[Faith-talk] Good Night Message for Wednesday, September 12 2012

[Paul]

Well, another "hump" day is about to go the way of history, at least for those of us in North America.  It's already Thursday for the majority of the world.  I hope that your day was a productive one, by God's matchless grace and His providential care.  For about the last week or so, the Lord has impressed on me to, in a small way, bridge the gap between those who have computers and those who don't by putting up on a phone chat line's message board the daily (and sometimes twice daily) 15-minute broadcasts aired by Pastor Roland Gerdes, otherwise known as the Chaplain, from the Sight Seer Radio Reading Service from Grand Rapids MI.  If anyone in North America would like to hear them over the phone, let me know privately and I'll give you the phone number.  If you'd rather hear the prerecorded programs in real time, they can be accessed at http://www.thesightseer.org. The times of the programs are at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday.

I usually don't post any poems that have no rhyme to them, but this one is different.  It was written by Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) and is entitled "The Slow Work of God," rendered as follows:

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything,
To reach the end without delay we should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability
And that it may take a very long time.  And so I think it is with you.
Your ideas mature gradually--let them grow,
Don't try to force them on as though you could be today what time
(That is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
Will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.
Give our Lord the benefit of believing that His hand is leading you
Accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

I understand what Mr. Chardin is trying to convey, but find it difficult to put his writing down to a level where the average person can grasp the meaning of the words.  Oh well, these types of poetry will be few and far between.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep you safe, individually and collectively, throughout the night or day and especially in these last days in which we live.  As someone so briefly and so truly expresses herself in replies to these good night messages: "Good night and sweet dreams." Your Christian friend and brother, Paul