Christmas Eve High o'er the lonely hills black turns to gray, Bird-song the valley fills, mists fold away Gray wakes read more

Christmas Eve High o'er the lonely hills black turns to gray, Bird-song the valley fills, mists fold away Gray wakes to green again, Beauty is seen again, Gold and serene again dawneth the day. So, o'er the hills of life, stormy, forlorn, Out of the cloud and strife sunrise is born; Swift grows the light for us, Ended is night for us, Soundless and bright for us breaketh God's morn. Hear we no beat of drums, fanfare, nor cry, When Christ the herald comes quietly nigh; Splendor He makes on earth; Color awakes on earth; Suddenly breaks on earth light from the sky. Bid then farewell to sleep: rise up and run! What though the hill be steep? Strength's in the sun. Now you shall find at last Night's left behind at last, And for mankind at last, Day has begun!

Thou wilt never be spiritually minded and godly unless thou art silent concerning other men's matters and take full heed read more

Thou wilt never be spiritually minded and godly unless thou art silent concerning other men's matters and take full heed to thyself.

The fashion of the day has been to attempt to convert by insisting on conversion; to exhort men to be read more

The fashion of the day has been to attempt to convert by insisting on conversion; to exhort men to be converted; to tell them to be sure they look at Christ instead of simply holding up Christ; to tell them to have faith rather than to supply its object; to lead them to work up their minds, instead of impressing upon them the thought of Him who can savingly work in them; to bid them to be sure their faith is justifying, that it is not dead, formal, self-righteous, or merely moral, instead of delineating Him whose image, fully delineated, destroys deadness, formality, self-righteousness; to rely on words, vehemence, eloquence, and the like, rather than to aim at conveying the one great idea, whether in words or not.

Feast of Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist Paul Tillich can show us that the unity which we seek as read more

Feast of Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist Paul Tillich can show us that the unity which we seek as Christians must involve our denominations in changes even greater than those which many of us now expect. His insistence on taking seriously the gropings of all men for the truth about their lives must be allowed to remind the ecumenical movement that the word oikoumene is Greek not for "the Church" but for "the whole inhabited world". The ecumenical movement is more than Christian patriarchs kissing. Christian unity means the unity of mankind in finding and obeying God. Tillich can teach us that the Church must not shut its door to celebrate a family reunion while a single child of God remains outside.

I need not shout my faith. Thrice eloquent Are quiet trees and the green, listening sod; Hushed are the read more

I need not shout my faith. Thrice eloquent Are quiet trees and the green, listening sod; Hushed are the stars, whose power is never spent; The hills are mute: yet, how they speak of God!

Feast of Monica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387 In the pure soul, whether it sing or pray, The Christ read more

Feast of Monica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387 In the pure soul, whether it sing or pray, The Christ is born anew from day to day. The life that knoweth Him shall bide apart And keep eternal Christmas in the heart.

Feast of John Coleridge Patteson, First Bishop of Melanesia, & his Companions, Martyrs, 1871 Devotion signifies a life given, read more

Feast of John Coleridge Patteson, First Bishop of Melanesia, & his Companions, Martyrs, 1871 Devotion signifies a life given, or devoted, to God. He therefore is the devout man, who lives no longer to his own will, or the way and spirit of the world, but to the sole will of God, who considers God in everything, who serves God in everything, who makes all the parts of his common life, parts of piety, by doing everything in the name of God, and under such rules as are conformable to His glory.

Pardon comes not to the soul alone; or rather, Christ comes not to the soul with pardon only! It is read more

Pardon comes not to the soul alone; or rather, Christ comes not to the soul with pardon only! It is that which He opens the door and enters by, but He comes with a Spirit of life and power.

Commemoration of Scholastica, Abbess of Plombariola, c.543 All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, read more

Commemoration of Scholastica, Abbess of Plombariola, c.543 All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired, although not in the hour or in the measure, or the very thing which they ask; yet they will obtain something greater and more glorious than they had dared to ask.