Beacons bright to allure

There's a wideness in God's mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea;
There's a kindness in his justice,
Which is more than liberty.

There is welcome for the sinner,
And more graces for the good;
There is mercy with the Savior;
There is healing in his blood.

For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of man's mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.

If our love were but more simple,
We should take Him at His word,
And our lives would be all sunshine
In the sweetness of our Lord.
-F. Faber

I love to read hymnbooks, this week I picked up a new "old hymnbook" and found several hymns I had never heard or read.  I started reading them like poetry, b/c I found out recently that many hymns are poems that were later set to music.

This particular hymn stopped me at the last few lines so I re-read it again and again.  My first reaction was to reject that life is all sunshine-even with my Pollyanna factored in; although I wanted that to be true, it often isn't because I choose to grumble instead of trust.  Doesn't everyone do this? No.

I thought of a dear friend of mine who is older, her children are my age, she is older, but still feels and is young- I want to emulate that!  Anyway, nothing riles her, she always has a peaceful, joyful countenance, she loves Jesus and sees His blessings in her life.  She was describing a great loss, and described it as a blessed and holy event.  She really does know the sweetness of the Lord, and she walks in sunshine.  It's breathtaking. I really want to grow up to be like her, my guess is that it starts with practice, practice in the little things, like housework, and dealines and due dates. 

Title taken from "Puritan Prayers"  (Comforts p.300)