The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country” was his first popular story, written while in San Francisco. He then sailed to Palestine and wrote Innocents Abroad. While on this trip, he saw the picture of his friend’s sister, Olivia, and fell in love. Immediately upon his return, he met and married her, and, under her encouragement, his writing greatly improved. His name was Mark Twain, born this day, November 30, 1835. Regarding the Holy Land, Mark Twain wrote: “Our Saviour… spent His life, preaching His Gospel, and performing His miracles, within a compass no larger than an ordinary county of the United States.”

William J. Federer. American Minute

Quakers almost as good as colored.
They call themselves friends
and you can trust them every time.
--- Harriet Tubman


Our love to God is measured
by our everyday fellowship
with others and the love it displays.
--- Andrew Murray

... from here, there and everywhere

20     Do you see someone too anxious to speak?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.

                By the grace of God I am what I am

     His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain. --- 1 Cor. 15:10.

     The way we continually talk about our own inability is an insult to the Creator. The deploring of our own incompetence is a slander against God for having overlooked us. Get into the habit of examining in the sight of God the things that sound humble before men, and you will be amazed at how staggeringly impertinent they are. ‘Oh, I shouldn’t like to say I am sanctified; I’m not a saint.’ Say that before God; and it means—‘No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are chances I have not had; so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t possible.’ That may sound wonderfully humble before men, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.

     Again, the things that sound humble before God may sound the opposite before men. To say—‘Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified,’ is in the sight of God the acme of humility, it means you have so completely abandoned yourself to God that you know He is true. Never bother your head as to whether what you say sounds humble before men or not, but always be humble before God, and let Him be all in all.

     There is only one relationship that matters, and that is your personal relationship to a personal Redeemer and Lord. Let everything else go, but maintain that at all costs, and God will fulfil His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God’s purpose, and yours may be that life.

Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest

No one would know you had lived,
  but for my discovery
  of the anonymous undulation
  of your grave, like the early swelling
  of the belly of a woman
  who is with child. And if I entered
  it now, I would find your bones
  huddled together, but without
  flesh, their ruined architecture
  a reproach, the skull luminous
  but not with thought.

Would it help us to learn
  what you were called in your forgotten
  language? Are not our jaws
  frail for the sustaining of the consonants'
  weight? Yet they were balanced
  on tongues like ours, echoed
  in the ears' passages, in intervals when
  the volcano was silent. How
  tenderly did the woman handle
  them, as she leaned her haired body
  to yours? Where are the instruments
  of your music, the pipe of hazel, the
  bull's horn, the interpreters
  of your loneliness
  on this ferocious planet?

We are domesticating
  it slowly; but at times it rises
  against us, so that we see again
  the primeval shadows you built
  your fire amongst. We are cleverer
  than you; our nightmares
  are intellectual. But we never awaken
  from the compulsiveness of the mind's
  stare into the lenses' furious interiors.

R.S. Thomas, (Fayettesville: University of Arkansas Press), 1985.
The Poems of R.S. Thomas

      When the old Christendom spoke of the com­ing again of the Lord Jesus, it always thought first of all of a great day of judgment. And as un­Christmas-like as this idea may appear to us, it comes from early Christianity and must be taken with utter seriousness.... The coming of God is truly not only a joyous message, but is, first, frightful news for any­one who has a conscience. And only when we have felt the frightfulness of the matter can we know the incomparable favor. God comes in the midst of evil, in the midst of death, and judges the evil in us and in the world. And in judging it, he loves us, he puri­fies us, he sanctifies us, he comes to us with his grace and love. He makes us happy as only children can be happy.

     We have become so accustomed to the idea of divine love and of God's coming at Christmas that we no longer feel the shiver of fear that God's coming should arouse in us. We are indifferent to the message, taking only the pleasant and agreeable out of it and forgetting the serious aspect, that the God of the world draws near to the people of our little earth and lays claim to us.'

     Dietrich Bonhoeffer,
     The Coming of Jesus in Our Midst

     Go to  Luke 2:8-14   Click Here

God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas

     This ultimate perfection, however, pertains to you alone, no one else being associated in it with you in any way: “Let them be only your own, and so on.” Therefore you ought to desire to achieve this thing, which will remain permanently with you, and not weary and trouble yourself for the sake of others, O you who neglect your own soul so that its whiteness has turned into blackness through the corporeal faculties having gained dominion over it—as is said in the beginning of the poetic parables that have been coined for these notions; it says: “My mother’s sons were incensed against me; they made me keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard have I not kept.” It says on this very same subject: “Lest you give your vigor to others, and your years to the cruel.”

     Maimonides’ understanding of Jeremiah’s statement appears to support placing his first evaluation of morality within the context of guiding an individual away from what people ordinarily consider to be valuable:

     Consider how he mentioned them according to the order given them in the opinion of the multitude. For the greatest perfection in their opinion is that of “the rich man in his riches,” below him “the mighty man in his might,” and below him “the wise man in his wisdom.” [By the expression “the wise man in his wisdom,”] he means him who possesses the moral virtues; for such an individual is also held in high esteem by the multitude, to whom the discourse in question is addressed.

     Although the multitude lacks an appreciation for theoretical knowledge of God it is still able to value moral virtue. Men who value possessions and physical strength also can understand the social value of morality.

     However, once one has acquired knowledge of God, morality assumes a different meaning:

     It is clear that the perfection of man that may truly be gloried in is the one acquired by him who has achieved, in a measure corresponding to his capacity, apprehension of Him, may He be exalted, and who knows His providence extending over His creatures as manifested in the act of bringing them into being and in their governance as it is. The way of life of such an individual, after he has achieved this apprehension, will always have in view lovingkindness, righteousness, and judgment, through assimilation to His actions, may He be exalted, just as we have explained several times in this treatise.

Hartman, D. (2009). Maimonides: Torah and Philosophic Quest (See all Torah Books) .

     John Clough was called to the harvest field while working in one. He had grown up without religious inclinations, and in college seemed resistant to evangelistic efforts by friends. His roommate tried to read the Bible and pray with him each evening, but John, growing exasperated, drew a chalk line down the middle of the room, forbidding prayer or Scripture on his side of the line.

     But the Holy Spirit worked on his heart, and one evening, unable to study and overwhelmed with his need, he crossed the line and knelt by his roommate. Shortly after, hearing a missionary sermon, John wondered if God would have him overseas, and he applied. He was atop a four-horse reaper breaking off grain when a farmhand approached him with a letter from Boston. Clough wiped away his sweat and tore open the news from the Baptist Foreign Mission Board. “What do you know!” he shouted. “They want me to go to India as a missionary!”

     Missions officials wanted to send him to “Forlorn Hope”—Telugu, India—where 17 years of painful, plodding effort had produced no apparent results. On November 30, 1864 Clough and his wife sailed from Boston on a tiny ship, hardly seaworthy, called the James Guthrie. It rolled and pitched its way across the ocean, finally limping into India the following April. John, leaping into service, was immediately confronted with a dilemma. The higher caste of Indians refused to attend church with the lower caste and outcasts. Praying for wisdom, Clough randomly opened his Bible and read in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 of God choosing the lowly. Across the room at the same moment, his wife randomly opened her Bible to the same place. Clough, amazed, took it as divine guidance. He announced that all were welcome in his church, that he would not accept a segregated congregation.

     He started preaching, and conversions multiplied. Fifteen months later two Indian preachers stood in a river and began baptizing the converts. When they grew weary, other preachers relieved them. By five o’clock 2,222 had been baptized, and the baptisms continued for two more days.

     My friends, if you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, you won’t treat some people better than others. … God has given a lot of faith to the poor people in this world. He has also promised them a share in his kingdom that he will give to everyone who loves him.
--- James 2:1,5.

Morgan, R. J. On This Day 365 Amazing And Inspiring Stories About Saints, Martyrs And Heroes

     “See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah … has triumphed.…” Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain. --- Revelation 5:5–6.

     There meet in the person of Christ [other] diverse qualities that would have been thought incompatible in the same subject. (The Works of President Edwards: Treatise Concerning Religious Affections. Justification by Faith Alone. Pressing Into the Kingdom of God. Ruth's ... of Sinners. the Excellency of Jesus Christ)

     Supreme obedience with supreme dominion over heaven and earth. Christ is the Lord of all things in two respects: as God-man and Mediator, his dominion is appointed, having it by delegation from God. But he is Lord of all things in another respect; since he is (by his original nature) God, he is by natural right the Lord of all and supreme over all as much as the Father. Thus, he has dominion over the world in his own right.

     And yet in the same person is found the greatest obedience in the universe to the commands of God: “I do exactly what my Father commanded me” (John 14:31). Never anyone received commands from God of such difficulty and that were so great a trial of obedience as Jesus Christ. One of God’s commands to him was that he should yield himself to those dreadful sufferings that he underwent. And Christ was thoroughly obedient to this command of God: “He humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). Never was there such an instance of obedience in human or angel as this, though he was at the same time supreme Lord of both angels and humans.

     Absolute sovereignty and perfect submission. Christ, as he is God, is the absolute sovereign of the world, the sovereign disposer of all events. The decrees of God are all his sovereign decrees, and the work of creation and all God’s works of providence are his sovereign works. It is he who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.

     Yet Christ was the most wonderful instance of submission that ever appeared in the world. He was absolutely and perfectly submissive when he had a near and immediate prospect of his terrible sufferings and the dreadful cup that he was to drink. The idea and expectation of this made his soul sorrowful even unto death, putting him into such agony that his sweat was like drops of blood, falling to the ground. But in such circumstances he was wholly submissive to the will of God: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39); “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done” (v. 42).
--- Jonathan Edwards

Wallis, D. (2001). Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers

ST. ANDREW
YEARS 1 & 2

MORNING PRAYER

Psalms Psalm 34
Old Testament Isaiah 49:1–6
New Testament 1 Corinthians 4:1–16

Index of Readings

PSALMS
Psalm 34

Of David, when he feigned madness before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.

1 I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
3 O magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together.

4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Look to him, and be radiant;
so your faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD,
and was saved from every trouble.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 O taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him.
9 O fear the LORD, you his holy ones,
for those who fear him have no want.
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

11 Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Which of you desires life,
and covets many days to enjoy good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil,
and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil, and do good;
seek peace, and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the LORD is against evildoers,
to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears,
and rescues them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted,
and saves the crushed in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD rescues them from them all.
20 He keeps all their bones;
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil brings death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

OLD TESTAMENT
Isaiah 49:1–6

49 Listen to me, O coastlands,
pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The LORD called me before I was born,
while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me away.
3 And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the LORD,
and my reward with my God.”

5 And now the LORD says,
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honored in the sight of the LORD,
and my God has become my strength—
6 he says,
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

NEW TESTAMENT
1 Corinthians 4:1–16

4 Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. 4 I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.

6 I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, brothers and sisters, so that you may learn through us the meaning of the saying, “Nothing beyond what is written,” so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of one against another. 7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift? 8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we might be kings with you! 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals. 10 We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless, 12 and we grow weary from the work of our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day.

14 I am not writing this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me.

EVENING PRAYER

Psalms Psalm 96, 100
Old Testament Isaiah 55:1–5
New Testament John 1:35–42

Index of Readings

PSALMS
Psalm 96, 100

1 O sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples.
4 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be revered above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9 Worship the LORD in holy splendor;
tremble before him, all the earth.

10 Say among the nations, “The LORD is king!
The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
He will judge the peoples with equity.”
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13 before the LORD; for he is coming,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with his truth.

A Psalm of thanksgiving.

1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.

3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.

5 For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

OLD TESTAMENT
Isaiah 55:1–5

55 Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
5 See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.

NEW TESTAMENT
John 1:35–42

35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). 42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
The Episcopal Church. Book of Common Prayer Lectionary