O Love that Wilt Not Let Me Go

My newest hymn obsession.

This is the version I like: 


This is the background, from the writer, George Matheson: 

My hymn was com­posed in the manse of In­ne­lan [Ar­gyle­shire, Scot­land] on the ev­en­ing of the 6th of June, 1882, when I was 40 years of age. I was alone in the manse at that time. It was the night of my sister’s mar­ri­age, and the rest of the fam­i­ly were stay­ing over­night in Glas­gow. Some­thing hap­pened to me, which was known only to my­self, and which caused me the most se­vere men­tal suf­fer­ing. The hymn was the fruit of that suf­fer­ing. It was the quick­est bit of work I ever did in my life. I had the im­press­ion of hav­ing it dic­tat­ed to me by some in­ward voice ra­ther than of work­ing it out my­self. I am quite sure that the whole work was com­plet­ed in five min­utes, and equal­ly sure that it ne­ver re­ceived at my hands any re­touch­ing or cor­rect­ion. I have no na­tur­al gift of rhy­thm. All the other vers­es I have ever writ­ten are man­u­fact­ured ar­ti­cles; this came like a day­spring from on high.

And here are the words: 

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red

Life that shall endless be. 

sparrow

I SO needed this tonight.

this song just makes me so happy.

LOVE them.

C.S. Lewis Song by Brooke Fraser

If I find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy,
I can only conclude that I was not made for here
If the flesh that I fight is at best only light and momentary,
then of course I'll feel nude when to where I'm destined I'm compared

Speak to me in the light of the dawn
Mercy comes with the morning
I will sigh and with all creation groan as I wait for hope to come for me

Am I lost or just found? On the straight or on the roundabout of the wrong way?
is this a soul that stirs in me, is it breaking free, wanting to come alive?
Cause my comfort would prefer for me to be numb
An avoid the impending birth of who I was born to become

For we, we are not long here
Our time is but a breath, so we'd better breathe it
And I, I was made to live, I was made to love, I was made to know you
Hope is coming for me
Hope, He's coming

playlist for novel-writing

I'm trying to write my first-ever novel! It's something I've always wanted to do, but I'm really truly pursuing it for the first time.

This is my ideal playlist for novel-writing:

1. Dare You to Move - Switchfoot
2. All We Are - Matt Nathanson
3. Chocolate - Snow Patrol
4. the Dance - Rachel Portman - Emma Soundtrack
5. Closer to Fine - Indigo Girls
6. Father I Adore You - Matt Brouwer
7. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
8. Falling Apart - Matt Nathanson
9. the Legend Spreads - James Horner - Braveheart soundtrack
10. Primavera Anticipada - Laura Pausini & James Blunt
11. Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee - Charlie Hall
12. If I Had Words - James Cromwell - Babe soundtrack
13. End Titles - Rachel Portman - Emma Soundtrack
14. Love Song for a Savior - Jars of Clay
15. Jesus Saves - Tim Hughes
17. End Credits - James Horner - the Braveheart Soundtrack
18. Everything - Lifehouse
19. O, For A Thousand Tongues to Sing - David Crowder
20. Be Thou My Vision - 4HIM
21. Sooner Surrender - Matt Nathanson
22. Ode to Joy - Beecham Choral Society
23. the Homecoming - George Fenton - Ever After Soundtrack
24. Outlawed Tunes on Outlawed Pipes - James Horner - Braveheart Soundtrack
25. Jesus Paid it All - Kristian Stanfill
26. Paperback Writer - the Beatles
27. Love Me Do - the Beatles
28. the Holly and the Ivy - George Winston

On a different and unrelated note - if anyone knows any good websites with eighteenth-century slang, let me know! :)

Shadowfeet

"Shadowfeet" by Brooke Fraser

Walking, stumbling on these shadowfeet
Toward home, a land that I've never seen
I am changing
Less and less asleep
Made of different stuff than when I began
And I have sensed it all along
Fast approaching is the day

When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
When the sky rolls up and mountains fall on their knees
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you

There's distraction buzzing in my head
Saying in the shadows it's easier to stay
But I've heard rumours of true reality
Whispers of a well-lit way

When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
When the sky rolls up and mountains fall on their knees
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you

You make all things new

When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
Every fear and accusation under my feet
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you

if I had words

I have been learning a great deal about the grace of God lately. There is a scene from the movie Babe that I think expresses it quite profoundly (and always makes me cry).

Babe is depressed after learning of his potential fate as pork or bacon, and his owner, Farmer Hoggett, notices that he isn't eating. Trying but failing to feed Babe, Hoggett begins, haltingly, to sing a song:

"If I had words to make a day for you
I'd sing you a morning, golden and true
I would make this day last for all time
Then fill the night deep in moonshine"

At first, the song is quiet and almost awkward, but a beautiful Irish-sounding melody beings to play in the background, and Hoggett, who has scarcely spoken 5 words throughout the movie, begins to dance around the room, almost shouting the words to the song, his lively display almost embarrassing to the viewer. Babe, seeing Hoggett's love for him and hope in his recovery, begins to hope again and is able to eat at last.

I feel pretty silly for loving this scene so much, but it speaks so clearly of the grace of God to me! I, like Babe, have felt the weight of condemnation, of my fate without God, and my legalistic side loves to remind me of the fact that I fall so short of God's perfect standard. When I am in that state of mind, God is merely a divine Master to me, the personification of a goal I will never achieve, a never-ending purveyor of "should"s.

The catalyst of this scene, though, is that Hoggett doesn't force Babe to eat or to "snap out of it." Instead of lecturing Babe on the value of proper eating habits, Hoggett invites him to eat by simply singing a song. By expressing his vitality and joy through his song, Hoggett shows Babe how much he wants him to have this same joy. There is also a fundamental shift in the relationship between Babe and Hoggett; Babe becomes a friend instead of a mere animal to Hoggett, and Hoggett looks at Babe almost as a father would his lost son.

In the same way, God does not force us to recognize His glory, or even acknowledge Him for that matter, but invites us into His life for us. Only when we hear of the hope He offers do we catch a glimpse of the life we could have with Him as our Friend and Father instead of Master.

This is what God has been teaching me lately. He offers me His grace gently, in bits small enough for me to swallow instead of overpowering me with a greater glimpse. He has been, to quote Nicholas Nickleby, "persuad[ing] me that I am safe." And I am slowly learning to trust in His goodness.

"The Lord your God is with you; He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing." -Zephaniah 3:17