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Drop Thy Still Dews of Quietness

Medication was making it tough to sleep. This phrase dropped into my mind. I was uncertain as to entire lyrics. You have to love this aspect of the internet. I entered the phrase and then I had entire song lyrics, author etc. Here is my story about Whittier and the song.


Dear Lord and Father of Mankind | John G. Whittier written 1872. I have a book of poetry by him that belonged to my grandfather. We had it recovered as it was starting to fall apart.

  1. Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
    Forgive our foolish ways;
    Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
    In purer lives Thy service find,
    In deeper rev’rence, praise.
  2. O Sabbath rest by Galilee,
    O calm of hills above,
    Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee
    The silence of eternity,
    Interpreted by love!
  3. Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
    Till all our strivings cease;
    Take from our souls the strain and stress,
    And let our ordered lives confess
    The beauty of Thy peace.
  4. Breathe through the heats of our desire
    Thy coolness and Thy balm;
    Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
    Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
    O still, small Voice of calm.
  5. In simple trust like theirs who heard
    Beside the Syrian sea
    The gracious calling of the Lord,
    Let us, like them, without a word,
    Rise up and follow Thee.

Pursuing the topic today I looked it up online. Wikipedia said:

“The text of the hymn is taken from a longer poem, “The Brewing of Soma“. The poem was first published in the April 1872 issue of The Atlantic Monthly. Soma was a sacred ritual drink in Vedic religion, going back to Proto-Indo-Iranian times (ca. 2000 BC), possibly with hallucinogenic properties.

“The storyline is of Vedic priests brewing and drinking Soma in an attempt to experience divinity. It describes the whole population getting drunk on Soma. It compares this to some Christians’ use of “music, incense, vigils drear, and trance, to bring the skies more near, or lift men up to heaven!” But all in vain – it is mere intoxication.

“Whittier ends by describing the true method for contact with the divine, as practised by Quakers: sober lives dedicated to doing God’s will, seeking silence and selflessness in order to hear the “still, small voice”, described in I Kings 19:11-13 as the authentic voice of God, rather than earthquake, wind or fire.

The poem opens with a quote from the Rigveda, attributed to Vasishtha:

These libations mixed with milk have been prepared for Indra:
offer Soma to the drinker of Soma. (Rv. vii. 32, trans. Max Müller).

So I found the poem in my grandfather’s book. It has seventeen stanzas. Reading it reminded me of the Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans and elsewhere where the celebrants go carnally nuts just before Lent begins. “Mardi Gras, which is also known as Fat Tuesday, is a day of indulgence that marks the end of Carnival.”

So the hymn writers took various stanzas from his poem and arranged them out of order. I want to add one that they seemed to have left out.

With that deep hush subduing all
Our words and work that drown
The tender whisper of thy call,
As noiseless let thy blessing fall
As fell thy manna down.

Yes, Lord help us to stop using too many words with You. To wait for the tender whisper of Your call, Your blessing as when Your fell manna. Feed us today with Your word of encouragement, challenge and joy. Yes, we are to once again return to stillness.

Oh crap. Remember those Post-its with so much adhesive? One took off some of the print in Grandfather’s old book of poetry, the poem entitled Disarmament. Foolish me used teh Post-it to count the stanzas and figure out what the hymn folks left out. I found the complete poem online and restored the words. But goodness! Was that necessary? Guess with this brain adjusting yet again to a higher dose of medication, I do stupid things.

Things that make this writer go, “GRR!”

Posted on in Challenge, Faith, Focus, Just do it, Listen, Praise, Prayer, Rest, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Thanks, Worship, Yield

At Worship Last Sunday

There were a couple phrases that jumped out at me in our worship for the Second Sunday in Lent. During the Great Thanksgiving our priest read, “You brought forth all creatures of the earth and gave breath to humankind. Wondrous are you, Holy One of Blessing, all you create is a sign of hope for our journey. ” This language of liturgy is lofty, yet simple in truth.

Breath to humankind … we each have this breath. Do we give the Creator credit for gifting us with this life and breath? Do we recognize that every human being has been given this same holy breath? Are willing to give thanks for them, too?

Continuing with the Eucharist: “And so, remembering all that was done for us: the cross, the tomb, the resurrection and ascension, longing for Christ’s coming in glory, and presenting to you these gifts your earth has formed and human hands have made, we acclaim you, O Christ …

Dying, you destroyed our death.
Rising you restored our life.
Christ Jesus, come in glory!

How many times outside of a church building do we remember all that was done for us by Christ? If you make it your practice to review the things listed in this liturgy regarding all that was done for you, it is difficult not to be grateful and give praise to our Risen Lord. Perhaps copy that one sentence and make it your practice for the remaining days of this Lenten season?

Remembering all that was done for us: the cross, the tomb, the resurrection and ascension, longing for Christ’s coming in glory, and presenting to you these gifts your earth has formed and human hands have made, we acclaim you, O Christ!

This might just change your Lenten appreciation. Holding what has been done for us before our hearts and minds can be life giving and bring mighty levels of joy. And how about that Acclaim of faith? “Dying, you destroyed our death. Rising, you restored our life. Christ Jesus, come in glory!”

I think this rendition of the Risen Christ might be the most delightful I have ever seen? Have you ever pictured the event in your spirit? Do you ever just sit with your image and give thanks?

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 KJV

Looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 NRSVUE

May this Lent find you giving more attention to Jesus and His mighty work than to your own affairs. Even things done in the Name of Christ can detract from our focus on our Savior. Give Him your all and you will not be disappointed in the return on your investment. His finished work is not to be underestimated!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Challenge, Faith, Journal, Listen, Nature, Obedience, Poetry, politics, Praise, Prayer, Rest, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Surrender, Thanks, Yield

Still at a Center Point

Before dawn today there was a four bird chorus raising praise to the Lord for His goodness and holiness. The northern Cardinal, Carolina wren, American robin and tufted Titmouse were raising a continuous singing of triumph and might. I know, because I asked the Merlin Bird app from Cornell University to identify them for me.

How have you lifted your voice today? What time did you begin? Did you lie in bed bemoaning the day or the rough night of pain?

Perhaps we would benefit more by taking a fresh look at the goodness of God to bring us through the night and unrolling before us another day of living and loving?

Amy Carmichael wrote in Edges of His Ways:

Psalm 19:10, R.V. margin: The droppings of the honeycomb.
This morning I found this marginal reading which was just the word I wanted at the moment. There are times when we cannot read much or even think much. But if we are quiet we shall hear little sweet words dropping into our hearts, “sweeter also than honey and the droppings of the honeycomb.” I need not write them; they will be different perhaps to each one of us, but they will be comforting and strengthening too; and we shall go on our way for another day, fed and refreshed.

If we are willing to get still at the center point of our souls I believe we will hear “little sweet words dropping into our hearts.” Perhaps not every single time we get still, but the incidences will increase as we employ the practice.

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalms 46:10

T. S. Elliott said:

“At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.”

I pray you will get still enough to hear those little sweet words dropping into your heart.

In this present moment, have stillness. Breathe.

Posted on in Faith

Why is Stillness Important?

Stillness makes listening possible. Yes, I can hear while my mind is busy, but stillness amplifies the ability of listening. Picture the pages on a Post-it note pad.

I bought one recently that seemed less expensive than the others. Come to find out all but one tiny edge has the Post-it adhesive on it. So they are really hard to take off the pad, or any place else you stick them.

Striped edge is only one not sticky!

Busy-ness, multi-tasking, mind racing is like that pad. It seems efficient at the time, but we really are only giving our attention to things halfway until we get totally stuck with less than quality results. That is what a prayer life without stillness equates to. Entering stillness is like pealing off those Post-it layers, methodically, intentionally.

In 1 Kings 19 God was not in the fire, or whirlwind or earthquake. God was in the still, small voice. It is terribly difficult to hear that voice when your heart and mind are all riled up!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Challenge, Faith, Just do it, Listen, Obedience, Prayer, Rest, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Worship, Yield

Stillness is Like

Stillness is like coming to a center point and waiting. Not waiting on the starting block of a foot race.

Above is that point in the race where runners are poised for action. In contrast, the stillness we need more of in our lives is the stillness where we learn to wait in peace and collectedness. Listening for that still, small voice of God. The place where the promises below are fulfilled.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Psalm 32:8 NIV

And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”  Isaiah 30:21 NRSVUE

It takes practice to listen in this way. And practice leads to better listening during the hubbub of life. Can we agree unreservedly with Isaiah 50?

The Lord God has given me
    a trained tongue,
that I may know how to sustain
    the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens,
    wakens my ear
    to listen as those who are taught.
5 The Lord God has opened my ear,
    and I was not rebellious;
    I did not turn backward. Isaiah 50:4-5 NRSVUE

I, for one, have a long way to go in yielding my ears to hear God and yielding my tongue to speak words of comfort and encouragement in due season! Listening, practicing stillness, will most assuredly get me to that goal more thoroughly than any other method I have ever found.

Holy and Mighty One help me to give myself over to this stillness and listening to Your voice, I pray.

Posted on in Faith

Still

I have been impressed again by how very important it is for each of us to learn to get still. Here is one song that began this quest for me many years ago. Before Christy Nockles was known by name, she and her husband published music under the name Watermark.

The more I get alone, the more I see
I need to get alone more, more
'Cause just when I think that I'm alone
Your Spirit calls out to me
And even silence has a song
'Cause that's when You come, sing over me

Still, let me be still
Let me be okay with the quiet in my heart
Still, I want to be still
I'm so quick to move instead of listening to You
Shut my mouth, crush my pride
Give me the tears of a broken life
Still

Oh this world, it falls around me
And flutters all it's beauty in my eyes
But let me choose the solitude
Simplicity has always simply changed my life
And even stillness makes me move
'Cause that's when my heart learns to dance with You

Still, let me be still
Let me be okay with the quiet in my heart
Still, I want to be still
I'm so quick to move, instead of listening to You
I'm your child, tame my heart
Obedience to me impart
Still

La la la, la, hold me
La la la, la, cleanse me
La la la, la, change me, oh God
Change me, change me while I am

Still, let me be still
And know that you are God and You're always enough
Still, I want to be still
To take all that I am and simply lift it up
Shut my mouth, crush my pride
Give me the tears of a broken life
Still, still, still, still, still   Still lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

How is your practice at getting still? Do you have a practice? Listen to the song again and ponder the words. They are full of deep truth.

Think of it as a time to re-collect: to bring back to the level of conscious awareness : remember.

We get so very scattered in our daily lives. Can we set aside a time each day to draw ourselves back together? Waiting in stillness with the remembrance that God is on the throne and not flustered by our forgetfulness or distractedness. During the practice try to turn off the chatter in your brain. Make note of the noteworthy thought with the promise to tend to it later.

Stillness is not to be underestimated in value. The practice of multi-tasking has been overestimated. To come to stillness in this day and age takes practice, and more practice.

Stillness is the ultimate in quiet.

Posted on in Faith

Saw This!

Right in our own backyard! I think he was swooping in under our bird feeder to see if he could find any stragglers to eat!

It was hard to miss with that red eye and almost entirely gray body! What a beauty. My treasure in plain sight for the week.

Oh, and this, too! Barely the size of my little finger nail.

Not spring yet, but temperatures warming considerably this week!

Posted on in Challenge, Faith, Just do it, Listen, Obedience, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Surrender, Yield

Lenten Season

The season in the church calendar called Lent is here! It does not have to be all prune-faced dislike. In an effort to draw closer to God, we can forsake (give up) something for this 40 days. I prefer to embrace something I have neglected. Confession of my sin can be one thing I tend to neglect.

Why should we have a time of self examination in the Christian church? This is one way to safeguard against delusion. A serious safeguard against just going through the motions of religion, “playing church.” Are we transparent in wanting to change our ways from self and flesh to God and the plan Christ laid out for His indwelling us? The powers of self examination and confession, forgiveness and redemption should not be underestimated.

The Book of Common Prayer has us confess “we have sinned against God in thought, word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone.” We then go on to acknowledge that “we have not loved God with our whole heart; and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.” And I also add I have not loved myself as God would want me to do.

It is important to stop there and ponder in what ways are these statements true? It is far too easy to memorize a prayer and blow past the significance of how these sentiments apply to us personally.

Stop. Ponder. Confess. Pray for forgiveness. There is not a single one of us who does not need this. We all fall short of God’s highest and best for us.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my thoughts. Psalm 139:23 NRSVUE

God asks us to search and know our own hearts, test and know our thoughts along with Him. This is our work as well as His. We are so easily deceived. We fool ourselves more often than we might think we do!

Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. 2 Corinthians 13:5a NRSVUE

As realization dawns upon you, write down what you see as your shortcoming, and acknowledge that you are out of line with God’s ways. Then tell God you are sorry and ask for help in changing your ways.

God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us. Yes, Lord! Perhaps you will embrace self examination and confession this Lent. One of our priests says her dad who was a priest used to tell people , “Have a miserable Lent!” I, too, hope that yours would be miserably holy. As we seek to draw closer to God we see how far we fall short of His likeness. Let God help you move closer to that goal of living holiness this season.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Faith, Just do it, Nature, Praise, Prayer, Rest, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Surrender, Trust, Yield

Imbibition Part 3

Are you feeding upon the Word of God? Are you seeking and drinking in Living Water? Are you thriving in the dark mess the world has become?

Part 3 addresses the How to live imbibition. It takes about 7 minutes to read. Hope you enjoy it.

PART 3 You might say, “Well, Molly, that is all very nice.  What am I to do to foster the growth of the Kingdom within me? You have no idea of the pressures upon me, I need a better job (or employment period).  The strain of what bad thing will happen next is about to break me.  I can’t get any rest. I am not a bean in a ship’s hold.”

First, in my experience, you must make reading the Word of God a major priority in your life.  Not a “religious” priority, but mandatory for health, oxygen, well-being. This is the only way we are going to make it through the coming darkness with dignity and grace.

NASB     Hebrews 4:12-13  For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. The Word of God has power. Power we might never understand fully this side of heaven.

As you yield yourself to the Lord God and yield to the power of His Word upon you, things will begin to change, inside you and about you.  Not necessarily big dramatic changes, (though those might occur also), but remember the man scattered seed. He went to bed and he got up and the seed grew HE KNEW NOT HOW. Yield yourself to scattering seed upon your own soul.  Make it a habit to allow the Kingdom of God room to have a place within you.  And you begin with the seeds. You do not have to understand how it works.  Just begin to do it. Ask for the Living Water to nourish the seeds you sow in your soul and mind.

            Second, you must ask Jesus to give you the things He promises in New Testament Scripture. We live under the New Covenant, the new plan He brought and established by His birth, life among us, death, resurrection, and ascension.  There are specific promises and blessings He promises to give us if we seek Him.  He will give those to you and He tells us to ASK and keep on asking. You will grow in the things of the Kingdom.  Do not ask me to explain to you how you will grow.  I do not understand the how, but I do understand the promise and the results.  He will give you living water to nourish the seed. You must be willing to consume, absorb, soak up that water.

More from The Living Earth book: “The power of imbibition is a common one in nature, and so is the reproduction of living cells.  Combine them, as in a growing plant, and there is a force which can move mountains or easily grow through a blacktop road.  A classic experiment in botany was once made with a growing squash plant to test the expansive power of cells.  The squash, while still on the vine, was tightly boxed in and weights were added to the framework to keep it enclosed.  At first, the young squash moved sixty pounds of weights; a month later two and one half tons were not enough to contain its power of growth.“

            Now that sounds like our life, huh?  See how much pressure you can put on (and did you notice the humor of what plant they tested, the SQUASH!) and the thing just keeps on growing and busting out!  Sounds like a little group in Jerusalem that the religious leaders could not make shut up after their Lord was crucified, died and rose again.  Jesus said He will be with us always, even to the end of the age.  He told us He and the Father would come to us and live within us.  He promised to send His Holy Spirit to guide us and be in us.  How can we go wrong with all of them helping us?

   Paul says in Colossians 1: 25-27 NIV   I have become its (the Church’s) servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness–the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

This mystery, oh this mystery that we so often belittle by wanting every detail explained.  Could you just go with the mystery this once and see where it takes you?  Could you risk it all and gain the Kingdom? Would you try once again to soak up, absorb, and consume the living water, and grow into His image in the Kingdom, the image He had in mind when He blew life into your being and wonder into your soul?

Perhaps Paul understood this better than any of us. NIV  1 Corinthians 3: 6-9 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.  For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

In the dispute that Paul was addressing, the watering and planting were attributed to different persons.  I believe that it would delight the Father’s heart if each person who reads this would determine in their heart to plant the seed of His Word in his or her own soul, soak and water that seed with living water until the Kingdom sprouts up with a force that can move mountains or burst through inches of blacktop.  For we are, indeed, His Temple and His Spirit wants to live in us.  “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16 If we believe Acts 17:28a “For in Him we live and move and have our being” then His Word must be life and breath to us.  We can share this life giving discipline with others. The more we grow, the more others will be drawn to His light and Life.

Yes, the darkness is getting darker and moving in upon the areas we thought would always surely remain bright.  However, we have a great High Priest who knows all that we go through.  (HEB 4:14-16)  He is just waiting for us to run to His throne room to find mercy and grace in time of need.  He wants to abide with us, in the quiet times as well as the turbulent hours.  Yield to His ways and find His quiet strength.  As you run to Him and yield to Him, even in the midst of great darkness, you will find Isaiah 61:11 becoming a reality in your daily life. 

For as the soil makes the sprout come up
    and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
    and praise spring up before all nations.

Constant fellowship with the Spirit, growing trust in the Son, and adoration of the Father will result in righteousness and praise springing forth from your lips and overflowing from your life.  Perhaps the river of living water in the depth of our being is a foretaste of the river of the water of life in Revelation 22:1 that issues from the Throne of God and of the Lamb! Even so, rule and reign in us, Christ Jesus, our King of kings and Lord of lords.

Fresh plant growing out of concrete
Posted on in Amazing Creations, Challenge, Faith, Praise, Prayer, Rest, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Surrender, Thanks, Worship, Yield

Imbibition Part 2

So I left off in Part 1 asking you to get into your Bible, feed on the Word of God. Part 2 is below. It takes about 6 minutes to read. I hope you find it interesting!

PART 2: Ponder that enduring and abiding Word, living and imperishable seed. Perhaps instead of being the farmer that scatters the seed, are we the ground where it grows? Now that seed was planted in each of us and Scripture says we do not know how it grows into a Kingdom.  That does not mean we are ignorant as to how to foster that growth and nurture its presence within us. “Oh, but I am so fearful.” The Word does not say to only grow when you have no fear, or when you are not too busy, or when it feels right to you. Your excuses are nothing new under the sun.  Trust me.  God has heard them all through every generation of human beings.  He will make a way for you to grow in His kingdom.

            This quote is from a book at the Cincinnati Nature Center Library Living Earth. At the time I copied the information I failed to write down the author, etc. The librarian at the Lloyd Library in Cincinnati was able to track it down for me. The book was written in 1959 by Peter Farb. I took the quote from the chapter entitled The World of the Root: “A blacktop road is often punctured by seedlings which have forced their way through three inches of asphalt. The force that allows them to grow through asphalt is what scientists call imbibition.  Take a substance that can absorb water, confine it in a narrow space, water it, and it will swell with power enough to split rocks.  Even a ship’s cargo of beans, if water reaches it, can expand and burst the hold.”  Imbibition: to consume, absorb, soak up [as in] water, heat and light.  Imbibition for the Christian would involve the Word of God, the imperishable seed by which we have been born anew into eternal life, living and growing within us through consuming, absorbing and soaking up …..what?

Plant growing out of concrete

            No plant can grow without water.  This very specific need for every seed has been known since men became gardener/gatherers.  Seeds need soil and water.  Today we are discovering that they can even do without soil if grown hydroponically.  However, that water is essential.  So where are we to get water?  Jesus knew we would ask that and He provided answers.  In John 4 He is speaking with the woman at the well. The NIV in verses 13-14 read

 “Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'” 

Here is a comparison chart of several translations.  Anyway you read it we will get very wet!

spring of water              welling up         (NIV)

well of water                 springing up      (NASB)

fountain of water           springing up      (NKJV)

spring of water              gushing up        (NRSV)

And in case we missed the point, He made it again at the Temple ceremony recorded in John 7: 38  NKJV as “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Okay, so where did Jesus get the idea for this seed and farmer parable in the first place?  Did someone just add this when stories were written down?  We don’t hear this taught very much! I was pleasantly surprised to have the following verse from Isaiah pointed out to me during morning reading one day.

Isaiah 61: 11 NIV For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

This comes after Jesus reads a portion of Isaiah in the Temple and then teaches them saying the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me to perform all kinds of deliverances and wonderful things. Today this is fulfilled in your hearing. Remember that Jesus read many of the same Old Testament books that you have access to today. 

I do not believe He was certain in His manhood HOW the Kingdom of God would be accomplished in every minute detail.  He was fully man and fully God.  As fully man how could He comprehend all of that?  I do not know, but I am willing to let that be folded up in mystery for now.  I do know Jesus taught this parable and it has meaning for us today.  He has made a way for us to be reborn through the imperishable seed of the Word, born into the Kingdom.  Although it is getting dark and scary out in the world, He continues to provide a way for our growth.  One of those ways is through a river of living water running through our spirit by His indwelling and abiding with us

The same Isaiah passage in NRSV reads “For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.” 

Now that will really be something!  As the darkness gets darker and the garden of God continues to grow, His crop will be righteousness and praise springing up before all the nations.  Righteousness and praise.  We should know by now that we have no righteousness of our own.  If you think you might have a smidgen of righteousness, show it to our Father.  He will inform you if it passes the Blood test of Jesus.  The Word teaches us that all Praise belongs to God.  Therefore, as this crop of righteousness and praise arises from God’s garden, the crop that will be harvested before the nations, it will surely be all about Jesus. (I have had a repeated experience while typing this of having to correct a typo – darknmess.  Well, it surely is a dark mess is it not?)

In ACTS 19:20 the NRSV reads:  “So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.”

Are you ready to take this challenge for growth and life and imbibition regardless of the rocks piled upon your box? Are you asking Father God for more of that Living Water? I will post Part 3 next week. It has a full explanation of Imbibition.