Wit & Whim

  The Lord upon the mountain taught: a versification of the beatitudes Ich Singe Dir The Lord upon the mountain taught  A holy life to lead,  That up with him to heaven caught,  We shall be his indeed. Blessed all those in spirit poor—  Thy kingdom theirs shall be,  Who beggars ever at Thy door  From Thee gain victory. Blessed are all that here must mourn;  What comfort shall be theirs!  For Christ with gladness will adorn  And make them heaven's heirs. Blessed are all the meek in heart,  The earth they shall receive—  A new creation set apart  From sin and pride reprieve. Blessed all that for righteousness  Yearn more than earthly wine;  On Thee, beyond all plenteousness,  Thou grantest them to dine. Blessed all they that mercy show,  For mercy they shall find;  Within Thy wounds and free from woe,  Be at Thy feet reclined. Blessed all those whose hearts are pure,  Who have not evil love...

 There is a generally easy way to figure out whether two countries are in ecumenical  fellowship. When a man commits a crime in one country, and the authorities of said country either convict him, or issue a warrant for his arrest, then when he flies to the other country he will be swiftly turned out to face justice. This is hardly a new pattern. Pompey the Great's head was sent back to Julius Caesar by Ptolemy XIII; though Caesar mourned it. Death was not theirs to deal; it was Caesars. He was mad that Pompey was not extradited, for it was even then absolutely the norm for friendly polities to recognize the discipline that is meted out by the other, and to be of aid in upholding the discipline, and to return criminals seeking sanctuary back to the polity where the sentence was rendered. This custom continues to this very day...in some places. I watched the AALC video, and was deeply unimpressed. So I understand it, the train of thought was roughly: "I sent an email asking why...

 C.S. Lewis is one of the great essayists. Not one of the great essayists of the 20th century, nor one of the great essayists of Christian apologetics. C.S. Lewis is one of the great essayists to practice the form. Aristotle gets better press because he came first, and there is an awful lot to being first to the party. I really do not care for Lewis' fiction. I have more than once used the simile that I feel like he is beating us to death with allegory; that we lie supine before the point he is obviously making, whimpering "no, please, I understand!" only for him to strike the point home again. That Hideous Length is not so much a novel as a commentary on the state of modern society, hidden behind thinly veiled metaphors; like a  particularly fire-breathing Theodore Dalyrymple essay wearing a science fiction skinsuit. I do not care for his fiction, and perhaps that is a fault of impatience in me; the same fire that burned with rage at cutesy--or worse, clown!--illustratio...

  Lord Jesus Christ Who Intercedes O Jesu Christe, Wahres Licht Lord Jesus Christ, who intercedes,  Whose blood for all thy people pleads,  Praying for us at God's right hand,  Fulfilling all the law's demands. Thy Holy Spirit daily pour,  Lord, on thy ministers; restore  Thy church to pious unity,  To preach no savior but for Thee. Thy revelation let us heed,  Sufficient for our faith indeed;  All priestly Sadducees abjure,  Who would thy Holy Word obscure. Nor any other be our stay —  Thou only guide us on our way;  Turn us to Thee, our sins forgive,  With Thee eternally to live. We by none other name are saved  But that which on us was engraved,  Baptized in Jesus Christ we boast,  With Father and with Holy Ghost.

  I am the Lord who sanctifies Was Mein Gott Will Sanctification into Justification James, Leviticus 20, Psalm 118 I am the Lord who sanctifies And makes thee to be holy Now consecrate thee in mine eyes Perform my statutes solely My judgements well Thy sins to quell Through all thy life obeying That guarded by My watchful eye I keep thy feet from straying The life of faith thou hast begun Is never without traces The victory which thou hast won With joy my heart embraces Consigned to dread And surely dead I’d lie in sins’ caresses A contrite heart Thou dost impart To curb my flesh’s excesses Yet know ye not there is one God The devils so believeth The narrow path ye hath not trod And rightly woe receiveth But God befriends And condescends He takes the cup appointed That though man fail God shall prevail Redeeming his annointed To God give thanks for he is good His mercy faileth never And by his righteousness renewed None me from him shall sever Throughout my days Thee Lord I’ll prai...

 I confess. I went on Facebook tonight, and I immediately almost got in a fight. One of online Lutheranism's great sophists was in the middle of telling us all how there are lots of orthodox left wing people, and we should make sure that we platform them alongside the conservatives. And while I will grant that I hope dearly to see many of my political opposites in the resurrection, surely it will be only through the grace of God and their own stupidity. This is harsh, but it is no where near as harsh as the place prepared for those who hold that there is no fixed external truth, that all is relative, and who have actually followed that thought to the logical conclusion. And it is easy to see partisanship in the distinction now, because the people who the statement above would apply to today can easily apply to many on the left and right. The post religious right is strong. There are trailer parks and discord chats full of people who find Jesus Christ to be weak and effete. Who long...

It started raining on me, but I was not ready to go in side, so I slammed this out on the laptop in the garage. This is a rare Marian Lutheran Hymn, but I cannot hold that it is by accident that the Holy Spirit has given us her witness and spoken of her in glowing terms without purpose, so here I cast as she ought to be, A paragon of Christian hope, virtue, and faith that God works all things to good for his people. And so I preserve us singing the adapted words from the magificat in her voice, not because any of us are as good as her, but that she is an aspirational example that we should strive for. To Mary Pure the Angel Came Ach Bleib Bei Uns Devotional/Trust To Mary pure the angel came A son conceiving by Thy name The chosen virgin undefiled Strong in the faith though meek and mild No little cross to bear had she A byword for the cruel to be Yet spurned she not the honor given To bear the only Son from heav’n My soul doth magnify the Lord I stand obedient to Thy word Be unto me as...

  By All Thy Holy Prophets King’s Lynn (We’re Lutheran, so you sing the first verse, then you sing the rest of the verses, then you sing the last verse. None of this proto-Anglican ‘choose the one you feel like’ malarky) Suggest any you see missing. Also suggest missed references and necessary revisions. By all Thy holy prophets Thy judges wise and bold The mighty men of valor Thou sent to guard Thy fold Who Thee in faith professing Have shown us by Thy grace That all Thy truth confessing Shall see Thee face to face All praise for blessed Moses By whom Thou gave the law Who only upon Sinai The face of God once saw Who led Thy people Israel By Thy hand through the sea That drowned to sins dread slavery To Thee they might be free For Abraham all praises His children as the sand By faith are counted righteous From every tribe and land His own son he’d not withhold But trusted Thee to give Thyself for the burnt off’ring That we by grace might live All praise o Lord for Noah Who walked ...

Lord Jesus Christ the Fathers own begotten Iste Confessor Holy Week Lord Jesus Christ the Fathers own begotten Who by thy grace thy church hast not forgotten Who for thy mercy on a colt wast brought in Nailed to thine own cross For thy own sin with which thou hast not striven Hangs now thy God his sacred body riven And each dear blow his blood has now forgiven Which thou hast dealt him Thorns on his his brow your evil deeds have placed Nails in his hands thy lawless ways have traced Yet by a flood of blood and water graced From guilt he washes Lord is it I thy guilty conscience crying With hardened heart thy sorrow multiplying When I deserved naught but the fires undying Purchased by your blood Lord for thy work thy bitter death and passion Grant my weak soul to make a good confession That all my life and e’en my deaths profession Thy cross alone Lord

This one is rough, and still needs the first verse reworked, and feels like it needs one more verse, but I needed to just get it down. Last week was extraordinarily busy at work, and I was too drained for much of anything. Feeling much more myself now. To Moses Spake The Lord of Hosts St Patrick’s Breastplate To Moses spake the lord of hosts With tongues of fire on holy ground With father and with holy ghost To loose his holy people bound And so with staff and sandal he Against the might of Egypt's king Went forth to set God's people free That them from slav’ry he might bring Thus they shall hail me as the lord When I have shown my wondrous sign By locust’s fierce devouring horde On all who flout my name divine By flies and hail my will be done By darkness that grants no facade By death of Egypt’s firstborn son The earth shall know that I am God Thy people thou hast set apart And death's dark angel passes o’er A broken and contrite heart The lamb’s own blood upon their door...