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Showing posts from May, 2008

Thoughts on the Spiritual Life - XL - H. C. G. Moule

Chapel of Ridley Hall, Cambridge. Chapter x, concluded. In immediate conclusion, I would most earnestly plead, then, in the interests of true Christian service, for what in these hurrying times we need so specially: a deeper entrance of our souls into the secret of the presence of the Lord. Work is not food for the spirit any more than for the body. Amidst a multitude of works the worker’s soul may wither, and the works will feel the difference in due time. We must, because we are servants, and not masters, bondservants and not contractors, limbs and not Head, we must see to it that we are living and serving not only so as to get through a great deal of action, but so as to be vessels meet for the Master’s use, in His way and not our own. And for this we must live, so to speak, behind our service; we must live, in a true and holy sense, independent of it. We must live upon Jesus Christ, not upon energy, upon success, upon notice, upon praise; God forbid. And to live upo

The Beauty of the Ascension

Image: John Singleton Copley: Study for The Ascension (60.44.16)". In Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/copl/ho_60.44.16.htm (October 2006) Sermon for the Sunday After Ascension - edited Our world is filled with beautiful things: natural things, such as sunsets, flowers, trees, and man-made things, such as works of art, instrumental music, or good literature. But there is a difference between the beauty one sees in a tree and what one hears in music or reads in a book, is there not? There are different ingredients in what makes any one thing beautiful, and it depends on what one is talking about as to what those ingredients are. There are some things that are beautiful because they bring resolution or order to what was previously could be called “a mess”…. but my concern is not aesthetic philosophy so much as the wonderful beauty of the work of God for us in His Son, Jesus Christ. For, in Him, is

He Ascended On High

Painting by Garofalo; Web Gallery of Art http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/g/garofalo/ Praise be to Thee, O Christ, on this anniversary of thine ascension to the throne of David! Come quickly, O Lord, we pray! Recommended listening for today: Bach's Ascension Oratorio