While by My Sheep

WHILE BY MY SHEEP

The text of an anonymous Christmas hymn,

from the German

(Read Luke 2:15-20.)

While by my sheep I watched at night,

Glad tidings brought an angel bright.

How great my joy! Great my joy!

Joy, joy, joy! Joy, joy, joy!

Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

There shall be born, so he did say,

In Bethlehem a Child today;

How great my joy! Great my joy!

Joy, joy, joy! Joy, joy, joy!

Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

There shall the Child lie in a stall,

This Child who shall redeem us all.

How great our joy! Great our joy!

Joy, joy,joy! Joy, joy, joy!

Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

This gift of God we'll cherish well,

That ever joy our hearts shall fill.

How great our joy! Great our joy!

Joy, joy, joy! Joy, joy, joy!

Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

What Shall We Children Bring?

 The text of an anonymous, untitled hymn from The Book of Praise for Children (1881) reads:

The wise may bring their learning,

The rich may bring their wealth,

And some may bring their greatness,

And some bring strength and health;

We, too, would bring our treasures

To offer to the King;

We have no wealth or learning:

What shall we children bring?

We'll bring Him hearts that love Him;

We'll bring Him thankful praise,

And young souls meekly striving

To walk in holy ways:

And these shall be the treasures

We offer to the King,

And these are gifts that even

The poorest child may bring.

We'll bring the little duties

We have to do each day;

We'll try our best to please Him,

At home, at school, at play:

And better are these treasures

To offer to our King,

Than richest gifts without them;

Yet these a child may bring.

Yet what I can I give Him,

Give my heart.

(from "A Christmas Carol" by Christina Rossetti)

The Devil's Idiot

Ambrose Bierce identified an idiot as "A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The Idiot's activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but 'pervades and regulates the whole.' He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable. He sets the fashions of opinion and taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line."

A portrait of  R. (which could stand for rogue), the definitive, aforesaid idiot

(Photo copyright 2005 Evelyn M. Gilmer)

The source of the quotation above is The Devil's Dictionary (1911) by Ambrose Bierce.

I Have Lost My Younger Brother

I HAVE LOST MY YOUNGER BROTHER 

After Luke 15:18-19 and 21

(New King James Version)

My younger brother is

An abusive, arrogant rogue.

He has sinned and has sinned even more

Against heaven and before me,

And he is no longer worthy

To be called my brother.

The crimes he has committed against me 

Over a period of many years --

Assault and battery,

Theft and vandalism --

And might someday commit against me could

Almost run the gamut from A to Z.

My younger brother is

An abusive, arrogant rogue.

He has sinned and has sinned even more 

Against heaven and in my sight,

And is no longer worthy

To be called my brother.

Matthew 18:21-22

(New King James Version)

Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?"

Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven."

A portrait of my kid brother R. (which could stand for rogue),

the (childish) brother whom I have lost

(Photo copyright 2005 Evelyn M. Gilmer)

Time for Joy

Joy is the mainspring in the whole

Of endless Nature's calm rotation.

Joy moves the dazzling wheels that roll

In the great timepiece of creation.

Johann Friedrich von Schiller

Plea for Relief from Bitter Foes

PLEA FOR RELIEF FROM BITTER FOES

from the Bible: Psalm 120

(New King James Version)

In my distress I cried to the LORD,

And He heard me.

Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips

And from a deceitful tongue.

What shall be given to you,

Or what shall be done to you,

You false tongue?

Sharp arrows of the warrior,

With coals of the broom tree!

Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech,

That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!

My soul has dwelt too long

With one who hates peace.

I am for peace;

But when I speak, they are for war.

My younger brother Roger,

who is jealous of me

and who has long been jealous of me,

is my bitter foe.

I need relief from my bitter foe,

my jealous, younger brother Roger.

A Brainteaser for the Talkative and Their Listeners

 The Bible says there

is a time to be silent

and a time to speak.

The Cherokee say, "Listen!

Or your tongue will make you deaf."

A word meaning "excessively talkative" can be dialed on a telephone (or on a cell phone) as 567-822-4687. What is that ten-letter word?

To read the answer to this brainteaser, click here.

The Opposite of What Illumines Life

A found poem. The quotations in the sixth, seventh and eighth stanzas are 1 John 1:5-7, 1 John 4:7-8 and Psalms 18:28 from the Common English Bible (2011).

What Is the Opposite of Love?

Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote,

"Hatred darkens life; love illumines it."

To darken is the opposite

of to illumine, but

is hatred, or is hate, indeed

the opposite of love?

Rollo May once wrote, "Hate

is not the opposite of love;

apathy is."

According to Elie Wiesel,

"The opposite of love

is not hate, it's indifference."

Does apathy

as well as hatred, does

indifference

as well as hatred, darken life?

It is the opposite of love,

whatever that may be,

that darkens life. It is

love that illumines life.

God Is Both Light and Love

John in his First Letter wrote, "This

is the message that we have heard from [Christ]

and announce to you: 'God is light

and there is no darkness in him at all.'

If we claim, 'We have fellowship with him,'

and live in the darkness,

we are lying

and do not act truthfully.

But if we live in the light

in the same way as he is in the light,

we have fellowship with each other,

and the blood of Jesus, his Son,

cleanses us from every sin."

John in that Letter also wrote, "Dear friends,

let's love each other,

because love is from God,

and everyone who loves

is born from God and knows God.

The person who doesn't love

does not know God,

because God is love."

God is, as David sang

in Psalm 18, "the one

who lights my lamp --

the LORD my God

illumines my darkness."

It is the opposite of God,

whatever that may be,

that darkens life. It is

God who illumines life.

This poem, which I have revised and updated for this post,

was first published in the June 2, 2023, edition of

my free email newsletter Hugh's Views: The Old Elway Reader

on Substack.

The Competent Wife: Selected Verses from Proverbs

Mother's value was far above pearls. Strength and honor were her clothing; she was confident about the future. Her mouth was full of wisdom; kindly teaching was on her tongue.

The Competent Wife: Selected Verses

from the Common English Bible:

Proverbs 31:10-12, 17, 20-21, 25-31

A competent wife, how does one find her? Her value is far above pearls. Her husband entrusts his heart to her, and with her he will have all he needs. She brings him good and not trouble all the days of her life. . . . She works energetically; her arms are powerful. . . . She reaches out to the needy; she stretches out her hands to the poor. She doesn't fear for her household when it snows, because they are all dressed in warm clothes. . . . Strength and honor are her clothing; she is confident about the future. Her mouth is full of wisdom; kindly teaching is on her tongue. She is vigilant over the activities of her household; she doesn't eat the food of laziness. Her children bless her; her husband praises her: "Many women act competently, but you surpass them all!" Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Let her share in the results of her work; let her deeds praise her . . .

Can We Give Ourselves Up to God?

David Mendelsohn of Ontario, Canada, wrote the poem below, a poem about the 1993 famine in Sudan. This poem was first published almost thirty years ago under the headline "Can We Give Ourselves Up To God?" on page 3 of the June 4, 1993, edition of The United Methodist Review (a newspaper that was published every other week by the United Methodist Communication Council in Dallas, Texas).

From the air she seemed fertile --

Fertile and green and growing,

And abundant with life and water and flowing,

And flowing and winding,

And soothing and giving and pure . . .

And I thought she was the Mississippi --

The mighty Mississippi:

A mighty winding river --

A strong and mighty giver

Of life:

Feeding the people,

Feeding the poor . . .

But all below was death.

And skin on bones --

And flies on skin,

And flies on eyes,

And withered walking corpses,

And bloated starving children,

And faces without hope,

And eyes of blank despair,

Deep in this heart of darkness --

So black and dead:

This lifeless hell of Southern Sudan . . .

And I?

I live in a basement:

A small grey casement,

In a towering city

Of steel and concrete,

Of silver and gold --

Where men are bought,

And souls are sold.

And I have clothes,

And I have food;

And I have shelter from the cold . . .

And so I ask:

Can I give myself up to God?

I must.

You must.

We must --

Raise these children from the dust . . .

Nowadays in South Sudan there is a new front line of climate change after historic flooding. To read about that new front line and to watch a video report from David Muir of "ABC World News Tonight" about it, click here.

"Hugh's Views: The Old Elway Reader" is my free

email newsletter about life, especially Christian life,

in bits of poetry and in other things. To subscribe

to my newsletter on Substack, click here.

The Lord Is My Shepherd

In the King James Version of the Bible, Isaiah 43:2-3 reads, "'When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour . . .'" American poet Emily Dickinson, as if quoting the Lord, once wrote, "'Though thou walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will be with thee.'" In the King James Version of the Bible, Psalm 23, a Psalm of David, reads:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul:

he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

thou anointest my head with oil;

my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

God Answered Johnny Reb's Unspoken Prayers

This is my revision of the anonymous, inspirational poem "Answered Prayer," which is attributed to an unknown Confederate soldier.

I asked God for strength

that I might achieve.

He made me weak

that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked God for health

that I might do greater things.

He gave me infirmity

that I might do better things.

I asked God for riches

that I might be happy.

He gave me poverty

that I might be wise.

I asked God for power

that I might have the praise of men.

He gave me weakness

that I might feel the need of God.

I asked God for all things

that I might enjoy life.

He gave me life

that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked God for --

but everything I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself,

my unspoken prayers were answered.

God answered my unspoken prayers.

I am among all men most richly blessed.

 

Foolish Woman, the Dead Are Thine

THE FOOLISH WOMAN

from the Bible: Proverbs 9:13-18

(King James Version)

A foolish woman is clamorous:

she is simple, and knoweth nothing.

For she sitteth at the door of her house,

on a seat in the high places of the city,

to call passengers

who go right on their ways:

"Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither":

and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

"Stolen waters are sweet,

and bread eaten in secret is pleasant."

But he knoweth not that the dead are there;

and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

"HE KNOWETH NOT THAT THE DEAD ARE THINE"

by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861-1907)

The weapon that you fought with was a word,

And with that word you stabbed me to the heart.

Not once but twice you did it, for the sword

       Made no blood start.

They have not tried you for your life. You go

Strong in such innocence as men will boast.

They have not buried me. They do not know

       Life from its ghost.

Lotus

"Lotus" is a found poem of mine in which the first sentence is a Chinese proverb, the second sentence is a Japanese proverb and the third sentence is a Zen proverb. I dedicate this poem to my maternal grandmother, whose first name was Lotus.

The lotus springs from

The mud. The lotus flower

Blooms in the mud. May

I live like the lotus, at

Ease in the muddy water.

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Hugh's Views: The Old Elway Reader is a free email newsletter about life in general and especially about Christian life in bits of poetry and in other things. To subscribe to this newsletter and support the work of its author click here.

A Pair of Christmas Poems: January 4 and 5

Here is a pair of Christmas poems that I wrote for January 4 and 5. The first poem is a tanka, and the second is a haiku. The final two lines of the tanka are quoted from an anonymous nursery rhyme.

Eleventh day of

Christmas. Among eleven

pipers piping was

Tom, Tom, the piper's son. He

learned to play when he was young.

Twelfth day of Christmas.

Among twelve drummers drumming

was one little boy.

To read about the Twelve Days of Christmas click here.