Rossetti: At morn I plucked a rose

Saturday, April 27, 2013
    Feast of Christina Rossetti, Poet, 1894
Meditation:
    And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
    —Revelation 21:3-4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    A Rose Plant in Jericho.

At morn I plucked a rose and gave it Thee,
    A rose of joy and happy love and peace,
        A rose with scarce a thorn:
        But in the chillness of a second morn
    My rose bush drooped, and all its gay increase
Was but one thorn that wounded me.

I plucked the thorn and offered it to Thee;
    And for my thorn Thou gavest love and peace,
        Not joy this mortal morn:
        If Thou hast given much treasure for a thorn,
    Wilt Thou not give me for my rose increase
Of gladness, and all sweets to me?

My thorny rose, my love and pain, to Thee
    I offer; and I set my heart in peace,
    &! nbsp;   And rest upon my thorn:
        For verily I think to-morrow morn
    Shall bring me Paradise, my gift’s increase,
Yea, give Thy very Self to me.
    ... Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), Christina Rossetti: the complete poems, London: Penguin Classics, 2001, p. 224 (see the book)
    See also Rev. 21:3-5; Matt. 7:13-14; 27:28-29; Mark 15:17; John 14:27; 2 Cor. 12:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I offer You my trials.

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Bright: to be Jeremiah

Friday, April 26, 2013
Meditation:
    [Jeremiah:] Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth, a man with whom the whole land strives and contends! I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.
    —Jeremiah 15:10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Jeremiah refutes the popular, modern notion that the end of religion is an integrated personality, freed of its fears, its doubts, and its frustrations. Certainly Jeremiah was no integrated personality. It is doubtful if... he ever knew the meaning of the word “peace.” We have no evidence that his internal struggle was ever ended, although the passing years no doubt brought an increasing acceptance of destiny. Jeremiah, if his “confessions” are any index, needed a course in pastoral psychiatry in the very worst way... The feeling cannot be escaped that if Jeremiah had been integrated, it would have been at the cost of ceasing to be Jeremiah! A man at peace simply could not be a Jeremiah. Spiritual health is good; mental assurance is good; but the summons of faith is neither to an integrated personality nor to the laying by of all questions, but to the dedication of personality—with all its fears and questions—to! its duty and destiny under God.
    ... John Bright (b. 1908), The Kingdom of God, Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1953, p. 120 (see the book)
    See also Jer. 9:25-26; 15:10; Hos. 1:2; Matt. 10:34-36; Luke 12:49-53; John 7:40-49; Acts 14:1-6; Rom. 2:28-29; 2 Cor. 11:23-27
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I lay my faults before You as a sacrifice. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Johnson: contention

Thursday, April 25, 2013
    Feast of Mark the Evangelist
Meditation:
    Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.
    —2 Timothy 2:23 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Dr. Johnson to a Quaker:] Oh, let us not be found, when our Master calls us, ripping the lace off our waistcoats, but the spirit of contention from our souls and tongues.
    ... Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., v. IV [1791], James Boswell, New York: Derby & Jackson, 1858, p. 12 fn (see the book)
    See also 2 Tim. 2:23; Matt. 23:23-24; Luke 11:42; 1 Cor. 1:8; 13:2; Tit. 3:9; 1 Tim. 1:3-7; 4:7; 2 Tim. 2:14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, liberate your people from trivial disputes. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Peterson: the freedom of God

Wednesday, April 24, 2013
    Commemoration of Mellitus, First Bishop of London, 624
Meditation:
    And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
    —Exodus 33:19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God is absolutely free. He doesn’t do anything because he has to do it. There is no necessitas in God. He is not a part of the cause-effect sequence of things. He operates out of free love—no constraints.
    ... Eugene H. Peterson (b. 1932), in “On Being Unnecessary”, The Unnecessary Pastor, Marva J. Dawn, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000, p. 5 (see the book)
    See also Ex. 33:19; Isa. 65:1; Mic. 7:18; Luke 10:21; John 1:12-13; 3:8; Rom. 2:4; 9:15-21; Eph. 1:4-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You spread Your light where You will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Basil: the music of the Psalms

Tuesday, April 23, 2013
    Feast of George, Martyr, Patron of England, c.304
    Commemoration of Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1988
Meditation:
For God is the King of all the earth;
    sing to him a psalm of praise.
    —Psalm 47:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The melodious music of the Psalms has been designed for us, that those who are boys in years, or at least but lads in ways of life, while they seem to be singing, may in reality be carrying on the education of the soul. It is not easy for the inattentive to retain in their memory, when they go home, an injunction of an apostle or prophet; but the sayings of the Psalms are sung in our houses and travel with us through the streets.
    ... St. Basil the Great (330?-379), from Homily XXII, “Humility”, in A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, second series, v. VIII, Philip Schaff & Henry Wace, ed., New York: Christian Literature Company, 1895, p. xlv (see the book)
    See also Ps. 47:7; 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 149:1; Luke 24:44; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; Jas. 5:13; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Rev. 5:9-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my soul is imprinted with Your holy songs. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Forsyth: the pulpit and the press

Monday, April 22, 2013
Meditation:
    Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
    —Ephesians 6:19-20 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Between the press and the pulpit there is this mighty difference. The pulpit has a Word, the press has none... The one has a Gospel which is the source of its liberty, the other has no Gospel but liberty, which in itself is no Gospel at all. Liberty is only opportunity for a Gospel... The press may offer an opinion as to how the public should act, but the pulpit is there with a message as to whom the acting public must obey and trust. The press is an adviser, but the pulpit is a prophet; the press may have a thought, the pulpit must have a Gospel, nay a command.
    ... P. T. Forsyth (1848-1921), Positive Preaching and Modern Mind, New York: A. C. Armstrong & Son, 1907, p. 43 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 6:19-20; Matt. 10:27-28; Acts 4:29; 28:31; Rom. 8:21; 1 Cor. 1:5-6; 2 Cor. 3:17; Gal. 5:1; Col. 4:3-6; 1 Thess. 2:2; Jude 1:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Gospel is salvation to all who believe. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Anselm: believe to understand

Sunday, April 21, 2013
    Feast of Anselm, Abbot of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1109
Meditation:
Evil men do not understand justice,
    but those who seek the LORD understand it fully.
    —Proverbs 28:5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    For I seek not to understand in order that I may believe; but I believe in order that I may understand. For this also I believe,—that unless I believe, I should not understand.
    ... St. Anselm (1033-1109), Discourse on the Existence of God, Chicago: The Opencourt Publishing Co, 1903, p. 7 (see the book)
    See also Prov. 28:5; John 7:16-18; Eph. 4:17-18; Col. 1:9; 2:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, strengthen my belief. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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