words.

"my heart is astir with gracious words; i speak my poem to my King..."

the Word wraps itself and manifests itself amid human bone and sinew.

we are born into LIVING HOPE.

we shout. we sing. we dance and leap for joy.

the time has come.
the kingdom is near.
the whole earth is filled with the brightness of His glory.

Blessed are You, Oh Lord our God, who causes salvation to flourish.

kotel. jerusalem.

discoveries.

"Beloved, you can bear me witness that, when you have had sad discoveries of your own heinous guilt, you have been deeply humbled. Sometimes, your good works have been a great evil to you, because you have prided yourself upon them, and so brought yourself to the edge of the precipice of presumption. But manifestations of your guilt, brought home to your conscience by God’s Spirit, have been of essential service to you, by teaching you not to be high-minded, but rather to fear, and to remember that your standing in grace is not of yourself, and: therefore you must not boast. That is another good reason, if there were no other, why we may bless God for showing us our own iniquity."

-c.h. spurgeon.

a legend.

"Clothed in the mantle of the prophets, young Elisha assembled the villagers and told them a strange and disturbing tale: he had just seen his master flying off -- alive in a fiery chariot, straight up to heaven, never to return.
Except for the children, the village did not believe him. So he began again. For the children."

-elie wiesel.

let me.

"I no longer ask You for either happiness or paradise; all I ask of You is to listen and let me be aware of Your listening."

-elie wiesel.

earnest. reverent. devoted.

"Revelation begins with God, the fountain of all truth. We must remember that the reception comes in two ways. It comes from earnest seeking. God gave men minds and it is often through our minds that he speaks to us. Certainly he does not grant his truth to the man who is too lazy to think. It comes from reverent waiting. God sends his truth to the man who not only thinks strenuously, but waits quietly in prayer and in devotion. But it must be remembered that prayer and devotion are not simply passive things. They are dedicated listening for the voice of God."

-william barclay.

holy, holy, holy.

א בִּשְׁנַת-מוֹת הַמֶּלֶךְ עֻזִּיָּהוּ, וָאֶרְאֶה אֶת-אֲדֹנָי יֹשֵׁב עַל-כִּסֵּא רָם וְנִשָּׂא; וְשׁוּלָיו, מְלֵאִים אֶת-הַהֵיכָל.

In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated upon a high and lofty throne, the skirts of His robe filled the temple.

ב שְׂרָפִים עֹמְדִים מִמַּעַל לוֹ, שֵׁשׁ כְּנָפַיִם שֵׁשׁ כְּנָפַיִם לְאֶחָד: בִּשְׁתַּיִם יְכַסֶּה פָנָיו, וּבִשְׁתַּיִם יְכַסֶּה רַגְלָיו--וּבִשְׁתַּיִם יְעוֹפֵף.

Seraphs stood in attendance on Him. Each of them had six wings: with two he covered his face and with two he covered his legs, and with two he would fly.

ג וְקָרָא זֶה אֶל-זֶה וְאָמַר, קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת; מְלֹא כָל-הָאָרֶץ, כְּבוֹדוֹ.

And one would call to the other, 'Holy, holy, holy! the LORD of hosts! His presence fills all the earth!'

ד וַיָּנֻעוּ אַמּוֹת הַסִּפִּים, מִקּוֹל הַקּוֹרֵא; וְהַבַּיִת, יִמָּלֵא עָשָׁן.

The doorposts would shake at the sound of the one who called, and the House kept filling with smoke.

ה וָאֹמַר אוֹי-לִי כִי-נִדְמֵיתִי, כִּי אִישׁ טְמֵא-שְׂפָתַיִם אָנֹכִי, וּבְתוֹךְ עַם-טְמֵא שְׂפָתַיִם, אָנֹכִי יוֹשֵׁב: כִּי, אֶת-הַמֶּלֶךְ יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת--רָאוּ עֵינָ.

I cried, 'Woe is me; I am undone! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; Yet my own eyes have beheld the King LORD of hosts.

-isaiah 6.