Year's End

A co-worker put a page from Puritan Prayers and Devotions in my box today entitled "Year's End". I liked it. Here are some excerpts (p.204-5):

"O Love beyond compare, Thou art good when thou givest, when thou takest away,
When the sun shines on me, when night gathers over me.
Thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world, and in love didst redeem my soul;
Thou dost love me still, in spite of my hard heart, ingratitude, distrust.
Thy goodness has been with me during another year, leading me through a twisting wilderness, in retreat helping me to advance, when beaten back making sure headway..."

"...I bless thee that thou hast veiled my eyes to the waters ahead.
If thou hast appointed storms of tribulation, thou wilt be with me in them;
If I have to pass through tempests of persecution and temptation, I shall not drown;
If I am to die, I shall see thy face the sooner;
If a painful end is to be my lot, grant me grace that my faith fail not;
If I am cast aside from the service I love, I can make no stipulation;
Only--glorify thyself in me whether in comfort or in trial, as a chosen vessel meet always for thy use."

Thank you Lord Jesus.
Thank you for 22 years with Kathy,
for 47 years of sunshine and rain,
for 11 years of teaching high school,
for 27 years of working with young people.
Lord, thank you for the friends I've met near and far,
for those who slowed their pace to bring me along.
Lord, thank you for family who gathered and celebrated kinship, good food and conversation.
Thank you for being born lucky, in Texas, with plenty to eat.
Most of all, Lord, thank you for coming to our broken world in a crazy-fun sneak-attack-- Jesus, you came to the least, as one of them, and gave us Hope where there was none.
Jesus, thank you for choosing the cross; you died for me, for us, yet you alone were innocent-- help us to live out your Love, even to our enemies.
Help me to be compassionate for those who are so lost in their own rationalizations that they play at "religion" and live for themselves... for such am I when the mirror shines my glance.
Help me to be faithful, a servant of the King.
Thank you for December, Lord. Thank you. Amen.

Lonesome George

Today's Chronicle had an interesting article on Lonesome George, the last of his species on the Galapagos Islands. We saw him last year on a science trip to the tortoise refuge; it was very sobering to see his massive hulking profile a hundred meters away, knowing when he died, there would be no more after him.
Park ecologists have tried uniting him with a variety of different females, and this last mate finally produced a full clutch of eggs... none were fertilized. Scientists do not understand why; they are doing lots of blood work (needles? not my idea of libido-stimulating activity) to see what went wrong. Poor George.
Yesterday a very different event occurred; a friend's husband passed from this world and fell into Christ's embrace. How different we are from the beasts of the field. Lord, thank you for the Hope you brought us when you suffered on the cross in our stead. Teach us to love others like you love us. Amen.