & the tune by #FelixMendelssohn.  (Love his music!)

I am going to MISS the quiet, unhurried mornings of the summer!  

#371    Still, Still With Thee

vs. 1

Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,

When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee;

Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight

Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee.

vs. 5

So shall it be at last, in that bright morning,

When the soul waketh and life's shadows flee.

Oh, in that hour, fairer than daylight dawning,

Shall rise the glorious thought, I am with Thee.

Photo by Trey Ratcliff from www.stuckincustoms.com  (Love his photography!!!)

Rejoicing the Day After Mothers' Day

Our church was blessed and privileged to have the Singletarys visiting, speaking and preaching this last weekend.

Their visit reminded me of a story told by Bro. Singletary a couple of years ago which became a treasured memory in the last four years.

Bro. Singletary:

"We were heading to the country of Chile in a few days to visit a missionary friend there.  Just before we left, a man whom we knew asked a favor of us.  He asked if we would visit a grave site while we were in the country.  

More than twenty-five years before, he and his wife had been missionaries in Chile.  His wife was about to have their baby when she became sick with a fever.  The child was born and lived just a few days.  His wife, also, lived only a short time after the birth and passed away.  The missionary had been sick with the fever as well.  He made a simple casket out of pine for his wife and one for the child, but he was so ill that he could not attend their small funeral.  

The missionary had never seen his wife's gravesite, and he wished that I would visit the place and take a picture to bring back for him.

It was not a pleasant task, and I almost regretted agreeing to take the picture.

A few days into our visit in Chile, we found a young boy to act as a guide and take us up to the grave site.  We had to walk along a little, overgrown path through something of a jungle to get there.

When we finally reached the cemetery, we could see that there were a few large, beautifully decorated grave stones.  Scattered around them, there were some smaller head stones with inscriptions on them.  Then, our guide brought us over to a corner of the field where he said the "poor" were buried.  

Here, the graves were stacked one on top of the other with nothing but a small stone placed in front of each one to note who was buried there.  We searched for a few minutes until we found the stone with the right name on the plate.

In my heart, I wondered at this small crypt that held what was left of one who had been loved.  How sad that it was so small and that noone had been there to care for the final resting place of this dear lady.  In twenty-five years, not a single person had brought flowers or removed the weeds around this stone. The boy had a card and he used it to wipe away the cobwebs and branches that had grown over the nameplate.  Under the woman's name a few words were written in Spanish which we could not read.

The boy translated for us, 'Absent from the body, present with the Lord.'

I thought for a moment, and then I realized I had been very wrong.  If her husband had been there to see her buried...  If her family had come every single day for the last twenty-five years to lay flowers on her grave and care for the site...  All of this would not have made one bit of difference to her at all.

She was not there!  She was in Heaven, and she was infinitely better off than any place on earth, much less a gravesite.  She was with her Lord."

One of the greatest joys I have received in the last four years is the practical realization that I can and must live my life looking Heavenward.  What a blessing to live in the light of a loving Savior and with the knowledge that I will see my Mom again...in Heaven.

While riding in the car together, my mom and I often listened to this song over and over and over.  I got to where I could rewind the cassette to the exact spot where the song began.  Divine Foresite, no doubt.

"Someday Heaven's gates will swing open.

Redeemed of all ages shall see

The Throne sending bright rays of glory

On a mansion, that's built for me,

The Tree of Life there by the Crystal River,

And Mother who was saved by God's Grace.

With all loved ones gone on before us, 

Won't Heaven be a glad happy place?

Heaven (happy home above)

Heaven (land of peace and love)

Oh, it makes me feel like traveling on

Heaven (supernal), Heaven (eternal)

I'm so glad it's real."

Riding the Bus With My Sister by Rachel Simon

One of the books I am reading now is purely for pleasure, as it follows the highlights of daily life of a mentally handicapped lady.  Her self-proclaimed title is "Cool Beth."  The story is written by her sister who attempts to share Beth's life of riding the city bus and interacting with so many people.

People like "Cool Beth," with their faults, shortcomings, and difficulties are, interestingly, very much like the rest of us...with our faults, shortcomings, and difficulties.

Growing up with a sister who has Down Syndrome has taught me that these "handicapped," "slow," or "disabled" people have SO much to teach the wisest of us.

In the book by Rachel Simon, Riding the Bus With My Sister, one excerpt has stayed with me for the last few weeks.  

Rachel says,
"I wanted to protect her.  I wanted to take her by the hand and show her...that if you fly above the world like a hawk and look down, you will see that there are no boundaries between countries, and that might make you think that there are no boundaries between people.  Yet there are boundaries between people...invisible lines that separate what you want from what they can give you..."

Trying to remember and implement this simple principle has drastically changed my outlook on interpersonal relationships with friends, coworkers, and those I meet in passing.  Perhaps the words the author used were what clicked in my brain, but this has been a great help.

By the way, this is one small tidbit from a book with many treasures.  Those who have interacted with a "mentally disabled" friend or loved on will thoroughly enjoy the similar memories that this book recalls.  Those who have never been privileged to be part of the life of one of God's "Very Special Children" will be pleased at the reality, hilarity, simplicity, and wisdom which fills this book.

I heartily recommend this book to all readers.