Rutherford's Hymn

The sands of time are sinking,
The dawn of heaven breaks,
The summer morn I've sighed for,
The fair sweet morn awakes;
Dark, dark, hath been the midnight,
But dayspring is at hand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Emmanuel's land.

The King there in his beauty
Without a veil is seen;
It were a well-spent journey
Though seven deaths lay between:
The Lamb with his fair army
Doth on Mount Zion stand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Emmanuel's land.

O Christ, he is the fountain,
The deep sweet well of love!
The streams on earth I've tasted
More deep I'll drink above:
There to an ocean fullness
His mercy doth expand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Emmanuel's land.

The bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear bridegroom's face;
I will not gaze at glory,
But on my King of grace;
Not at the crown he gifteth,
But on his pierced hand:
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Emmanuel's land.

Primavera

On three unrelated notes...

1. Sorry about falling off the face of the blogosphere. In the past few weeks I was busy planning a surprise party for Callie (which turned out great!), racing to try to end the school year well, helping out with errands and such while tax season plagued my mom, and then there was the death of an old friend of the family. So next week, I'll try to return to my regularly unscheduled blogging. I promise to write a Junto post. :D
2. Do you ever associate books (particularly fiction) with seasons? With spring here, all I can think about is Robin Hood. Summer would get The Odyssey and Fall, Persuasion. Not sure about winter.....anything depressing I guess (Wuthering Heights?).
3. This has me almost as giddy as a 12 year old girl who's won tickets to a Justin Bieber concert. I can't wait till it comes out!

What I did today

No, nothing exciting. But some of the ordinary stuff was sort of funny.

Lately there's been a warm spell around here, so my mom and I have been trying to go walking each morning. Well, today was a cold, rainy day (welcome to spring in WI ), so we decided to expand our horizons: We joined the mall walkers. Boy, was that an experience. We walked in, confident but slightly concerned that it might not be as big of a work out because there aren't any hills and stuff. But then reality set in. The place was full of power walkers! Ten minutes into it, mom and I, forced to walk faster than we usually do, were about to fall over. And then we saw some senior citizens, with a walker booking it in front of us! Yeah, so we only made it around 2 1/2 times, suffering and thoroughly humiliated. ;-)

Later on, I was reading The Year 1000 for school, and I came across this:

There was no concept of antiseptic at all. If a morsel of food fell off your plate, the advice of one contemporary document was to pick it up, make the sign of the cross over it, season it well - and then eat it.

The sign of the cross was the antiseptic of the year 1000.

Oh my goodness. I knew nobody knew about germs, but that they were that "earthy"? No wonder people died at 30!

Then, after church, we went to Walmart. In the check-out line, Mary spotted this:

You saw it right. I think this one doesn't require comment. Sorry if the picture's blurry - I was laughing too hard to keep the camera steady.

Today was interesting.

The Resurrection

O God of my Exodus,

Great was the joy of Israel’s sons,

         when Egypt died upon the shore,

         Far greater the joy

         when the Redeemer’s foe lay crushed

         in the dust.

Jesus strides forth as the victor,

   conqueror of death, hell, and all opposing

     might;

He bursts the bands of death,

   tramples the powers of darkness down,

   and lives for ever.

He, my gracious surety,

   apprehended for payment of my debt,

   comes forth from the prison house of the grave

   free, and triumphant over sin, Satan, and death.

Show me herein the proof that his vicarious offering

     is accepted,

   that the claims of justice are satisfied,

   that the devil’s sceptre is shivered,

   that his wrongful throne is levelled.

Give me the assurance that in Christ I died,

   in him I rose,

   in his life I live, in his victory I triumph,

   in his ascension I shall be glorified.

Adorable Redeemer,

   thou who wast lifted up upon a cross

   art ascended to highest heaven.

Thou, who as Man of sorrows

   wast crowned with thorns,

   art now as Lord of life wreathed with glory.

Once, no shame more deep than thine,

   no agony more bitter,

   no death more cruel.

Now, no exaltation more high,

   no life more glorious,

   no advocate more effective.

Thou art in the triumph car leading captive

   thine enemies behind thee.

What more could be done than thou hast done!

   Thy death is my life,

   thy resurrection my peace,

   thy ascension my hope,

   thy prayers my comfort.

(The Valley of Vision)