Light and Joy

Suddenly the River swept round a bend, and the banks rose upon either side, and the light of Lórien was hidden. To that fair land Frodo never came again.

The travellers now turned their faces to the journey; the sun was before them, and their eyes were dazzled, for all were filled with tears. Gimli wept openly.

"I have looked the last upon that which was fairest," he said to Legolas his companion. "Henceforward I will call nothing fair, unless it be her gift." He put his hand upon his breast. "Tell me, Legolas, why did I come on this Quest? Little did I know where the chief peril lay! Truly Elrond spoke, saying that we could not foresee what we might meet upon our road. Torment in the dark was the danger that I feared, and it did not hold me back. But I would not have come, had I know the danger of light and joy. Now I have taken my worst wound in this parting, even if I were to go this night straight to the Dark Lord. Alas for Gimli son of Glóin!"

"Nay!" said Legolas. "Alas for us all! And for all that walk the world in these afterdays. For such is the way of it: to find and lose, as it seems to those whose boat is on the running stream. But I count you blessed, Gimli son of Glóin: for your loss you suffer of your own free will, and you might have chosen otherwise. But you have not forsaken your companions, and the least reward that you shall have is that the memory of Lothlórien shall remain ever clear and unstained in your heart, and shall neither fade nor grow stale."

"Maybe," said Gimli, "and I thank you for your words. True words doubtless; yet all such comfort is cold. Memory is not what the heart desires. That is only a mirror, be it clear as Kheled-zâram. Or so says the heart of Gimli the Dwarf."


(Quoted from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.)

Weep, Weep for Zion!

Am I Nienna, is Nienna I?
Am I the one who weeps for sorrow deep?
When pain shall come, will I for sorrow cry?
Will I give voice to those who cannot weep?
I am Nienna, weeping for the pain
And crying for the hurts of fallen man.
I mourn the sin, lament the crimson stain,
And grieve for evil since the world began.
I have not voice enough to breathe the sighs
Of those who suffer long in evil’s chains;
I weep to cleanse the wounds of Satan’s lies
And bring new hope through mourning’s silver strains.
For not all tears are evil, not all wrong,
But sorrow leads to wisdom’s joyful song.

Glimpses of Heaven

A rainy day, a wintry day,
As raindrops fall and clouds away
Will blow, and go, and clear the air,
And blue the skies, and make them fair.

The music flows, and music goes,
And pictures paints of day at close,
And weds with reds the sunset sky
As clouds go ever drifting by.

The music sings with angel wings
Of landscapes green, and thus it brings
A flight o'er bright majestic hills:
The room with beauty, music fills.

Yet all of these, the sky, the breeze,
Are nothing more than heaven's tease
Of light and height and beauty bright,
And naught we do but praise His might.

For Your Glory

Mountains, snow-capped, white and hoary
In your name and for your glory;
German car and English lorry
In your name and for your glory;
Mansion, house, or single storey
In your name and for your glory;
Silver mine and granite quarry
In your name and for your glory;
Voice of God tells cosmic story:
In your name and for your glory.

Baptism By Fire [Fire/Water]

“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” - Matthew 3:11-12

The Baptist called them to repent.
He baptized them with their consent,
To cleanse them all from all their sins.
Now John to preach the Christ begins:
John tells them of His whelming might,
His terrible, majestic height:
“He’ll baptize you with Spirit sent
From God above; and not content
With Spirit only, Jesus twins
The Spirit with what burns your skins:
With fire sent from heaven’s bright
And incorrupt immortal Light.
He cometh not with light intent;
The wicked souls will soon be rent
By winn’wing fork, with which He thins
The worthless chaff, then it He spins
Through air and burns to cleanse the blight:
With fire unquenchable ignite.”

Lyrical Limerick

There once was a silly old spider
Who thought he could sing German lieder.
He started to chant
And an ant sycophant
Brought along his new friend water strider.

Haikus for the Kingdom

I
The kingdom of heaven
Is small, yet greater than the
Entire universe.

II
Take note: the kingdom
Of heaven is of greatest
Importance for us.

III
The kingdom will come
When we least expect it to,
Surprising many.

IV
If we would be wise,
We place the kingdom of God
Before everything.

V
The kingdom is like
A field with treasure, purchased
For all a man owns.

VI
Blessed are the poor
In spirit, for theirs is the
Kingdom of heaven.

VII
Blessed are those who
Are persecuted, for theirs
Is the kingdom, too.

Redemption

The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, "Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly. - Luke 22:61-62

But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. - Luke 24:11-12

The Christ, betrayed by men and doomed to die,
The Lord God turned, looked Peter in the eye.
And Peter, who'd denied he would deny,
Knew how he'd failed; went out, wept bitterly.
The Lord was crucified, laid in the tomb;
No hope in Peter's heart to see Him yet.
Some women come, tell all there in the room
Of empty tombs; new hope their words beget.
Up Peter starts, and rushes to the place
Where Christ was laid; the only one to move.
His hope not yet rewarded, but by grace
He's been forgiven, covered in Christ's love.
He'd failed his Lord before, denied His name;
With second chance, becomes an ardent flame.

The Mountain Pool

Alone, unknown, a quiet mountain pool
Rests up among the rocks where none can see.
Filled to the brim with rippling water cool,
Translucent colored with green, like the sea.
A waterfall runs into it, and yet
It small disturbs the tranquil surface mood;
As water falls, and water flows, forget
The cares of life, else melancholy-viewed.
In all of nature, water is unique
In beauty, peacefulness, sublimity;
It flows, it falls, is ever-running sleek,
And brings to quarrels equanimity.
O peaceful mountain pool, run never dry,
But e'er reflect the peaceful, sky-blue sky.

Hymn to the Creator [Earth]

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. ... God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters he called seas; and God saw that it was good. - Genesis 1:1,10

Creator of the earth and sky and sea,
Who separates the water from dry land:
You formed the earth, you made it come to be.

The earth, with mountains, valleys, shoals, and sand,
With hills, plateaus, peninsulas, and all
Created by His ever potent hand.

The earth, with seasons: spring, and summer, fall,
And winter, too, then back to spring again:
New life comes forth at God's resounding call.

This all to man God gives for his domain.

Sunset

Among the mist and through the mighty trees
The sun's last ray shines dimly on the land,
And through the canyons deep the blowing breeze
Runs swiftly over flowing rivers grand.
As clouds diffuse the light, the gentle glow,
Pale yellow sky above, caresses blue.
I sit here, watching; light is fading slow;
Upon a rock, I have an awesome view.
The sunset slowly fades, the sun goes down,
And with it fades the view I love so much.
The world will fade to black and gray and brown,
A world with other joys, of stars and such.
But in the morn, the sun will rise again;
The sunrise: rising sun with fiery mane.

Sonnet for the Trinity

O Holy, everlasting Father God,
O Thou who made the earth and heav'n above,
Who rescued Israel, gave them Jesse's rod:
Rule over us, and seal us with Thy love.
O Jesus Christ, the Savior, perfect lamb,
Born of a virgin, Son of God and Man,
Who died for us, incarnate great I AM:
Stand by our sides, our brother, in the van.
O Holy Spirit, giver of our life,
Inspired breath from God to fire clay,
Who helps us pray the groanings of our strife:
Come dwell in us, inspire our hearts today.
O Holy, perfect Trinity in One,
We worship Thee, the Father, Spirit, Son.

The Messenger [Wind/Fire]

Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, "What did you go out to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ... But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, 'Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' " - Matthew 11:7,9-10

He makes the winds His messengers,
Flaming fire His ministers. - Psalm 104:4

Some there came to find one shaken by the wind; they were mistaken.
John the Baptist came to waken, to prepare them for the Lord.
Prophets came to warn the nation, giving them a revelation
Of the Lord's so great salvation, coming through incarnate Word.
Jesus came to seek and save, but also with dividing sword;
Now through Him we are restored.

Messengers of wind and fire making up an angel choir
Singing with the harp and lyre praise our God with one accord.
Sweet the sounds of anthem singing to our ears the gospel bringing
All their voices ever ringing out a bright and major chord!
Prophets, angels, all together tell the coming of the Word,
Jesus Christ, the risen Lord.

The Righteous Man [Water/Earth]

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

- Psalm 1:3

A stream of water flows through valleys wide
And giveth life to trees that grow nearby.
O flowing stream so clear, with sky blue dyed,
Nay, never, never, leave these trees to die.
O stream, life-giving stream whose water bright
Gives life to righteous men, to nourish them:
And so they yield their fruit, unhurt by blight;
Such fruit so bright, it almost seems a gem.
Unfolding green, and many other hues,
The leaves grow strong and far above the ground.
The water through the roots the leaf imbues
With strength and growth not elsewhere to be found.
The righteous man will flourish and bear faithful fruit
Through streams that give him life, and through his glorious Root.

Thy Kingdom Come

O God, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done!
I pray this night that, sooth! this may be true!
O, give us grace, that this world may be won
For Christ; may You, my God, this world renew.
I pray for peace, that many need, and joy;
Yea, peace, indeed, for all those aching hearts
Which loss, and pain, and sinfulness destroy:
May you renew their inward, inmost parts.
And so much more; my God, I cannot tell
The vastness of the suff'ring in this world.
You, You alone, can know the deep, dark hell
Which many suffer in, in torment furled.
Thy kingdom come, to bring us life again,
That in this world, You then may truly reign.

A Prayer

I know no thing of rock or bird or tree,
Nor anything of fire, earth, or air.
I know no thing of river, lake, or sea,
Nor anything of mountaintops so fair.
I know no thing of book or page or pen,
Nor anything of stories, letters, rhyme.
I know no thing of sinful-hearted men,
Nor anything of ever-flowing time.
I only know my Savior's love for me
Which runneth without end to make me white.
I only know his death on Calvary
Which bringeth me to everlasting light.
Now this I have, and this I have alone,
That God has made me His, His very own.

All I Have Is But Dust and Ashes

He raises the poor from the dust
And lifts the needy from the ash heap.

-Psalm 113:7

O God, my downcast soul can never rise
Unless You raise it up to live again.
You raise me up from dust so with mine eyes
Upon Thee I can gaze and say, "Amen."
I, needy, on the ash heap of my works
Can never reach to righteousness alone.
But God, who always loves and never shirks
Can lift me up to stand before His throne.
My God is with me always when I wake;
He gives me strength to face each day anew.
Without His help, my spirit quick would break
And I would die, and never make it through.
But now, through Him, my soul can live above
Through His great mercy, faithfulness, and love.

Psalm 106

O, blessed be the Lord our God above!
Who speaks of Him speaks but a little part
Of all there is to say of His great heart
And for His children, all of His great love.
His wond'rous deeds, no tongue can tell thereof,
And matchless is the grace He can impart.
His majesty is far beyond my art
To tell with tongue, yea, graceful as a dove.
For, lo! indeed, his Son has come to save
Those on the earth; He stood and blocked the gap
As Phinehas and Moses, face to face
With God, for us His life away He gave.
From dreadful sin, from Satan's deadly trap,
Christ saved us from the grave, by His great grace.

Muffins

I wait; a muffin bakes with heavn’ly smells.
My stomach rumbles, hoping for some food,
And as I wait, desire within me wells.

The muffin is a noble food and good,
And more so when blueberries added are
As in this case; it makes a better mood.

The one who first made muffins raised the bar
For all those other bakers who've come since;
Sure there is little else that's up to par.

Of all the baked goods, muffins are the prince
Which far outshine attempts of other men;
With talk of muffins, never your words mince.

Olivia begged me write this with my pen.
So I obliged; but hark! What joyous bells!
I smell some brownies. 'Til next time! Amen!

Heaven and Hell

Heaven is home. Who has not felt, at one time or another, in one situation or another, the desire for something to which they cannot give a name? Who has not experienced something which, rather than satisfying, produced a greater desire? For me, one such thing is a clear mountain morning with no sounds but birds and the wind. It stirs in me such longing that I know the only place, the only experience which could satisfy my desire is heaven. Earth is not enough. We live here for a time, but we are only strangers in the land.

What greater punishment, then, could one conceive other than eternal separation from our home and from God, from all that makes us who we are? Anyone who has experienced the desire of which I speak knows the poignant strength that it has. Who could bear knowing this desire far better than he ever knew it on earth, yet with a more certain knowledge that it can never be attained for all eternity? This is the everlasting despair of hell, the eternal punishment. Though there may be more than this knowledge only, nothing more needs to be added to make it hell.

Lord, all my desire is before you, and my sighing is not hidden from you. - Psalm 38:9

And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you. - Psalm 39:7

My God, I know You hear my prayers to You.
You know all my desires and my fears,
My worries and my struggles through and through
Far better than I know them in my tears.
My God, I do not hide what I desire
E'en though I know that foolish it may be.
O God, cleanse my desires with holy fire
That they may holy be and pure for Thee.
I know that You alone can bring me hope
And so I wait for You to calm my care.
Your providence on high can help me cope
By bringing me to You, beyond compare.
O God, hear my desires and answer me,
And help me truly serve and honor Thee!

Head, Heart, Hands

As Plato says, our reason must be strong.
The highest part within us, intellect,
Must rule the appetite, forestalling wrong,
And work with spirit, which should be subject.
But oft in man the parts disordered are;
The spirit rules, or appetite instead.
This order of one's soul is quite bizarre,
For man should always by his head be led.
My reason often fails and leads me wrong,
Or does not lead at all, and I am left
With spirit ruling, leading me along,
Or appetite, which leaveth me bereft.
O God, make reason strong to rule in me!
Subdue the bad, let me submit to Thee!

By Your Grace Alone

A sinful man, a fallen human, I;
My foolishness, I see, has only grown,
And I can do no thing but humbly cry:
"No good in me but by Your grace alone."
Day after day I fail and fail again.
Try as I might, my filthy rags have blown
Like leaves and I am left in all my pain;
I would have died but by Your grace alone.
I try to do the things I think are right,
But in the end I wish I might have known!
I failed again, bemoaning now my plight;
I could have conquered by Your grace alone.
Now, nothing left but here before Your throne,
I bow and say, "It's by Your grace alone."

Levin

The meaning of my life is clear to me:
To live for God, and also for my soul.
And though I struggle oft to rightly see,
God guides me on my path to be made whole.
I know obedience to God is good
Though oft I fail to love my neighbors still;
I know I do not do the things I should,
But God will always me with His love fill.
This knowledge in my soul is rooted deep
Through suffering and trials, secretly.
My reason scoffs at prayer, but I keep
This love for God, and know that He loves me.
My life has now a meaning, strong and clear,
Endowed with good each moment on this sphere.

Clouds

This was inspired primarily by an amazing view I saw today driving up Brea Blvd. I've never noticed it before, but when the sky is clear, you can easily see the mountains up ahead, and there were clouds above them that made the whole picture incredibly beautiful. In general, I've begun to notice that clouds can be one of the most beautiful parts of nature.

A wispy, will'wy, windswept, flying cloud
Soars high above the earth without a care.
A covering, a canopy, a shroud
Which covers earth, and makes its shadows there.
Of pearl, white, and silver, also gray,
'Twill cast dark shadows, blackening the ground;
But sometimes through will shine the sun's bright ray,
A ray of beauty, light'ning all around.
And after rains, when skies are clear and blue,
The clouds remaining make for wond'rous views
Of blues and silvers; oh! For those who knew
How one could capture all those glorious hues!
I know of little better in this world
Than 'gainst the mountains' backdrop, clouds unfurled.

The Divine Court of Law

I think I picked another hard topic to cover in 140 syllables. :P I hope it's still decent.

The laws divine are broken, and by whom?
A lowly man, not angel, no, nor beast.
The Judge and lawmaker enters the room
His majesty ennobling e'en the least.
Now the Accuser stands and makes his case;
He says, "This man here broke your righteous laws.
He's vulgar, evil, damnable, and base.
He can't go free; he's full of sinful flaws."
But up stands now Defendant, Witness, all.
He speaks with voice like thunder, yet like dove:
"I take the blame for this man's sinful fall;
My suffering will take his place in love."
The man's acquitted, free to go his way,
But woe if he rejects that joyous day!

Orthodoxy

Today, for the first time, I attended a non-Protestant church: St. Barnabas, an Antiochian Orthodox church in Costa Mesa. It was an interesting change of pace from my usual church, and gave me some things to think about.

I mostly really liked having a liturgy. It gave set, high quality to the service which I would really like to see in combination with many of the elements I like at my current church. It was also an old liturgy with huge tradition behind it and a lot of good, biblically-grounded text. Very refreshing for me, since I like the more poetic, older language better than modernized text. The choir was very good, and I really enjoyed having simple a cappella music rather than music played by a band. The downside, however, to having a liturgy is that it has little flexibility and therefore misses the modern hymns from Protestant tradition, many of which are very good. I would like a service that had a definite liturgy, but perhaps with spaces for hymns from the last few hundred years.

I'm not really sure what to think of the homily. It was a guest speaker today, but the subject of the homily was rather strange. As far as I could tell, it was about the angels, and how the angels are always present when man is speaking to God, so man never speaks to God alone, but in addition, there's some point when man represents the cherubim. Not really sure what it was about. On the Orthodox theology as a whole, I don't know very much, but there are a few fairly major points that I don't think I agree on. Is it enough to keep me away from the Orthodox church in the future? I don't know yet. I want to look into this more thoroughly.

In other respects, the people were quite friendly. Only confirmed Orthodox are allowed to take communion, but they have a sort of fellowship bread that visitors are allowed to eat. I didn't quite feel comfortable, but the guy sitting next to me brought one back for me, which I quite appreciated even though my brother had already brought one back for me, too. This guy didn't know me at all, but he was willing to serve me.

One thing that came up fairly often was people making the sign of the cross or kissing the icon which the priest held. As far as the latter goes, I'm definitely uncomfortable with that at this point, and it's something that, even if I decided I like the Orthodox church in other ways, I would probably not do for a long time. The sign of the cross is interesting, though. Near the end of the service, I started wondering why people make the sign of the cross (it is usually done when the Trinity is mentioned, I think), and why they touch forehead, chest, and shoulders. It's entirely possible that it's just the most convenient way to make a cross on your body, but it also made me think: Head, Heart, Hands. (Shoulders instead of hands, close enough.) My brother said he thinks it may also be connected to Father, Son, Holy Spirit. I think there are very interesting and important parallels between these two trinities in connection with the sign of the cross, and I'm glad the service spurred me to think about it.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed a change from my regular church. Grace EV Free isn't a bad church by any means; there's a lot that I really like about it. However, I think the change from a usual Protestant style of church, which is all I've experienced in 19 years, was helpful for me. It opens me up to a broader spectrum of worship and church history and perhaps helps me to figure out a little bit more what I like in a service. For those who haven't been to an Orthodox service before, I would recommend going to one in order to broaden your experience and understand a little better those people who come from different religious traditions within the universal Christian church.

Wheatstone Sonnets

While at Wheatstone, I wrote a few sonnets. They're not very good, but I hope that to some extent they express some of the thoughts that were going through my head while there. But first, a haiku:

"I am unworthy,
My God," I cry in distress.
"Save me from my sin."


Heart in Turmoil

The fountain shoots up high into the air
As summer breezes blow across my back;
But on this summer afternoon so fair
My mind keeps running in its rutted track.
I listen to the water as it runs
And watch the branches sway with rustling leaves.
My thoughts go running, now by twos, now ones;
To God alone my heart, in turmoil, cleaves.
The Lord has made such high and wond'rous things,
And I so small can barely comprehend
How great His love for me. My soul, it clings
To Him whose holy love can have no end.
And though my mind has turmoil deep inside,
I know that God, my God, my paths will guide.


How Can I Learn to Love?

How can I learn to love with heart so frail
And full of want for what I do not need?
How can the little good in me prevail
When I your blatant signposts do not heed?
How can I learn to love the ones I should,
Those Thou hast set before me with intent,
And how can I influence them for good
When sin has left my heart in pieces rent?
O God, I need Thy pow'r to set me free
And strengthen feeble heart to love again;
I need Your healing pow'r so I can see,
And I will be a God-like lover then.
How can I love the one You've planned for me
When I am not the one I'm meant to be?


Wonder

How great the earth and sky that Thou hast made!
The running water, beautiful and clear,
The ruddy bricks and marble colonnade
Which man, with tools Thou givest, shapeth here.
I cannot help but wonder at the sun,
Which gives both warmth and light, and that to all;
The stars Thou makest, naming one by one,
As shimm'ring raiment for Your glorious hall.
I wonder, too, at man, beloved of Thee,
Whom blood of Jesus Christ, your Son, now frees.
I wonder that I, I have victory:
For I, of sinful men, am worst of these.
I wonder at the love and beauty shown
By Him who graciously made me His own.

The Author

An author writes a book with care and skill;
In it he writes of people whom he makes.
These people grow in character and will,
And as the story goes, their self awakes.
At times, the author finds the writing hard
Because the characters don't act as planned,
And when he tries to change, his path is barred;
They've grown a certain way, and there they stand.
And so God works in us as authors do
To fix the problems we've created there.
His job is hard: to change us through and through
So that, our hearts in Him, we will not err.
He makes us new in ways we never see
And by His help, we're who we're meant to be.


Difficult to explain in a single sonnet what I mean, but it's based on some authors' comments that certain characters in their books sort of "take on a life of their own" or can't do certain things that the author wants them to do, simply because they've grown in such a way that it would be nonsensical for the character to do such a thing. God has a similar job as the author who wants to change a character like this. He must work back until He finds the thing in us that keeps us from doing what He wants us to do, then change that. Often, it's hard for us to bear.

The Blog of Westhill

I've found myself writing a bit of poetry recently, so I thought it would be a good idea to collect it all in one place. Hence, this blog. Every time I write a new poem, I'll post it here, and I will probably occasionally post updates and such from the book I'm writing. I may also post other things from time to time if I think they fit within my bardish capacities.

To begin with, here are the four sonnets I have written recently:


Peter

And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him,
“Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me
three times.” And he broke down and wept. - Mark 14:72

A simple fisher, born in Galilee,
He followed Christ, put down his fishing net.
Though prone to anger, prone to disagree,
He followed faithfully with no regret.
But when the Christ was brought to court and tried,
He said he never knew the man, and crept
Away from those to whom he had just lied.
He heard the rooster crow, broke down and wept.
If Peter failed, could such a man as I
Keep faith with Him who died to save my soul?
I fear that I will fall, the same as he.
How then did Peter rise so very high?
God’s Holy Spirit came and made him whole,
And through that Spirit I have victory.


The Promised One

[God] said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac,
whom you love...” - Genesis 22:2

And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved
Son; with you I am well pleased.” - Mark 1:11

The promised son, by father loved so much,
Condemned to sacrifice by God’s decree.
Yet Abraham was faithful, and as such
He followed God’s command without a plea.
He reached the mountain, then bound Isaac there,
Prepared to slay him, just as God had said.
When suddenly, before he was aware,
A ram for him to kill in Isaac’s stead.
Two thousand years had passed, the time had come,
And now the Christ was driven to the cross.
Disciples follow, some to grief succumb.
The Father sends Him; He will take the loss.
Unlike that day, no ram to sacrifice:
He, He Himself, alone, must pay the price.


With Great Joy

To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to
present you before His glorious presence without
fault and with great joy... - Jude 24

With sins a man will struggle all his life.
He thinks he should be free, and yet the strife
Continues without end, though oft he prays
For God to take away his sinful ways.
Sometimes his sins will lead him to despair;
Again he’s done things that he cannot bear.
He cries to God to free him from this plight,
But God is silent, and he lives in night.
The man who struggles so sees clear his sin,
But fails to grasp the greater change within.
He struggles still with sin while on this earth,
But Christ has brought about a second birth.
In heaven, spotless and on bended knee
With joy and tears he says at last, “I’m free.”


The First Creator

O Lord, the first creator of all things,
To Thee we lift these words in joyful song;
With th'angels song of praise all heaven rings
To praise the One whose death can right all wrong.
To Thee we lift our hands and anthems raise
Who made us for Thyself and gave us life;
We wonder at Thy love, and give Thee praise
Who saved us through Thy Son when sin was rife.
From Satan's dreadful pow'r You made us free
And suffered on the cross at Calvary
So we would no more suffer for our sin,
And gave us second birth, to live again.
For Thy creation, love, and death so strong,
To Thee we lift these words in joyful song.