March 17th, 2008
While I am all for drinking Guinness on St. Pat’s Day (or on any day for that matter!), I think if we raise a toast at all, we should raise it the the man himself…St. Patrick! The one who, with the power of God’s Holy Spirit, brought the hope of Christ to the celtic people, who previously were rejected by the institutional Roman church, (who really wants to be a part of that anyway!) and in turn basically…long story short, saved civilization! So raise your glass today not in honor of yourself or your own pleasure, but in honor of a man who gave his life to bring the hope and love of God to a people that no one else wanted or cared for. So in honor of Patrick, I have posted ‘Patrick’s Breastplate’, which was the prayer he prayed daily before going out. May it bring you hope in your own life as you repeat the words, and my God bless you this day and everyday. May it bring you comfort in a time of need and may it bring you joy in a time of sorrow! Today, St. Patrick, we raise a pint to you…in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!! Slainté!
Patrick’s Breastplate
I rise today in power’s strength, invoking the Trinity,
believing in threeness, confessing the oneness,
of creation’s Creator.
I rise today in the power of Christ’s birth and baptism,
in the power of His crucifixion and burial,
in the power of His rising and ascending,
in the power of His descending and judging.
I rise today in the power of the love of cherubim,
in the obedience of angels, and service of archangels,
in hope of rising to receive the reward,
in the prayers of patriarchs, in the predictions of prophets,
in the preaching of apostles, in the faith of confessors,
in the innocence of holy virgins, in the deeds of the righteous.
I rise today in heavens might,
in sun’s brightness, in moon’s radiance,
in fire’s glory, in lightning’s quickness,
in wind’s swiftness, in sea’s depth,
in earth’s stability, in rock’s fixity.
I rise today with the power of God to pilot me,
God’s strength to sustain me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look ahead for me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to protect me,
God’s way before me,
God’s shield to defend me,
God’s host to deliver me:
from snares of devils,
from evil temptations,
from nature’s failings,
from all who wish to harm me,
far or near,alone or in a crowd.
May Christ protect me today
against poison and burning,
against drowning and wounding,
so that I may have abundant reward;
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me;Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me;
Christ to the right of me, Christ to the left of me;
Christ in my lying, Christ in my sitting, Christ in my rising;
Christ in the heart of all who think of me.
Christ on the tongue of all who speak of me,
Christ in the eye of all who see me,
Christ in the ear of all who hear me.
I rise today in power’s strength, invoking the Trinity,
believing in threeness, confessing the oneness, of creation’s Creator
For to the Lord belongs salvation,
and to the Lord belongs salvation,
and to Christ belongs salvation,
May Your salvation, Lord, be with us always.
Posted in Celtic, God, Life and Culture, living, prayers, readings | | No Comments »
February 10th, 2008
some good thoughts from singer/songwriter Michael Card-
From “In The Studio with Michael Card”
Mysteries
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my
ways,” declares the Lord.
|| Isaiah 55:8 || NLT ||
I used to think that mysteries existed only to be solved. When I
heard someone refer to the mystery of Christ, I assumed that Christ
was a mystery only to nonbelievers. I have since learned that the
mystery of Christ is reserved for those who do believe. To “know” the
mystery of Christ is to realize that it is indeed just that, a
mystery.
To represent faith in Jesus merely as something we come to
understand and accept is to rob it of the mystery of being in
relationship with something infinitely bigger and wiser than we are.
His ways are not our ways, the prophet Isaiah tells us.
Mystery is not a category only for the spiritually elite, secret
knowledge reserved for the members of the deeper life club. The
mysteries of faith in Christ are for everyone who claims to be in
relationship with him. The basic trusth of Christianity are
mysteries, not understandable, not “our ways”: the virgin birth of
Jesus, the Trinity, grace, prayer, the union of the believer with
Christ, the cross, and perhaps most mysterious, and key to them all,
the incarnation
Posted in God, Life and Culture, passages, random thoughts | | No Comments »
January 19th, 2008
ok… so I realized that it has been months since I have written anything on my blog! at first I thought to myself ‘what a slacker’, but then I realized that I have just been so busy working that I haven’t had the time to blog at all or even hardly think about something worth blogging about! what is even crazier is that I am at work right now writing this ony iPhone, which I only justified getting because I used Christmas gift cards to buy. anyways, my hope is that I will try not to be as busy, for various important reasons, but also. I a going to try to write more in the next year. it is somewhat therapuetic to write. in fact, there are many things that I want to take more time to do this year that have kind of taken a back burner… such as: creating and recording my music; playing out at various venues; hiking with my family; biking with my family; doing lots of stuff with my family, etc! well, realizing all this will set some change into motion. peace out!
Posted in just random | | 2 Comments »
December 3rd, 2007
I can’t believe someone was able to drive right in and take a trailer load!! The other workers must have been drinking to much of their own product on the job to miss that one! What I don’t understand is why he needed the budweiser…what a waste! He could have gotten 180 more kegs of Guinness instead! Very funny story:
Dublin thief seizes 180 Guinness kegs
Lone robber seizes nearly $100,000 worth of Ireland’s trademark beer
Reuters
updated 11:51 a.m. ET, Thurs., Nov. 29, 2007
DUBLIN, Ireland - A thief made off with 180 kegs of Guinness beer
after smoothly driving into the Dublin brewery, which makes the black
stout and snatching a trailer load of drink, police said Thursday.
The incident took place Wednesday at the Guinness brewery on the
banks of Dublin’s River Liffey where Ireland’s trademark tipple has
been brewed for almost 250 years.
The lone raider’s haul also contained 180 kegs of Budweiser and 90
barrels of Carlsberg lager, police said.
“A man drove into the yard in a truck and took a trailer containing
the drink which has an estimated value of 64,000 euros ($94,770),” a
police spokesman said.
here is the link
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November 16th, 2007
some great lyrics from a glen philips tune that i was listening to… thought i would post a link to a video of him playing this song with the lyrics below:
my darkest hour
If I lose my faith
Just remind me, just remind me
When my shadow’s longer
Stay beside me till it’s brighter
How easy I forget
How beautiful to see you once again
In my darkest hour I will be freed
When I close my eyes
I hope to find you, I hope to find you
When I leave my body
I want to be ready, willing like you were
I sat beside you then
I felt the warmth as it left your hands
In my darkest hour I will be freed
I’ve been waiting so long
That waiting was the end
Let this sleeper awaken again
In my darkest hour I will be freed
Posted in God, Life and Culture, just random, music, poetry | | No Comments »
