In Ukraine

Columbine reminds us that tomorrow (Sunday) is election day in Ukraine.

This is a very serious election. Tensions are high around the country. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out tomorrow and the next few days afterward.

…So, if you think of it, pray for Ukraine tomorrow.

She points us to this story, as an example.

If you are interested in missions (and you should be), I recommend Columbine’s blog as a place to get a glimpse into the challenges of daily life for a missionary couple. Lately, she’s been fixing up their flat a little, mostly with paint and elbow grease. It’s a lot more complicated for her than it is for me when I paint a room. I can choose my paint color, drive down to the hardware store, color sample in hand, and come back 2o minutes later with exactly what I need to complete the job. Not so for Columbine.

Promotion

The Pyros made a polished production of the pomo posters.

Sweet

Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright!
The bridal of the earth and sky—
The dew shall weep thy fall to-night;
For thou must die.

Sweet rose, whose hue angry and brave
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye,
Thy root is ever in its grave,
And thou must die.

Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses,
A box where sweets compacted lie,
My music shows ye have your closes,
And all must die.

Only a sweet and virtuous soul,
Like season’d timber, never gives;
But though the whole world turn to coal,
Then chiefly lives.

 —-George Herbert

In George Herbert there is poetry enough and to spare: it is the household bread of his being. With a conscience tender as a child’s, almost diseased in its tenderness, and a heart loving as a woman’s, his intellect is none the less powerful. Its movements are as the sword-play of an alert, poised. well-knit, strong-wristed fencer with the rapier, in which the skill impresses one more than the force, while without the force the skill would be valueless, even hurtful, to its possessor. There is a graceful humour with it occasionally, even in his most serious poems adding much to their charm.  —George MacDonald