Margaret’s Song

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  There was a king in Thule,  True even to the grave;  To whom his dying mistress  A golden beaker gave.  At every feast he drained it,  Naught was to him so dear,  And often as he drained it,  Gush’d from his eyes the tear.  When death came, unrepining  His cities o’er he told;  All to his heir resigning,  Except his cup of gold.  With many a knightly vassal  At a royal feast sat he,  In yon proud hall ancestral,  In his castle o’er the sea.  Up stood the jovial monarch,  And quaff’d his last life’s glow,  Then hurled the hallow’d goblet  Into the flood below.  He saw it splashing, drinking,  And plunging in the sea;  His eyes meanwhile were sinking,  And never again drank he. “Margaret’s Song” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) in “Faust. Part I.”

Using Incense in Worship

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A reader from Nigeria wrote with this question: "I am a catholic, I want to know the significance of incense during worship. Thank you."

The use of incense is found in the Bible, and is symbolic of things we offer to God. There are passages in scripture that describe prayer as being incense before God. The fellowship of God's people (I am summarizing) has been called "a sweet smell" to God. 2 Corinthians 2:15 says that we are the fragance or aroma, an agreeable smell of sacrifice ("incense," if you will) of Christ to God!

There is nothing magical or extra-spiritual about using incense. If you chose to use it, then enjoy God in Christ Jesus as you do so!




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