The Cloud of Witness Tuesday

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Tuesday.

Spiritual Pride.

Who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?--I Cor. iv. 7.

They do not well
Who, walking up a trodden path, all smooth
With footsteps of their fellows, and made straight
From town to town, will scorn at them that wonn
Under the covert of God's eldest trees--
They do not well who mock at such and cry,
"We peaceably, without or fault or fear,
Proceed and miss not of our end; but these
Are slow and fearful; with uncertain pace,
And ever reasoning of the way, they oft,
After all reasoning, choose the worser course."
J. Ingelow.

If there be any good in thee, believe that there is much more in others,--that so thou mayest preserve humility within thee.
Thos. A Kempis.

Look straight at all things from the soul!
But boast not much to understand;
Make each new action sound and whole,
Then leave it in its place unscanned!
Be true! devoid of aim or care;
Nor posture, nor antagonize!
Know well that clouds of this our air
But seem to wrap the mighty skies!
Allingham.

Heavier responsibility attaches to those who have larger knowledge.
Westcott.

The lawless wish, the unaverted eye,
Are as a taint upon the breeze,
To lure foul spirits:--haughty brows and high
Are signals to invite Them nigh,
Whose onset ever Saints await on bended knees.
Keble.

Lest being lifted up with Pride he fall into the temptation of the Devil.
I Tim. iii. 6.

The Cloud of Witness Monday

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Monday. Eleventh after Trinity.

Spiritual Pride.

God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.--Luke xviii. II.

Judge not! the workings of his brain
And of his heart thou canst not see;
What looks to thy dim eyes a stain,
In God's pure light may only be
A scar, brought from some well-won field--
Where thou wouldst only faint and yield.

The look, the air that frets thy sight,
May be a token, that below
The soul has closed in deadly fight
With some eternal foe,
Whose glance would scorch thy smiling grace,
And cast thee shuddering on thy face!

The fall thou darest to despise,--
May-be the Angel's slackened hand
Has suffered it, that he may rise
And take a firmer, surer stand;
Or, trusting less to earthly things,
May henceforth learn to use his wings.

And judge none lost! but wait and see,
With hopeful pity, not disdain!
The depth of the abyss may be
The measure of the height of pain,
And love and glory that may raise
This soul to God in after days.
A. Proctor.

The pride of lettered ignorance, that binds
In chains of error our accomplished minds,
That seeks with all the splendour of the true,
A false religion!
Cowper.

They repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit shall say within themselves, "This was he, whom we had sometimes in derision, and a proverb of reproach; we fools accounted his life madness, and his end to be without honour: how is he numbered among the children of God, and his lot among the saints!
Wisdom v. 3-5.

The Cloud of Witness Sunday

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Sunday.

Spiritual Pride.

Jesus spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.--Gospel for the Day.

Some lead a life unblameable and just--
Their own dear virtues their unshaken trust!
They never sin!--or if (as all offend)
Some trivial slips their daily walk attend,
The poor are near at hand,--the charge is small,--
A slight gratuity atones for all!
Cowper.

We to our cost our bounds transgress
In Thy eternal plan;
Pride grasps the powers by Thee display'd,
Yet ne'er the rebel effort made,
But fell beneath the sudden shade
Of Nature's withering ban.
Newman.

Be assured
That least of all can aught--that ever owned
The heaven-regarding eye and front sublime
Which man is born to--sink, howe'er depressed,
So low as to be scorned, without a sin.
Wordsworth.

It may be that the suppliant's life
Has lain on many an evil way
Of foul delight and brutal strife,
And lawless deeds that shun the day;
But how can any gauge of yours
The depth of that temptation try!
--What man resists--what man endures--
Is open to one only eye.
Houghton.

How little thou canst tell
How much in thee is ill or well!
Nor for thy neighbour, nor for thee,
Be sure! was life designed to be
A draught of dull Complacency!
Clough.

The Cloud of Witness Saturday

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Week of the Eleventh Sunday After Trinity.

"The Snare of Pride"

"God resisteth the Proud."

A Prayer for the Week

O Lord, Father and God of my Life, give me not a proud look, but turn away from Thy servants a haughty mind.

------------------------------------

[358]

Saturday. Eleventh after Trinity.

Spritual Pride.

The Pharisees answered and said unto him, "Thou wast altogether born in sin, and dost thou teach us?" And they cast him out.--John ix. 34.

Men who proudly clung
To their first fault--and withered in their Pride!
Browning.

A mean estate is not always to be condemned; nor the rich that is foolish to be had in admiration.
Ecclus. xxii. 23.

Pride brandishes the favours he confers.
Young.

On the verge of never-ending woe
Man doubting stands, yet plum'd with Pride the while,
Folding his arms in self-admir'd repose,
Cased in self-confidence!
I. Williams.

Let not the refinement of Society make us forget, that it is not the refined only who are received into the Kingdom of God.
Jowett.

O seeming sole to awake,--thy sun-bathed head
Piercing the solemn cloud
Round thy still dreaming brother-world outspread . . .
Be not too proud!
Oh! When most self-exalted, most alone!
Chief Dreamer, own thy dream!
Thy brother-world stirs at they feet unknown;
Who hath a Monarch's hath no Brother's part.
Matt. Arnold.

Esteem not thyself better than others, lest perhaps in the sight of God, Who knoweth what is in a Man, thou be accounted worse than they.
Thos. A. Kempis.

Do thy day's work, dare
Refuse no help thereto, since help refused
Is hindrance sought and found.
Browning.

The Cloud of Witness Friday

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Friday. Tenth after Trinity.

Sympathy.

Whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.--I Cor. xii. 26.

I ask Thee for a thoughtful love,
Through constant watching wise,
To meet the glad with joyful smiles
And wipe the weeping eyes;
And a heart at leisure from itself
To soothe and sympathize.
Wherever in the world I am,
In whatsoe'er estate,
I have a fellowship with hearts
To keep and cultivate,
And a work of lowly love to do,
For the Lord on Whom I wait.
A. L. Waring.

Mystical, more than magical, is that communing of Soul with Soul, both looking heavenward! Here properly Soul first speaks with Soul.
Carlyle.

'Tis but brother's speech we need,
Speech where an accent's change gives each
The other's Soul!
Browning.

No distance breaks the tie of blood,
Brothers are brothers evermore,
Nor wrong, nor wrath of deadliest mood
That magic may o'erpower:
Oft ere the common source be known,
The kindred drops will claim their own,
And throbbing pulses silently
Move heart towards heart by Sympathy.
So it is with true Christian hearts;
Their mutual share in Jesus' blood
An everlasting bond imparts
Of holiest brotherhood.
Oh! might we all our lineage prove,
Give and forgive,--do good and love,--
By soft endearments in kind strife
Lightening the load of daily life!
Keble.

Of good meals past

I was tagged by MamaSquirrel at Dewey's Treehouse to play this quiz created by the Apprentice, and I love talking about food! I like the fact that birthday cake, chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin pie are classified as "meals." Someone who thinks like me!!

What was the best ___ you ever had?

1. Pasta/spaghetti?
I've been making raw pasta with zucchini shredded like angel hair, and with a tomato/sundried tomato sauce that's pretty good.


2. Best chocolate chip cookies?
They're all so good, each kind has its own nuances and special qualities. But I still prefer vanilla sandwich cookies. Or coconut sandwich cookies.


3. Birthday cake?
Duncan Hines spice cake with white icing. I asked for this every year that I can remember when I was a kid.


4. Chicken burger?
Probably Chik-filet


5. Hamburger?
I haven't had a hamburger in probably six years.


6. Pumpkin pie?
My mother's - she uses the recipe from the side of the Libby's can, and it's always perfect, never too spiced.


7. What's your favourite food, and who made it?
When I was little, it was Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and my mother made it (not often enough!)
I'm not sure what my favorite food is now. Maybe young Thai coconut (nobody makes it, you just open and eat), or maybe guacamole (which I make in various ways; it's never the same)


8. Name three people you'd like to join in.
Tim, Miss Roxie, and Beth.

New Computer Desk!

This isn't just a desk, it's a brilliant workspace design. Mr. B and Tim designed it on the computer so that we could have two people sitting at the same time and three computers, yet fit into the only available corner and still be able to get the patio door open.




Note doors to keep toddler fingers away from the towers.




Keyboards slide away out of sight, and away from prying toddler fingers (although there are no toddler-proof latches or anything - that will come later if the need arises!)





The most ingenius part of all - we couldn't use a sliding keyboard thingie because the space it has to slide into is triangular. So Mr. B designed a fold-out top with an arm that rotates to support the top.








Fully open - my mini Playstation keyboard is a perfect fit!

August

The Cloud of Witness Thursday

I especially like today's.

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Thursday

Sympathy.

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.--Rom. xii. 15.

Man is dear to Man! the poorest Poor
Long for some moments in a weary life,
When they can know and feel that they have been
Themselves, the fathers and the dealers-out
Of some small blessings;--have been kind to such
As needed kindness.
Wordsworth.

I would have you be . . . like a fire well-kindled, which catches at everything you throw in, and turns it into flame and brightness.
M. Aurelius.

Some souls there are
Who, when they smite it, bring
Forth from the hardest rock its hidden spring.
Lytton.

Be calm in arguing; for fierceness makes
Error a fault, and truth discourtesy.
Why should I feel another man's mistakes
More than his fickleness or poverty!
In love I should: but anger is not love,
Nor wisdome neither;--therefore gently move!

Be useful where thou livest, that they may
Both want and wish thy pleasing presence still:--
Kindness, good parts, great places, are the way
To compass this. Find out men's Wants and Will,
And meet them there!--All the worldly joys go less
To the one joy of doing kindnesses.
Herbert.

Find they reward in the thing
Which thou hast been blest to do,
Let the joy of others cause joy to spring
Up in thy bosom too!--
And if the love of a grateful heart
As a rich reward be given,
Lift thou the love of a grateful heart
To the God of Love in Heaven!
MacDonald.

The Cloud of Witness Wednesday

A little late - I just plain forgot!

[354]

Wednesday Tenth after Trinity

Sympathy

By love serve one another.--Gal. v. 13.
None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.--Rom. xiv. 7.

Wouldst thou the Life of Souls discern?
Nor human wisdom nor divine
Helps thee by aught beside to learn:--
Love is Life's only sign.
The spring of the regenerate heart--
The pulse, the glow of every part,
Is the true love of Christ our Lord,
As man embrac'd, as God ador'd.
Keble.

She never found fault with you, never implied
Your Wrong by her Right; and yet men at her side
Grew nobler, girls purer.
None knelt at her feet, confessed lovers in thrall,--
They knelt more to God than they used--that was all!
E.B. Browning.

"For this true nobleness I seek in Vain
In woman, and in man I find it not;
I almost weary of my earthly lot,
My life-springs are dried up with burning pain."
Thou find'st it not? I pray thee look again;--
Look inward through the depths of thine own soul!
How is it with thee? Art thou sound and whole?
Doth narrow search show thee no earthly stain?
*Be noble!* And the Nobleness that lies
In other men, sleeping, but never dead,--
Will rise in majesty to meet thine own!
Then wilt though see it gleam in many eye,
Then will pure light around thy path be shed,
And thou wilt never-more be sad and lone!
Lowell.

Let us no more contend, nor blame
Each other, blam'd enough elsewhere!--but strive
In offices of love how we may lighten
Each other's burden in our share of woe!
Milton.