It's not optional!

Spirituality is not something on the fringes, an option for those with a particular bent. None of us has a choice. Everyone has to have a spirituality and everyone does have one, either a life-giving one or a destructive one. No one has the luxury of choosing here because all of us are precisely fired into life with a certain madness that comes from the gods and we have to do something with that. We do not wake up in this world calm and serene, having the luxury of choosing to act or not act. We wake up crying, on fire with desire, with madness. What we do with that madness is our spirituality.—The Holy Longing, 6

Jerusalem the golden

529 Ewing. 7. 6. 7. 6. D.

1 Jerusalem the golden,
   With milk and honey blest!
   Beneath thy contemplation
   Sink heart and voice oppressed;
   I know not, O I know not
   What joys await us there;
   What radiancy of glory,
   What light beyond compare!

2 They stand, those halls of Zion,
   All jubilant with song,
   And bright with many an angel,
   And all the martyr throng;
   The Prince is ever in them,
   The daylight is serene;
   The pastures of the blessed
   Are decked in glorious sheen.

3 O sweet and blessed country,
   the home of God’s elect!
   O sweet and blessed country,
   that eager hearts expect!
   Jesus, in mercy bring us
   to that dear land of rest,
   Who art, with God the Father,
   and Spirit, ever blessed.
                         Bernard of Cluny (11th century)
                         Tr. by John M. Neale
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
This hymn, in various forms, appears in about 900 hymnals. Cyberhymnal lists a significant number of additional verses:

3. There is the throne of David,
   and there, from care released,
   The shout of them that triumph,
   the song of them that feast;
   And they, who with their Leader,
   have conquered in the fight,
   Forever and forever
   are clad in robes of white.

5. Brief life is here our portion,
   brief sorrow, short lived care;
   The life that knows no ending,
   the tearless life, is there.
   O happy retribution!
   Short toil, eternal rest;
   For mortals and for sinners,
   a mansion with the blest.

6. That we should look, poor wanderers,
   to have our home on high!
   That worms should seek for dwellings
   beyond the starry sky!
   And now we fight the battle,
   but then shall wear the crown
   Of full and everlasting,
   and passionless renown.

7. And how we watch and struggle,
   and now we live in hope,
   And Zion in her anguish
   with Babylon must cope;
   But he whom now we trust in
   shall then be seen and known,
   And they that know and see Him
   shall have Him for their own.

8. For thee, O dear, dear country,
   mine eyes their vigils keep;
   For very love, beholding,
   thy happy name, they weep:
   The mention of thy glory
   is unction to the breast,
   And medicine in sickness,
   and love, and life, and rest.

9. O one, O only mansion!
   O paradise of joy!
   Where tears are ever banished,
   and smiles have no alloy;
   The cross is all thy splendor,
   the Crucified thy praise,
   His laud and benediction
   thy ransomed people raise.

10. Jerusalem the glorious!
   Glory of the elect!
   O dear and future vision
   that eager hearts expect!
   Even now by faith I see thee,
   even here thy walls discern;
   To thee my thoughts are kindled,
   and strive, and pant, and yearn.

11. Jerusalem, the only,
   that look’st from heaven below,
   In thee is all my glory,
   in me is all my woe!
   And though my body may not,
   my spirit seeks thee fain,
   Till flesh and earth return me
   to earth and flesh again.

12. Jerusalem, exulting
   on that securest shore,
   I hope thee, wish thee,
   sing thee, and love thee evermore!
   I ask not for my merit:
   I seek not to deny
   My merit is destruction,
   a child of wrath am I.

13. But yet with faith I venture
   and hope upon the way,
   For those perennial guerdons
   I labor night and day.
   The best and dearest Father
   who made me, and who saved,
   Bore with me in defilement,
   and from defilement laved.

14. When in His strength I struggle,
   for very joy I leap;
   When in my sin I totter,
   I weep, or try to weep:
   And grace, sweet grace celestial,
   shall all its love display,
   And David’s royal fountain
   purge every stain away.

15. O sweet and blessèd country,
   shall I ever see thy face?
   O sweet and blessèd country,
   shall I ever win thy grace?
   I have the hope within me
   to comfort and to bless!
   Shall I ever win the prize itself?
   O tell me, tell me, Yes!

16. Strive, man, to win that glory;
   toil, man, to gain that light;
   Send hope before to grasp it,
   till hope be lost in sight.
   Exult, O dust and ashes,
   the Lord shall be thy part:
   His only, His forever
   thou shalt be, and thou art.

That's way too many verses for people to sing at one time! At least now, anyway. But it makes for good devotional reading...
</idle musing>

We intend to communicate

One of the strongest claims of the [relevance] theory is that humans, by producing utterances, have the intention to communicate, a claim that is important when considered from a literary background in which deconstruction has reigned supreme. Relevance theory also provides a theoretical underpinning for human strategies of communication and, in addition, for the miscommunication that frequently occurs.—Margaret Sim, A Relevant Way to Read, 117

<idle musing>
That's the end of this short little book. I hope you learned something—or at least were reminded of things you already knew.

Next up is a book a friend of mine gave me just prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. It sat on my bookshelf, but then a while ago, I read something somewhere that reminded me that I own the book. So, I picked it up and began to slowly read through it. I hope you enjoy it. The name of the book is —The Holy Longing, by Ronald Heiser.
</idle musing>

For all the saints, who from their labor rest

527 Sarum. 10. 10. 10. 10. with Allelulias.
      (second tune) Sine Nomine. 10. 10. 10. with Allelulias.

1 For all the saints who from their labors rest,
   Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
   Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
   Alleluia! Alleluia!

2 Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
   Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight;
   Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
   Alleluia! Alleluia!

3 Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold,
   Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old
   And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
   Alleluia! Alleluia!

4 O blest communion, fellowship divine,
   We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
   Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
   Alleluia! Alleluia!

5 And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
   Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
   And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
   Alleluia! Alleluia!

6 From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
   Through gates of pearl, streams in the countless host,
   Singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
   Alleluia! Alleluia!
                         William W. How
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
We always sang the second tune, the name of which always struck me as funny; sine nomine means "without a name," which by naming it means it isn't without a name any longer. Anyway, I was surprised to find that it is only in about 530 hymnals. Some add another two verses:

6 But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
   The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
   The King of glory passes on His way.
   Alleluia! Alleluia!

8 The golden evening brightens in the west;
   Soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest.
   Sweet is the calm of Paradise the blest.
   Alleluia! Alleluia!

</idle musing>

A summary of a few Greek particles

I append here a brief summary of my suggestions for these particles:

Ἵνα introduces a potential state of affairs;
Ὅτι by contrast introduces an actual state of affairs, from the perspective of the speaker;
Ὡς alerts the reader to expect a representation that may not in fact be a true state of affairs;
Καίπερ constrains the logical relations possible with participles;
Γάρ supports previous material
While οὖν asserts the relevance of new material.—Margaret Sim, A Relevant Way to Read, 98

The transforming power of the gospel (Tozer for Tuesday)

If the gospel does not change a man, transform him and take the evil out of him, then he does not have the gospel in power. The gospel is a transforming power; otherwise you have a name to live and you are dead.—A.W. Tozer, Reclaiming Christianity, 102

On Jordan's stormy banks I stand

523 Varina. C. M. D.

1 On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,
   And cast a wishful eye
   To Canaan's fair and happy land,
   Where my possessions lie.
   There gen'rous fruits that never fail,
   On trees immortal grow;
   There rocks and hills, and brooks and vales,
   With milk and honey flow.

2 All o'er those wide extended plains
   Shines one eternal day;
   There God the Son forever reigns,
   And scatters night away.
   No chilling winds, nor pois'nous breath
   Can reach that healthful shore;
   Sickness and sorrow, pain and death,
   Are felt and fear'd no more.

3 When shall I reach that happy place,
   I'll be forever blest?
   When shall I see my Father's face,
   And in his bosom rest?
   Fill'd with delight my raptur'd soul
   Would here no longer stay;
   Tho' Jordan's waves around me roll,
   Fearless I'd launch away.
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition
                         Samuel Stennett

<idle musing>
This popular hymn usually breaks the verses above into six verses instead of three. There is also another verse that is sometimes inserted:

2 O the transporting rapt'rous scene,
   That rises to my sight!
   Sweet fields array'd in living green,
   And rivers of delight!
  

The 1987 Methodist Hymnal also ends each verse with a chorus:

Refrain:
   I am bound for the promised land,
   I am bound for the promised land;
   oh, who will come and go with me?
   I am bound for the promised land.

His bio (linked above) contains this statement, which although probably true isn't exactly what I would hope any bio of me would say if I were a hymnwriter!

His poetical genius was not of the highest order, and his best hymns have neither the originality nor the vigour of some of his grandfather's. The following, however, are pleasing in sentiment and expression, and are in common use more especially in Baptist congregations (a list of hymns follows)

</idle musing>

More on οὖν

The procedural instruction that the particle οὖν gives is: ‘this is still relevant’! In other words it encourages the reader to proceed with the text in the belief that the new information is pertinent and directly related to what has gone before. This is particularly necessary if there has been a small digression, as frequently (but not always) happens before the introduction of οὖν.—Margaret Sim, A Relevant Way to Read, 96

Sound familiar?

The “mobilizing passions” of fascism: (1) a sense of overwhelming crisis beyond the reach of any traditional solutions; (2) the primacy of the group, toward which one has duties superior to every right, whether individual or universal, and the subordination of the individual to it; (3) the belief that one’s group is a victim, a sentiment that justifies any action, without legal or moral limits, against its enemies, both internal and external; (4) dread of the group’s decline under the corrosive effects of individualistic liberalism, class conflict, and alien influences; (5) the need for closer integration of a purer community, by consent if possible, or by exclusionary violence if necessary; (6) the need for authority by natural chiefs (always male), culminating in a national chieftain who alone is capable of incarnating the group’s historical destiny; (7) the superiority of the leader’s instincts over abstract and universal reason; (8) the beauty of violence and the efficacy of will, when they are devoted to the group’s success; (9) the right of the chosen people to dominate others without restraint from any kind of human or divine law, right being decided by the sole criterion of the group’s prowess within a Darwinian struggle.—Robert O. Paxton, The Anatomy of Fascism (New York: Knopf, 2004), 219–20.

<idle musing>
Let those who have ears, hear! Note the date of publication, over ten years before #45.
</idle musing>

It singeth low in every heart

521 Auld Lang Syne. C. M. D.

1 It singeth low in every heart,
   We hear it each and all;
   A song of those who answer not,
   However we may call.
   They throng the silence of the breast;
   We see them as of yore,
   The kind, the true, the brave, the sweet,
   Who walk with us no more.

2 ’Tis hard to take the burden up,
   When these have laid it down;
   They brightened all the joy of life,
   They softened every frown.
   But, O ’tis good to think of them
   When we are troubled sore;
   Thanks be to God that such have been,
   Though they are here no more!

3 More homelike seems the vast unknown
   Since they have entered there;
   To follow them were not so hard,
   Wherever they may fare.
   They cannot be where God is not,
   On any sea or shore;
   Whate’er betides, Thy love abides,
   Our God, for evermore.
                         John W. Chadwick
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
This hymn only occurs in sixty-four hymnals. Most versions break the verses into two halves—hence the Methodist hymnal's "D" in the meter, which means doubled.
</idle musing>

Abide with me

520 Eventide. 10. 10. 10. 10.

1 Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
   The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide
   When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
   Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

2 Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
   Earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
   Change and decay in all around I see;
   O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

3 I need Thy presence ev'ry passing hour;
   What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's pow'r?
   Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
   Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.

4 I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
   Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
   Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
   I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

5 Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
   Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
   Heav'n's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;
   In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
                         Henry F. Lyte
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

Servant of God, well done!

518 Mornington. S. M.

1 Servant of God, well done!
   Thy glorious warfare's past;
   The battle's fought, the race is won,
   And thou art crowned at last.

2 With saints enthroned on high,
   Thou dost thy Lord proclaim,
   And still to God salvation cry,
   Salvation to the Lamb!

3 O happy, happy soul!
   In ecstasies of praise,
   Long as eternal ages roll,
   Thou seest thy Saviour's face.

4 Redeemed from earth and pain,
   Ah! when shall we ascend
   And all in Jesus' presence reign
   With our translated friend!
                         Charles Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
Not one of Wesley's more popular hymns, occurring in about 80 hymnals. As usual with hymns by Wesley, there are more verses. Cyberhymnal adds these:

2. Of all thy heart’s desire
   Triumphantly possessed;
   Lodged by the ministerial choir
   In thy Redeemer’s breast.

3. In condescending love,
   Thy ceaseless prayer He heard;
   And bade thee suddenly remove
   To thy complete reward.

4. Ready to bring the peace,
   Thy beauteous feet were shod,
   When mercy signed thy soul’s release,
   And caught thee up to God.

8. Come, Lord, and quickly come!
   And, when in Thee complete,
   Receive Thy longing servants home,
   To triumph at Thy feet.

</idle musing>

Context, context, context

[Concerning οὖν] As with the other particles, we do not interpret utterances by deciphering a code, but by a process of inferencing which may use semantic concepts but which then draws out implications from contextual and encyclopaedic information. Putting it simply, it is not the ‘meaning’ of individual words that give understanding of utterances, but the whole background of shared knowledge between speaker and hearer as well as the surrounding narrative.—Margaret Sim, A Relevant Way to Read, 96

Lord, it belongs not to my care

516 St. Agnes. C. M.

1 Lord, it belongs not to my care
   whether I die or live:
   To love and serve Thee is my share,
   And this Thy grace must give.

2 If life be long, I will be glad
   That I may long obey:
   If short, yet why should I be sad
   To soar to endless day.

3 Christ leads me through no darker rooms
   That He went through before;
   He that into God's kingdom comes
   Must enter by this door.

4 Come, Lord, when grace hath made me meet
   Thy blessed face to see;
   For if Thy work on earth be sweet,
   What will Thy glory be?

5 My knowledge of that life is small:
   The eye of faith is dim;
   But 'tis enough that Christ knows all
   And I shall be with Him.
                         Richard Baxter
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
I wasn't aware that Richard Baxter wrote any hymns, but it appears he wrote about two dozen, this being the most popular one, occurring about 240 hymnals. The American Lutheran Hymnal omits our verse 2 and inserts a different verse later:

4 There shall we end our sad complaints
   And weary, sinful days;
   And join with the triumphant saints
   That sing Jehovah's praise.

</idle musing>