Month: January 2020

Reactions to Storms

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In the Gospels, we read about a time when Jesus and His Apostles were in a boat on the water and a storm hit:

One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a storm of wind came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even wind and water, and they obey him?”

Luke 8:22-25
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Music Monday: One more step

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The song today is “One More Step”, featuring Melanie Tierce:

Why are you sad oh my soul
Why so angry now with yourself
Do you not know there is hope
Don’t you know this isn’t the end

Oh I know that with all these shadows
That somewhere there is sunshine
Out of sight but morning’s coming

One more, one more step
I know you can do it
One more one more step
Yes I know you’ll make it through
One more more step
Slowly and steady you will win this race
One more, one more step
And you’ll reach the promised land

There can be peace in the trouble
It’s the art of lifting your eyes
There can be joy in the sorrow
It may hurt, oh but still you’ve got to keep singing

Oh don’t you dare give up now
The wall’s about to come down
Don’t you dare take your last breath
You’re almost out of the wilderness

Slow me down

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Here’s poem whose authorship seems to be questioned, with possible authors being Orin L. Crain and Wilferd Arlan Peterson. Regardless, I rather like it…

Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind. Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time. Give me, amid the confusion of this day, the calmness of the everlasting hills. Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles with soothing music of the singing streams that live in my memory. Help me to know the magical restoring power of sleep.

Teach me the art of taking minute vacations – of slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to read a few lines from a good book. Remind me each day of the fable of the hare and the tortoise, that I may know that the race is not always to the swift – there is more to life than increasing its speed. Let me look upward into the branches of the towering oak and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well. Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life’s enduring values, that I may grow toward the start of my greater destiny.

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