Month: January 2006

Luke 1:45 – Happy is she…

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I have become captivated with the verse found in Luke 1:45. It seems like a fairly simple verse at first read (and perhaps it is) but there is something wonderfully encouraging about it and universal.

 

"Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her." (TNIV)

 

The passage is speaking of Mary, the mother of Jesus. It struck me that the verse is very clear on the reason that Mary is blessed – because she believed God would do what He said He would do. I wonder if one of the reasons we struggle as much as we do is because we cannot bring ourselves to this very simple place in faith…to believe that God will do exactly what He said He would do. Perhaps one of the problems people have is they do not know what God has said He would do in the first place.

 

As a side note you should know that the original greek word translated as blessed is makarios which can also be translated as happy.

Irving Layton Is Dead: 1912-2006

On By CantelonIn Uncategorized1 Comment
The great Jewish Canadian poet Irving Layton is dead. He died yesterday at the age of 93.
 
Leonard Cohen said yesterday from Montreal, "There was Irving Layton, and then there was the rest of us. He is our greatest poet, our greatest champion of poetry. Alzheimer’s could not silence him, and neither will death."
 
– Globe and Mail
 
Layton was a great poet, at times vulgar and offensive, but still a great poet. My words cannot do Layton justice so please find below one of Layton’s own poems.
 
========================================================
 
THE CARILLON

Like a sponge the poet soaks up the sewage
of evil trespass and self-delusion
running through the ruts of this dark epoch.
His head is a black cloud about to burst.
From his own self must come light and truth,
the long-awaited word to stifle discord ;
let it be plain as cut parsnip on a plate
or the wall of his house when sunlight strikes.
Utterance alone can heal the ailing spirit
and make man and poet a single self ;
bring back on the long vein of memory
the laughter and wholeness of childhood.
Never will he beg off from his pursuit
as did Isaiah though he sees too plain
how impurity and self-betrayal
make the prophet’s voice clunk like a cracked bell.
In the creative word lies redemption.
At the darkest hour somewhere the sun,
the life-giving sun, turns feculent swamps
into grasslands where gazelles run and play.
Let it burn out the eyes of his sockets.
He’ll stare it down into the terrorized cities ;
bring his human fears to it as to a bonfire
and hear his voice chime like a carillon.
(1982 – A Wild Peculiar Joy: Selected Poems 1945-1982,
Toronto, McClelland & Stewart, 1982)

Big Sigh Heaved…

On By CantelonIn Uncategorized2 Comments
This stuff drives me nuts –
 
The following is from CNN.com about Jack Abromoff after pleading guilty to conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion charges:
 

According to e-mail obtained by a Senate committee, Abramoff made a fortune from the (Native American) tribes while privately mocking tribal leaders as "monkeys" and "morons."

"Nor can they express my sadness and regret for my conduct," he added. " I ask for forgiveness and redemption from (the) Almighty."

Jack – God can detect your desire for forgiveness and redemption within your heart, He doesn’t need you to express it as a statement to the press.

I read somewhere that Tolstoy once said "don’t judge the path by how poorly I walk it". To all who read this I would like to adapt that comment and say "do not judge the path by how poorly we walk it".