O Man Greatly Loved!

'The Angel of the LORD said to me, “Daniel, you are a man treasured and esteemed by God..."

I said, "I am filled with anguish... and I am very weak. My strength is gone, and I can hardly breathe.”

Then the Angel touched me again, “O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.” And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened...'

~ The Book of Daniel (BIBLE)

O MAN, GREATLY LOVED!

(Based on the prophet Daniel's encounter with the Angel)

"O man greatly loved!", was Daniel hailed,
In most solemn and earnest tones;
An Angel's greeting- not to be lightly weighed,
But the message in truth, was God's very own!

Did that divine being, so glorious, wise,
Whose vision had seen such ethereal sights!
Gaze with incredulous eyes upon this trembling man,
Who lay fallen to the ground in pitiable plight?

Rendered mute by anguish and terror,
Drained of all strength and beset with weakness!
Was the God of the heavens driven by error,
To esteem so highly such mortal frailness?

But in those eyes, the man was given his true worth,
By the inscrutable love God possessed for him;
Could it be wonder etched upon that angelic visage,
As he marveled at the mortal's great privilege?

"Greatly beloved, most treasured and esteemed..."
Like melodious music ringing in Daniel's ears!
As his lost strength came back to him,
All divinely imparted to expel many fears!

Think of how they fed his parched, lonely heart,
Thirsty for some faint avowal of love,
As his being warmed and thrilled in every part,
Oh to think he was so dearly loved above!

But Daniel's ancient dream is my own today,
And those dear and favored words
When weary and faint, are often spoken my way!
"Bought with His blood, beloved of God's..."

And just like Daniel of old, my strength is restored,
When I recall how greatly loved I am by God;
And today to you, this infinite love beckons,
From a rugged Cross to eternity beyond!

THE VOICE OF THE EPOCHS

Writer's Note: The poem is narrated by the multitudes of men and women who lived during different eras of history, united in a single voice as they look upon the present age and its people. They pronounce a message of warning to consider both the temporality of human civilization and the immortality of the soul.

From the past surges of shifting historic tides, 
Of old aeons of eras now outrun by time,
We are the voice of those who outlived the ages, 
Both rulers and subjects of each epoch's stride,
For though transient they flourished and were gone,
We who bore love, stroked pain and joy in its midst,
Who sucked its rich bounties and its affliction bred,
In spite of its extinguished passing still live!

We lived in a delusion, a beautiful mirage,
Secured for a fleeting moment, humored by time,
And within its deceptive favour, indulged our lust,
For wealth, fame and the quenching of our greed,
As we embarked on frenzied, eager hunts,
For life's enticing offerings that dealt their curses too,
And the echoes of our voices resounding through time,
To a careful ear, whispers the harsh lessons of yore!

Thus from the opposing banks of time, mediated
With impassable expanse that the two binaries divide,
We look upon the present, brightened in temporal rays,
With immortal men who like us, render their tunes,
Strains that are played from the harps of their souls,
To add to the song that births that mortal age,
Till one day they find the zeniths of its glory gone, 
And stripped of its adornments, they stand alone!

Just as we lived in illusion of ceaseless perpetuity, 
And who our labours spent to its regal dominion,
Thought that ours was the crown of man's evolution,
So the present ages dance to their own praise,
And with grave solemnity orchestrate its sham,
As if the grand monuments they raise will last,
For the epochs lie dead, exhausted of spirit and life, 
While its legion multitudes await an unforeseen fate!

THE FRIENDSHIP OF THE LORD

*Script of a message delivered in Anderson Hall, MCC

Hymn:

'What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear…'

Bible passage:

Who is the man who fears the LORD?

Him will he instruct in the way that He should choose…

The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear Him,

and he makes known to them the secrets of His covenant.

~ Psalm 25: 12,14

Message:

When I first came across this verse, a particular phrase stood out to me- "the friendship of the Lord". To me, it seemed to be something infinitely precious, a great privilege and honor, to have "the friendship of the Lord". Friendship indicates a deep, intimate relationship or bond between equals. And for us, mere mortal beings, to be able to enjoy such intimacy and closeness with the God of all the universe is a marvel and wonder that leaves me, when I ponder over it, in grateful awe.

Again in the book of Daniel, this is how the Angel of God greets a weak and trembling Daniel, "O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you." Again God is extending to this mere human being, an assurance of his friendship and a desire for closeness. He is speaking, not from a place of stern authority, but with deepest tenderness and sympathy.

Sometimes, we forget that our faith is not a cold & dead religion. And our relation to God is not one dictated by fear and compulsion. As is written in 1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." We have the privilege of enjoying a loving, intimate friendship with God that has the potential to be purer and deeper than any of our human relationships. We have Christ, that "Friend who sticks closer than a brother", who himself suffered and died on the Cross to enable us to draw close to God. So after His resurrection, He was able to say "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." 

Though the world often sees and speaks of our faith as a religion or ideology, it is actually so much more than that. Unlike the many false religions of the world, our faith is based on a relationship of love, trust and intimacy between each of us and God, our Father, Friend and Saviour. Soren Kierkegaard once wrote, "The act of faith by which a man accepts Christ's grace has an intensely individual character. As if there were not a single other soul on earth, I and He must meet, and in solitude as deep as that of death, each man for himself must yield to incarnate love, and receive eternal life! 

Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know!" Let us call out to God and draw near to Him, so that He will draw near to each of us. Strive to cultivate a personal relationship with Christ and to grow in such closeness and intimacy with Him, that at the end of your life, there will be nothing but a mere breath separating you from God. As a hymn writer wrote long ago, 

"Here, O my soul, thy trust repose;

If Jesus is for ever mine,

Not death itself, that last of foes,

Shall break a union so divine!"

The Interlude

What is an 'Interlude'?

• An intervening or interruptive period, space or event.

• A musical composition inserted between parts of a longer composition, drama or religious service.

In His love, He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world…(Ephesians 1:4)

You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward You will take me into glory.(Psalm 73:24)

The Interlude of our Lives

From eternity to eternity I was alive, 
In Your all-perceiving infinite eye, 
When in secret You formed my inmost soul,
Woven intricately and wonderfully whole.

My being was not hidden from God,
Never separate, nor far from His thoughts,
I was destined to abide beneath His wing,
In close, intimate communion with the King.

And this short life I now live is an interlude,
An intervention that would briefly intrude,
Upon that eternity without beginning or end, 
Where all divine mysteries we might comprehend.

This world is but a dividing period or space,
For all its grand illusions and boastful ways,
A rusting, temporal dimension inserted,
Into the unfathomable infinite, lying uncharted.
 
Where the Creator dwells in unapproachable light,
An unfading glory too blinding for mortal sight,
And all great, unsearchable things lie revealed,
In this domain beyond what man has seen or conceived.

Inside space, time has a beginning and end,
Where to its laws all creatures and events bend,
And the drama of humanity occurs in acts and scenes,
Unfurling themselves in orderly sequence.

So each man's time spent within its bounds,
Is an interlude set into the infinite that surrounds,
For in the depths of each immortal, precious heart,
God has placed eternity- the longing for a realm apart.

That man might learn through toil and suffering,
The wisdom and character that is God's highest calling,
And seek his Creator, obey His command,
Love without seeing, and in faith understand.

To such a man is extended in even greater love,
God's powerful yet tender hand, from above,
When he at his last, shuddering breath,
Is lifted up into glory to savor heaven's wealth!

And so my own interlude I live in eternity's light,
This short period away from God and celestial delight,
Until He reaches out His hand and bids me arise,
To drop my cross and follow Christ to paradise!

This poem was inspired by a post (August 8, 2021) written by Kayla Duerler's mother on the Instagram page @she_had_no_regrets . Kayla was a young American girl who died in a car accident in 2018 at the age of just 16. Both of us would have been the same age now. Her life and legacy has been immortalized in a book written by her mother, 'SHE HAD NO REGRETS: The Life of a Girl Who Knew Who She Was'. 

The Philosophizing Fool

The philosophizing fool, sits quietly alone,

In the midst of all the sane masses, 

So out of place, spoiling the landscape,

Like a dot of grey already fading away,

Into the splash of colors, so vivid and alive,

Appealing to base passions, senses, the eye.

The world that's left is of such a kind,

All noise, flamboyance and lies,

And that little speck of black and white,

Poor fool who still dares to philosophize,

Grows fainter and feebler, pulled back,

Into the vortex of time, another distant age,

Where he might hope to belong.

But though he is trampled and overrun, 

By the streaks and splashes of color,

The philosophizing fool is trapped in time,

And space, and there is no sign of escape,

Though again the perplexed misfit asks himself, 

What he is doing and where he is going!

Buried deep within his cavern mind,

Are such rich and earnest thoughts, 

Fancies, reveries that take upward flights 

Into the heights of wisdom and its light,

But of what use is this inexplicable gift?

To render the fool unknowable?

And all his futile philosophizing, unsearchable?

For none have use or want for it -

All the wealth he has and yearns to give!

(Not complete)

August 21, 2022

THE BOOK ONLY I HAVE READ

 

Dedicated to my mother

How do I help you understand

A pain you have never endured?

This book of suffering that I hold-

I was forced to read, to devour,

Ever since my earliest remembrance;

Pages worn and weathered with use,

Its words imprinted upon my soul,

Etched in ink that pierced so deep,

That its traces can never be erased;

Sometimes it seems my mind, my heart-

Have been molded against my will

To suit this book’s strange design.

And you who love me so tenderly,

Who long for all life’s joys to be mine,

Yet from your words and your counsel,

I grieve at how little you understand;

Oh how for long years you struggled!

To ease my distress, bind my wounds;

Yet the blood seeped through your fingers,

Till your loving but weary hands finally froze!

And even now, I see I cause you pain,

But the old book is still sealed to your gaze;

And how can I demand that you understand,

A story you have never held in your hands?

LET THE MIND BE OF ALL FETTERS FREED!

By a babble of upraised voices the world is charged today,
Impassioned, resolute pronouncements of purpose,
That with indignant mouths they made,
Heated with the burning zeal of conviction, 
As they silence all dissent in aggrieved condemnation,
Kept ablaze by the incessant storms of revival, 
That intrude all prospects of a calm expiration,
As a new judgement or a fresh notion,
Indulge their hungry minds which feed and prey,
Obsessively upon that which they esteem to be,
The height of man's enlightened refinement!

But be warned of their mystifying might,
And keep discerned watch over heart and mind,
For in their huge strength of multitude and rife,
They resemble the air that you breathe for life,
A blanket of pervasive presence that you cannot avoid,
Except by a fierce independence of mind,
For in the dogged march of their thought and aim,
They will devour the free plains that your minds graze,
And trap reason in the confining loops of their convictions,
Until your thoughts can but churn within its fetters,
And you cannot perceive a different way!

If your body you would not give to be caged,
Why so meekly accede your mind to a foreign reign,
For we know not what rich prospects we surrender,
Of liberation of reason, thought and mind,
By this benevolent acceptance of all persuasion;
Rather, guard the distinctiveness of your mind,
And defend your grand power of sovereign thought,
Let your voice not echo, but burst forth like thunder,
Bold and alone above the throngs of synchronous murmurs,
And let your words not shine with reflected light, 
But like the stars, glow in poised and 
compelling solitude.