Firs, 2006

At The Firs – 2006 Our assignment for Talent Night was: ® P-Fest 2006 Annual Poetry, Prose, Picture Contest Yes, it’s that time again, when RPs attending the Pacific Coast Presbytery Camp share their creative gifts for Talent Night. Write poetry or prose, draw or paint a picture, expressing your story or idea based on one of the following “first lines…”. I chose…”I was amazed to find God speaking to me on this day in this way.” I’ve included the scriptures I was thinking of when I wrote my contribution.

I am amazed To hear God speak On this day In this way. I lift my eyes Expecting skies Yet with surprise now see arise On fir pillars high Green buttresses fly And in silence cry, “Gates! Lift your heads. Ageless doors! Lift them high.” With breathless awe Faintly I see The invisible glow Through the clearly seen. The King is near. Glory draws nigh. And I am amazed On this day In this way.

Psalm 24:9-10 (Book of Psalms for Singing) “O gates, lift your heads! Ageless doors, lift them high! The great King of glory to enter draws nigh! This great King of glory, O who can He be? Jehovah of hosts, King of glory is He!” Romans 1:20 (NIV) “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”

I watch my friend Pressing on, Persevering still With courageous will Bought by boundless grace. On and on and on and on Running this race. And I’m amazed To hear God speak, “You show my strength When you are weak.” I hold my breath. I close my eyes. In stillness strain I hear the refrain, On and on and on and on. Pulsing of the not yet done. “I press on.” “So let us run.” And I am amazed On this day In this way.

Philippians 3:12 (NIV) “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” II Corinthians 12:9 (NIV) “But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Hebrews 12:1 (NIV) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

I hold my old book. I open as told. Can its worn pages New truth unfold? I read. I stare. Print and blur and hum and ho Stare and gaze and dream and daze. Daze-ditty-daze-ditty-daze-ditty-dare. I listen. I hear. Talk and sound and slow and low. Hear and glaze and laze and doze. Doze-ditty-doze-ditty-doze-ditty-dear. Yes. Uh-huh. OK. Sure. I write it all down 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. Then, there it is Thundering out. “Multitudes, multitudes, In the valley of decision. Multitudes, multitudes, The day is near.” Darkness, thunder, Trembling sky! Refuge, stronghold, The Lord is nigh. And I’m struck with the roar Of a terrible shout, “Swing the sickle.” Swing it long. “The harvest is ripe.” Sing a harvest song. And I am amazed On this day In this way.

Joel 3:13 (NIV)“Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow— so great is their wickedness!" 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. 16 The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel. Mark 4:26 (NIV)“He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come." Luke 10:2 (NIV)“He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3Go! I am sending you…” John 4:34 (NIV)"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.” II Corinthians 6:1 (NIV) “As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. 2For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you."[a] I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. Hebrews 4:15 (NIV)"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts Psalm 126:5 (NIV) “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.

Hearing God speak, A fearful, awesome, terrible feat. A comfort, a joy, a knee trembling bout. How can we survive His whispered shout? “The voice of the Lord thunders,” Is majestic and powerful. His voice breaks, strikes and flashes, Shakes, twists and is mighty. How to hear and yet live? All answer and give, “Glory!” Glory and glory and glory and glory. And I am amazed To hear God speak On this day In this way As all say Glory and glory and glory and glory.

Psalm 29:3 (NIV) “The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters. 4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic. 5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion [b] like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the LORD strikes with flashes of lightning. 8 The voice of the LORD shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the LORD twists the oaks [c] and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"