Reflections – Page 41

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

Blue Hydrangea Gift Bouquet from Caroline

Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! ~ Psalm 47:6

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. ~ Psalm 104:33

Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ~ Ephesians 5:19

…Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. ~ James 5:13

We are encouraged to make a joyful noise unto the Lord! From experience, I’ve found singing helps keep one out of trouble (lessens idle talk). It can also bestow unexpected blessings.

My Grandma loved to sing, and would sometimes just belt out an old-time hymn from her Protestant past. Leaning on the Everlasting Arms was a particular favourite… whilst grocery shopping.

The first time my kid brother and I heard her do this, we simultaneously dove to hide on the shopping cart’s lower rack, along with the 20 pounds of potatoes.

As time passed, we grew too large to cower with sacks of vegetables or bags of flour. So, my brother and I strategized to flee at the first hint of songburst, and from a safe distance, we’d observe fellow shoppers part like the Red Sea, deserting the aisles when they heard her coming.

Driving home, our grandma would innocently remark on how quickly the Lord helped us finish shopping at the supermarket!

I recently came across this ageless hymn she loved. It made me smile, and I can almost hear a shopping cart’s squeaky wheel accompanying her forte voice, singing that simple refrain… 🎵 Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms; Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms. 🎵

Although my grandma was baptised into the Orthodox Church at the youthful age of 89 and learned yet more hymns, I’m grateful she also helped me appreciate the simple lyrical compositions found in some of the old-time Protestant hymns.

Memory Eternal, Faith!

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms was published in 1887 with music by Anthony J. Showalter and lyrics by Showalter and Elisha Hoffman. When writing letters of consolation to two of his former pupils whose wives had died, Showalter was inspired by the phrase The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. ~ Deuteronomy 33:27

A great acapella recording by one artist singing all four voice parts.

What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Refrain:
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.
O how sweet to walk, In this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
O how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Refrain
What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Refrain

The Door of Our Heart

A tiny church’s entrance in the heart of Athens, Greece 2017

When our hearts seek Christ, He’s clearly revealed through the teachings and Sacraments of the Holy Church.

Prayer and humility will gently guide us to that wondrous, internal Door to the Kingdom of Heaven, where the Lord Jesus has been patiently waiting (our whole life) for us to enter.

When we hear Him knock and lovingly call our name, we fling the Door wide open and joyfully rush into the Everlasting Arms of our soul’s Heavenly Bridegroom.

We are home.

…for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. ~ St. Luke 17:21

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. ~ St. John 10:9

Find Jesus at the door of your heart and you will discover paradise. ~ St. John Chrysostom

Thus, my brother, if you love peace of heart, strive to enter it by the door of humility, for no other door but humility leads therein. ~ Unseen Warfare

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. ~ St. Matthew 7:7-8

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. ~ Revelation 3:20

The Voice of Flowers

Fragrant Wild Sweet Pea and Lavender

Take delight in all things that surround us. All things teach us and lead us to God. All things around us are droplets of the love of God – both things animate and inanimate, the plants and the animals, the birds and the mountains, the sea and the sunset and the starry sky. They are little loves through which we attain to the great Love that is Christ. Flowers, for example, have their own grace; they teach us with their fragrance and with their magnificence. They speak to us of the love of God. They scatter their fragrance and their beauty on sinners and on the righteous. ~ St. Porphyrios

Wings of Prayer

Faith in God is the wings of prayer. ~ St. Isaac the Syrian

As it is not possible to walk without feet or fly without wings, so it is impossible to attain the Kingdom of Heaven without the fulfillment of the commandments. ~ St. Theophan the Recluse

A Christian needs two wings for flying and walking into heaven: humility and love. ~ St. Paisios

…For the bees do not visit every flower in the same manner, neither does the honeybee attempt to fly off bearing the burden of the entire flower. Rather, once it derives that which is needful from the flower, it leaves the rest behind and takes flight. ~ St. Basil the Great

Gracious words are like an honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. ~ Proverbs 16:24

We all receive God’s blessings equally. But some of us, receiving God’s fire, that is, His word, become soft like beeswax, while the others like clay become hard as stone. And if we do not want Him, He does not force any of us, but like the sun He sends His rays and illuminates the whole world, and he who wants to see Him, sees Him, whereas the one who does not want to see, is not forced by Him. And no one is responsible for this privation of light except the one who does not want to have it. God created the sun and the eye. Man is free to receive the sun’s light or not. The same is true here. God sends the light of knowledge like rays to all, but He also gave us faith like an eye. The one who wants to receive knowledge through faith, keeps it by his works, and so God gives him more willingness, knowledge, and power. ~ St. Peter the Damascene, 8th century

Wings of Divine Love

I said, O that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. ~ Psalm 55:6

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. ~Psalm 91:4

Birds fear the sight of a hawk, and those who practice humility fear the sound of argument. ~ St. John Climacus

As it is not possible to walk without feet or fly without wings, so it is impossible to attain the Kingdom of Heaven without the fulfillment of the commandments… Faith is the healer of the soul, flying on the wings of hope and warmed by love. ~ St. Theophan the Recluse

Flowers of Virtue

As the field is adorned by a multitude of flowers, so should the field of my own soul be adorned by all the flowers of virtue; as the trees bring forth flowers and afterwards fruit, so must my soul bring forth the fruits of faith and good works. ~ St. John of Kronstadt

Perfume of Peace

We are the sons of light and love, the sons of God, His children. As such we must have His qualities and His attributes of love, peace, and kindness towards all. ~ Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

Thus, my brother, if you love peace of heart, strive to enter it by the door of humility, for no other door but humility leads therein. ~ Unseen Warfare

Fasting and self-control are a double wall of defense and whoever lives within them enjoys great peace.~ St. Gregory Palamas

Peace is truly the complete and undisturbed possession of what is desired. ~ St. Maximus the Confessor

Whoever enters a shop that sells perfume said an elder, even if he does not buy any perfume, he comes out fully fragrant. The same happens to those who socialize with holy people. They take upon themselves the spiritual fragrance of their virtue. ~ Anonymous Elder

You cannot be too gentle, too kind. Shun even to appear harsh in your treatment of each other. Joy, radiant joy, streams from the face of one who gives and kindles joy in the heart of one who receives. ~ St. Seraphim of Sarov

Angelic Banquet

The upcoming two week Dormition Fast which (on the civil calendar) begins August 14th, helps us prepare for the Feast Day on August 28th, of the Dormition – which means falling asleep, the repose of our most holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary!

… Fasting possesses great power. To fast is to banquet with angels. ~ St. Athanasius the Great

And indeed that which I am about to say is wonderful, yea it is of those things which are very miraculous; yet not far from the truth, as you may be able to learn from the sacred writings. That great man Moses, when fasting, conversed with God, and received the law. The great and holy Elijah, when fasting, was thought worthy of divine visions, and at last was taken up like Him who ascended into heaven. And Daniel, when fasting, although a very young man, was entrusted with the mystery, and he alone understood the secret things of the king, and was thought worthy of divine visions. But because the length of the fast of these men was wonderful, and the days prolonged, let no man lightly fall into unbelief; but rather let him believe and know, that the contemplation of God, and the word which is from Him, suffice to nourish those who hear, and stand to them in place of all food. For the angels are no otherwise sustained than by beholding at all times the face of the Father, and of the Saviour who is in heaven. And thus Moses, as long as he talked with God, fasted indeed bodily, but was nourished by divine words. When he descended among men, and God had gone up from him, he suffered hunger like other men. For it is not said that he fasted longer than forty days – those in which he was conversing with God. And, generally, each one of the saints has been thought worthy of similar transcendent nourishment. ~ St. Athanasius the Great

May your Dormition Fast be peaceful and fruitful.

The Heavenly Jerusalem

Altar mosaic in St. Sophia Orthodox Church, Canada: “Heavenly Jerusalem” based on 5th century church mosaic from Santa Maria Maggiore, the largest basilica in Rome, depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary as protectress.

The Most Holy Mother of God prays for us ceaselessly. She is always visiting us. Whenever we turn to her in our heart, she is there. After the Lord, she is the greatest protection for mankind. ~ Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. ~Hebrews 12: 22-24

The Lord bless thee out of Zion: and may thou behold the good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. ~ Psalm 128:5

The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead: and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction, But they are in peace. For if before men, indeed, they be punished, yet is their hope full of immortality; Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself. In the time of their visitation they shall shine, and shall dart about as sparks through stubble: They shall judge nations and rule over peoples and the Lord shall be their King forever. Those who trust in him shall understand truth and the faithful shall abide with him in love; Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and his care is with his elect. ~ Wisdom of Solomon 3: 1-9

In loving memory of Cam and Andrea

“May they journey hand in hand to the heavenly Jerusalem.” *

* Quote by dear Anastasia

Wrapped in Light

Inspiring local sunset accompanied with a natural quartet of peaceful, lapping waves, tangy seabreezes, soft rustling cliff grasses, and the yodeling of gulls flying home to roost for the night.

Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind: Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. Thou coverest it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. ~ Psalm 104:1-6

The word inspire comes from Middle English enspire, derived from the Latin inspirare, which means to breathe or blow breath into. Inspire was originally used in the sense of divinity imparting a truth or idea to someone.

Watching the sunset above inspired my soul with a few recollective breaths of memory verse, from Psalm 104.