Cross Quotes Coming

Last year, every day during the week before Easter/Resurrection Sunday, I posted a poem about the cross and invited you to join me in posting Poetry of the Cross. This year I plan to post quotes about Christ’s work on the cross. Once again, you are invited to join me. Just post a quote having to do with Christ’s death and/or resurrection and let me know about it in a comment here or by emailing me using the Contact link right below the header. I’ll link back to your post.

I think it’d be a wonderful thing to saturate our corner of the blogosphere and beyond with the good news of Christ’s death and resurrection.

Sunday's Hymn

Lately, I’ve been posting lesser known hymns by well-known and prolific hymn writers. We’ve had two hymns by John Newton, two by Charles Wesley; now I’ve moving on to Isaac Watts. You probably know at least of few of Watt’s hymns, like Alas! and Did My Sav­ior Bleed?, Our God, Our Help in Ag­es Past, and Jesus Shall Reign. But I bet you don’t know this one—and it’s perfect for the season we’re in right now.

Plunged in a Gulf of Dark Despair

Plunged in a gulf of dark despair
We wretched sinners lay,
Without one cheerful beam of hope,
Or spark of glimmering day.

With pitying eyes the Prince of grace
Beheld our helpless grief;
He saw, and, O amazing love!
He ran to our relief.

Down from the shining seats above
With joyful haste He fled,
Entered the grave in mortal flesh,
And dwelt among the dead.

He spoiled the powers of darkness thus,
And brake our iron chains;
Jesus hath freed our captive souls
From everlasting pains.

In vain the baffled prince of hell
His cursèd projects tries
We that were doomed his endless slaves
Are raised above the skies.

O for this love let rocks and hills
Their lasting silence break,
And all harmonious human tongues
The Savior’s praises speak.

Yes, we will praise Thee, dearest Lord,
Our souls are all on flame;
Hosannah round the spacious earth
To Thine adored Name.

Angels, assist our mighty joys,
Strike all your harps of gold;
But when you raise your highest notes,
His love can ne’er be told.

Other hymns, worship songs, sermons etc. posted today:

• Hosanna, Loud Hosanna at Conjubilant with Song
• Lord’s Day 14, 2009 at The Thirsty Theologian
• Fairest Lord Jesus at The Happy Wonderer
• Ah, Holy Jesu, How Hast Thou Offended at Nova Scotia Scott
• Be Thou My Vision at Hiraeth
• God, Be Merciful to Me at Fieldstone Cottage
• All Glory, Laud and Honor at joythruChrist
• Your weekly dose of Spurgeon at Pyromaniacs: Active Obedience (I love thinking about Christ’s active obedience. If you only consider his dying for you, and not his living for you, you are missing half of the wonder of Christ’s work on your behalf.)
• All Glory, Laud and Honor at Tapestry of Graces

Have you posted a hymn today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar and I’ll add your post to the list.

Saturday's Old Photo

This photo was taken before the one in last week’s old photo. The text on the back, written by my mother, says

Thelma [my mother] and some Navajo girls she taught at Intermountain Indian School, Brigham City, Utah in 195?

I don’t know much more. I do know that during the early fifties, my mother lived in Salt Lake City with her sister and worked as a legal secretary. Brigham City is sixty miles from Salt Lake, so perhaps this is a vacation Bible school class or a weekly Bible class she taught.

According to the Wikipedia article I found, Intermountain Indian School was a boarding school for Navajo children. (You can see a photo of the now abandoned dormitories here.) Why there would be such young tykes as those two in front, I don’t know. If my mother were still here, I’d ask her.

I have a round leather red, orange, and white beaded medallion that my mother was given while she worked with Navajo children. I wore it tied around my pony tail as a child, and recently I tied it to my purse as decoration, until I decided I ought to be more careful with it. Now it’s sitting on a dresser in the dining room waiting for me to decide what to do with it next. One thing I won’t do is put it away where I can’t see it. Things with history are too interesting for that.