PRAY FOR STRENGTH, PRAY FOR HONOR, PRAY FOR TRUTH

A reader named Gregory sent the poem below as a comment to my last post. Perfect! It captures exactly my understanding of where we are called to be as we move inexorably towards...something. There is no doubt in my mind that we are on the brink of changes that will be studied for a long, long time. Not the end of the world, mind you, but something so cataclysmic that it will only be understood as the change of an era so complete that nothing will remain as it was. Our world will never again be the same.

We are called as believers to stand strong for those that don't. Many, many souls will be lost in the coming storm but many will also be saved. It is, in many cases, our actions and response to tragedy that will open the door to salvation for many. So it will be imperative that we remain strong, faithful, hopeful and kind for the rest that will be in complete despair.

I do believe that for those that stand in God's grace, and use it as a shield against the coming storm, a new day will dawn, a day of peace and joy unlike anything seen before on earth. Our children and our children's children will hear tales of those that stood with God against the forces of evil and marvel at their strength and resolve. The coming days are the days of heroes and triumph, miracles and redemption. But only if we stay with God.

By Gracious Powers

By gracious pow'rs so wonderfully sheltered
And confidently waiting come what may,
We know that God is with us night and morning
And never fails to greet us each new day.
Yet is this heart by its old foe tormented,
Still evil days bring burdens hard to bear;
O give our frightened souls the sure salvation
For which, O Lord, you taught us to prepare.
And when this cup you give is filled to brimming
With bitter suffering, hard to understand,
We take it thankfully and without trembling
Out of so good, and so beloved a hand.
Yet when again, in this same world you give us
The joy we had, the brightness of your sun,
We shall remember all the days we lived through
And our whole life shall then be yours alone.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

For some reason, I'm put in mind of this, from Henry V, my favorite of Shakespeare's plays: