Holy, as I suppose I dare to call you
without pretending to know anything about you
but infinite capacity everywhere & always
& in particular certain goodness to me.
Yours is the crumpling, to my sister-in-law terrifying thunder,
yours the candelabra buds sticky in Spring,
Christ’s mercy,
the gloomy wisdom of godless Freud:
yours the lost souls in ill-attended wards,
those agonized thro’ the world
It this instant of time, all evil men,
Belsen, Omaha Beach,—
incomprehensible to man your ways.
May be the Devil after all exists.
‘I don’t try to reconcile anything’ said the poet at eighty,
‘This is a damned strange world.’
Man is ruining the pleasant earth & man.
What at last, my Lord, will you allow?
Postpone till after my children’s deaths your doom
if it be thy ineffable, inevitable will.
I say ‘Thy kingdom come’, it means nothing to me.
Hast Thou prepared astonishments for man?
One sudden Coming? Many so believe.
So not, without knowing anything, do I.
― John Berryman
ROMANS 1:14-17
14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
THE PRAYER OF GENERAL CONFESSION
Almighty and most merciful Father; we have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done’ and there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou them, O God which confess their faults. Restore thou them that are penitent; according thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake; that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.
ART APPRECIATION
We see a light source from the left shining on Titus’ face. the light on his face is a great contrast to the rich browns of the habit and background. Titus was 19 years old when he posed for this portrait, and he has a thoughtful and pleasant look on his face. Sadly, Titus died at 27 years old.1
Rembrandt can Rijn (1606-1669) was born in the Netherlands and liked to draw as a young boy. He studied as an apprentice where he learned to make paints and to stretch canvasses. He began painting portraits, focusing on people’s clothing and gestures. He painted many portraits for wealthy people and was known for life-like reproductions. Rembrandt, like others in the Baroque age, worked with light and shadow to create dramatic scenes. Rembrandt obtained success and some wealth, but but later years were full of financial debt and sadness. In addition to the death of his wife, Saskia, only one of his four children with her lived to adulthood. This was his son Titus.2
MUSIC APPRECIATION
Meditation from Thaïs by Jules Massenet
This piece is a musical interlude that occurs in the middle of Act II of the opera Thaïs. The monk Anthanaël has just urged the beautiful and rich Thaïs to turn from her worldly life and devote herself to God for salvation. The Méditation is a time when Thaïs reflects on what he said. She then tells him that she will listen to him and turn to God.3
Jules Massenet (1842-1912) was the most prominent and prolific composer of French opera in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with more than 30 operas to his credit. Born the twelfth child in a typical bourgeois provincial family, Jules first studied piano with his mother. His skills were sufficient to be accepted by the Paris Conservatoire, where in 1859, he won first prize for piano performance. He spent his early adulthood giving lessons, providing entertainment at local cafés and playing timpani in the orchestra pits of the major opera houses.4
Providence School of Tifton 