“Written in Early Spring” by William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

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  I HEARD a thousand blended notes   While in a grove I sate reclined,  In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts  Bring sad thoughts to the mind.  To her fair works did Nature link  The human soul that through me ran;  And much it grieved my heart to think  What Man has made of Man.  Through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower,  The periwinkle trail’d its wreaths;  And ’tis my faith that every flower  Enjoys the air it breathes.  The birds around me hopp’d and play’d,  Their thoughts I cannot measure,—  But the least motion which they made  It seem’d a thrill of pleasure.  The budding twigs spread out their fan  To catch the breezy air;  And I must think, do all I can,  That there was pleasure there.  If this belief from heaven be sent,  If such be Nature’s holy plan,  Have I not reason to lament  What Man has made of Man?

Discipleship in the Face of Danger

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“Intrigue, innuendo, intimidation, insinuation, those constitute the discipline of danger. Our temptation is to turn from our task to untangle the intrigue, to take time to undo the innuendo, to flee from intimidation and to fight hidden insinuation. Our safety is in doing our duty (Nehemiah 2:3), in putting our trust in God (Neh. 6:9), in standing stedfast and immovable (Neh. 6:11) and in serving in silence. The result for us will be as it was with Nehemiah, ‘the wall was finished . . . our enemies . . . were much cast down in their own eyes; for the perceived that this work was wrought of our God.’ (Neh. 6:15-16). Danger feared is folly, danger faced is freedom.”


(Edman, V. Raymond. The Disciplines of Life. Scripture Press Foundation, 1948)

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