By Faith Alone
Midi music (click on title):
Amazing Grace, Hosanna(traditional), Hosanna(rock), Impossible Dream, Jesus Christ Superstar
By Eunice Soper
"Following The Light"
Two young men and their guide were exploring the depths of Oregon Caves. The main cave was well lighted, for it is open to the public and must be safe for tourists who are unacquainted with caves and their dangers.
As they approached the deepest part of the cave the guide turned out the lights, one by one. Oh, how dark it was -- as near to total darkness as a human being could wish to experience. The little group felt as if the darkness were pressing upon them. The awful thought "What if the lights won't come on again?" came to their minds. Terror shot through them, in spite of the guide's reassuring words.
After a few minutes the guide said, "Close your eyes, while I turn on the lights." They did so, and the first burst of light seemed like the blaze of the sun to their eyes now accustomed to the darkness. One by one each light was turned on, and the surroundings were once more visible.
What a feeling of relief went over the explorers! How they appreciated that wonderful light that made their path through the cave bright and easy. Without it they would have stumbled and fallen, perhaps into one of the many dark crevasses.
In today's text the psalmist rejoices in the Word of God that directs the way he travels. It goes before him, as a guide carrying a light, showing him the smoother places in the path, guiding him around obstacles, and away from dangers, until he reaches a safe haven. As long as the light is followed faithfully, the follower is safe. The danger lies in not trusting oneself to the leading of the light from God's Word.
God has given us the light in His Word that we need to take us safely through this life to an ultimate home with Him throughout eternity, but we will have to acquire that light through study and prayer. Then we must faithfully follow it. If we do not trust our lives fully to the light that is thrown on our pathway, or if we fail to use the light He has given, then we will surely fail to reach our goal. It is up to us whether we want to travel life's pathway with the aid of the light of God's Word or whether we want to stumble along in darkness.
Let us resolve to allow His Word to guide our feet today.
Many years ago a man was to climb the long, circling staircase of Bunker Hill Monument. He had been given a tiny lamp, which was the source of his complaint.
"I need a bigger light," he objected. "This one is so little that I can see only a step or two at a time. I can't see the top at all."
"We don't have a light here that is strong enough to shine clear to the top," reasoned the guard, patiently. "Besides, you are going to climb only one step at a time, so your small lamp will be sufficient," he added.
The climber thought it over, and with a grin accepted the lamp and started the climb.
This pictures our experience. God gives us light enough for one step at a time and our faith accepts it. We can advance spiritually only one step at a time, so we need faith and light enough for just that one step.
God could give us light and faith enough to carry us all the way to the end of our lives. But if He did, we might be like the Mid-western-born traveler who drove down his first mountain road at night. He could not see the tightness of the curves nor the steepness of the precipices, so he was not frightened. He stayed in the valley that night, and the next morning, as he looked up over the road he had traveled in the darkness the night before, he trembled with fear. Turning to a friend, he said, "If I could have seen that road last night, I would never have dared to drive over it."
So God in his goodness allows us to see only one step at a time, lest we be bewildered and frightened by steps which when taken one at a time will be perfectly safe, and will not frighten us at all.
God will prepare a beautiful city: New Jerusalem, the center of God's universe, and the capital of the new earth. He will also recreate the earth that has been so marred by the sin of ages. It will again have its Edenic beauty, with rolling hills carpeted with green, and topped with waving trees. Crystal streams will flow. There will be wide plains and lofty mountains. And in the midst of this beauty God's people will make their home.
No more will the earth be marred by sandy wastelands, for "the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." No more will there be weeds and thorns, but "instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree." No more will men struggle to build homes only to lose them to storm, fire, or creditors. No more will they plant gardens and vineyards only to have them destroyed or taken by someone else, for "they shall not labour in vain," and "Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands."
It will not be a place for idleness, for "they shall build houses... and they shall plant vineyards." But all our work will not be physical either, for there "every faculty will be developed, every capacity increased. The acquirement of knowledge will not weary the mind or exhaust the energies. There the grandest enterprises may be carried forward, the loftiest aspirations reached, the highest ambitions realized; and still there will arise new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend, fresh objects to call forth the powers of mind and soul and body." [The Great Controversy, p. 677]
There will be time and plenty of opportunity for exploration, for "unfettered by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to worlds afar.... With unutterable delight the children of earth enter into the joy and wisdom of unfallen beings."
There we will be able to see firsthand the glory of God's creation -- "suns and stars and systems, all in their appointed order circling the throne of Deity." It will be a busy life, but eternity will not be too long for us to see and do all the things that will be opened to our hearts and minds.
Heaven will be a delight to you, for with minds untrammeled by mortality, sickness, or sin, you will find an eternity of things to do, and an eternity to do them in.
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"Religion is a unique force in society. It promotes both good and evil. Historically, it has helped to abolish slavery. It has promoted racial integration, equal rights for women, and equal rights for gays and lesbians. It has motivated individuals to create massive support services for the poor, the sick, the hurting, and the broken. Conversely, it has been used to justify slavery, racial segregation, oppression of women, discrimination against homosexuals, genocide, extermination of minorities, and other horrendous evils." --
Religious Tolerance
"I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil. I am the Lord, that does all these things." Isaiah 45:6-7 Widely varied in size and structure, picturesque houses of worship cling throughout generations to Appalachia's hills and hollers. There's an echo of faith in everyday conversation and an ancient devotion steels residents in courage, humor and grace as they struggle with weather-related and man-made catastrophes. Eunice Soper has written many devotional books, mostly for children. Semi-retired from professional service worldwide for the Seventh Day Adventist Church, she and her husband, Francis, radiate peace, strength and practical good-heartedness from their adopted home in Virginia's central Shenandoah Valley. Sister Mary Rose McGeady, administrator of Covenant House, writes a very readable monthly on-line newsletter about her experiences with some of the 44,000 homeless and runaway children CH helps each year. Covenant House offers assistance, including food, clothing, medical aid, educational and vocational training and counseling, through shelters in 15 major cities. Their toll-free NINELINE (1-800-999-9999) connects children to counselors and resources in any area. "Love is the answer to the final question." -- Unknown. Spirit Web: Spiritual Consciousness on the WWW, a site maintained in Switzerland with copious worldwide links, introduces alternate and ancient paths of enlightenment which have become increasingly popular throughout this century, including within Appalachia. "The path of knowledge is that of the occultist and the sage; that of love is that of the mystic and the saint. The head or heart approach is 
not dependent upon the ray, for both ways must be known; the mystic must
become the occultist; the white occultist has been the saintly mystic.
True knowledge is intelligent love, for it is the blending of the
intellect and the devotion. Unity is sensed in the heart; its
intelligent application to life has to be worked out through knowledge."
-- Alice A. Bailey, A Treatise on White Magic, page 120; quote from The Feather of Maat and other words of wisdom
The Hindu Tantric Home Page explores the ancient, complex spiritual tradition of India. "And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.... Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them with a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.... that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth." -- Deuteronomy 11:13,14,18,21 
"Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit." Zechariah 4:1-6. Beth El Shaddai, a small Messianic Synagogue uniting Jews and Gentiles from Birmingham Alabama, updates their informational site weekly with pertinent Biblical history, feasts and holidays, and maintains related web links. "The [Japanese] Ninja that played an important role in the information battles upraised their abilities to the highest level by using the Ninpou they established. The Ninpou forming prompt actions and the toughest mental powers can also be a trustworthy guide to success.... The Iga Ninpou were developed in order to train the mind, techniques and body of the Ninja. Among the secrets that turned impossible into possible, there are relaxing techniques, health maintaining methods and healthy diets that all can be adapted to the lives of modern people. " -- The Truth of Iga Ninja "Mine is the secret that opens upon the door of youth and mine is the Cup of the Wine of Life and the Caldron of Cerridwen, which is the Holy Grail of Immortality. I am the Gracious Goddess who gives the gift of joy unto the heart of man upon earth. I give the knowledge of the Spirit Eternal, and beyond death I give peace and freedom and reunion with those that have gone before.... I who am the beauty of the Green Earth, and the White Moon amongst the stars and the mystery of the Waters, and the desire of the heart of man, I call unto thy soul to arise and come unto me. For I am the Soul of Nature who giveth life to the universe; from me all things proceed and unto me all things must return.... I have been with thee from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire." -- Book of Shadows |
Midi (click on title): "The Rose," Words & Lyrics by Amanda McBroomSome say love, it is a river that drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor that leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need.
I say love, it is a flower, and you it's only seed.
It's the heart, afraid of breaking, that never learns to dance
It's the dream, afraid of waking, that never takes a chance.
It's the one who won't be taken, who cannot seem to give.
And the soul, afraid of dyin', that never learns to live.
When the night has been too lonely, and the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong,
Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows,
Lies the seed, that with the sun's love, in the spring becomes
The Rose.
"My wish for all of you is that your Light may shine brightly and purely, that your Dark Nights of the Soul may bring you awareness and knowledge. That you may at the last find someone to take on your light and set you free." -- To Serve the Light, an address by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki.
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn seeks to unite Western abstract and esoteric traditions (e.g. Gnostic, Cabalistic, Masonic, Rosicrucian,...).
Word Preserve --
A Country Rag Index
By Faith Alone, text © Eunice Soper, 1999. All rights reserved.