PILLOW MY HEAD ON NO GUESSES

 
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND THIS BLOG TO A FRIEND GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS BLOG AND CLICK ON THE ENVELOPE.

There are over 600 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.

There is such a joy to the Easter message I am extending my comments for a few days.     

2 Corinthians 5

Awaiting the New Body

 ¹ For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

It was Joseph Cook who said, "Pillow my head on no guesses when I die."  Paul spoke of our future in the strongest possible terms.  In 2 Corinthians 5:l he says, "We know." 

He doesn't say, "We think, we hope, we believe, we trust, we expect" but "we know." 

 And what a magnificence in this Son of God come to walk this earth and make wide the proof of the door to eternity.

He spoke of judgment and justice and of what is required if one is to find salvation.  The sweep of his ethical demands was wide and narrow all at the same time; for sin is sin and temptation is never weak.

As He spoke He knew what his disciples could not know, that one day before they would show courage they would exhibit cowardice.  That from this place of beauty on the side of a mountain He would journey to a lonely and unattractive hill called Golgotha.

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”  He would think it many times.  Finally He would say it on a cross for the whole world to hear.

But courage would win out and the message be spread far and wide.  And the resurrection would leave future generations in a state of awe as it did these first men who walked with and gave their lvies to Christ.

And you I, bow our heads or fall to our knees, or both and say, “Love reigns from the throne of grace.  An eternal love.”  And such a peace we find when we repeat this truth once and even more times each day. 

And when we think of love…think of that old truth…What we are is God’s gift to us.  What we become is our gift to God.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK?  IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG?  IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

*************************************

ALREADY STARTED on his other blog WYRICK’S WRITINGS…Serialization of another of his books SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING 

 

To read this book

 

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL

http://www.speakerneil.com/
 

Each week there is also a serialization of his novel RUST ON MY SOUL and serialization of another of his books 60 PLUS AND NOT HOLDING

MANY OF THE IDEAS IN THIS BOOK FOR BETTER LIVING ARE GOOD FOR ANY AGE. (This book is about dealing positively with the challenges of getting older and fosters the belief  that “If we would have new knowledge, we must get a world of new questions.”  (Susanne K. Langer)

TO VISIT Neil’s other blog WYRICK’S WRITING (A variety of serializations; a novel on Sunday and Tuesday and Thursday varying subjects) (3 times a week added to)

 

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL

http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com

****************************

 

To view his One Man Dramas on film (see by millions, live and on film and on video)(Martin Luther, Ben Franklin, Charles Wesley, Abraham Lincoln)

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING

http://www.speakerneil.com/

********************************

 

To access info his other book’s and get some great used book prices, go to Amazon.com (books) and type in Neil Wyrick.

 BOUNDARIES UNLIMITED, RUST ON MY SOUL, POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC, I AM SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, THE ABC’S OF PARENTING AND GRANDPARENTING, LETTERS TO AMERICA…

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A quote below from ONE A DAY blog entitled   IT IS EASIER TO BE A WINDOW THAN A DOOR

Want to make it right?  Then remember the answer of Henry David Thoreau when he was asked as he lay dying, “Have you made peace with God?”

Pausing to gain enough breath he said, “We never quarreled.”

It is easier to be a window than a door. To watch life in action rather than try to influence it. To be neither good nor bad, but indifferent. Lukewarm is the way the Bible puts it. "Here I stand," said Martin Luther and proved that one man's commitment can make a difference. "Here I stay," say many and enshrine the status quo.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

SKIN DEEP

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND THIS BLOG TO A FRIEND GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS BLOG AND CLICK ON THE ENVELOPE.

There are over 600 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++

 

He was an unlikely candidate for fame for any reasons.  He had a big nose, a small body and his skin was pale as death itself. 

A woman fell in love with from reading and singing the hymns he wrote but when she met him his appearance was so unsettling there was no place for her love to go but away.  Confused and saddened she said, “I only wish I could admire the casket (jewelry box) as much as I admire the jewel.”

Then this hymn writer suffered a stroke that left him with the ability to speak but took away his ability to write.  Bedridden, sick and on the edge of depression he rode the enemy of his illness like a Knight going into battle.  He hired a secretary and dictated his hymns.

 His breaths may well have been short but the drive of his faith was long and strong.  Poems and books poured from this shriveling and sickened frame.  The little man was a giant of courage. 

When Isacc Watts died in 1748 he had written 600 hymns, books on grammar, astronomy, philosophy and geography.  He was prolific for his Lord and his hymns are a long line of gentle persuasion.

You may well have sung many of them many many times.  I know I have and we both are blessed. 

“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”  “Joy to the World”  “From All That Dwell Below the Skies”  “O God Our Help in Ages Past”

His life could have been one long litany of complaint and self pity.  He could have wrapped himself in regrets and cursed the God who made him so.  Instead he chose to remember that it is the rocks in the river that make the river sing.

“…fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  —Isaiah 41:10 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK?  IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG?  IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

**********************************

ALREADY STARTED on his other blog WYRICK’S WRITINGS… Serialization of another of his books SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING 

To read this book

 

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL

http://www.speakerneil.com/

Each week there is also a serialization of his novel RUST ON MY SOUL and serialization of another of his books 60 PLUS AND NOT HOLDING

MANY OF THE IDEAS IN THIS BOOK FOR BETTER LIVING ARE GOOD FOR ANY AGE. (This book is about dealing positively with the challenges of getting older and fosters the belief  that “If we would have new knowledge, we must get a world of new questions.”  (Susanne K. Langer)

TO VISIT Neil’s other blog WYRICK’S WRITING (A variety of serializations; a novel on Sunday and Tuesday and Thursday varying subjects) (3 times a week added to)

 

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL

http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com

****************************

 

To view his One Man Dramas on film (see by millions, live and on film and on video)(Martin Luther, Ben Franklin, Charles Wesley, Abraham Lincoln)

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING

http://www.speakerneil.com/

********************************

 

To access info his other book’s and get some great used book prices, go to Amazon.com (books) and type in Neil Wyrick.

 BOUNDARIES UNLIMITED, RUST ON MY SOUL, POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC, I AM SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, THE ABC’S OF PARENTING AND GRANDPARENTING, LETTERS TO AMERICA…

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

A quote below from ONE A DAY blog entitled PILLOW MY HEAD ON NO GUESSES

It was Joseph Cook who said, "Pillow my head on no guesses when I die."  Paul spoke of our future in the strongest possible terms.  In 2 Corinthians 5:l he says, "We know." 

He doesn't say, "We think, we hope, we believe, we trust, we expect" but "we know." 

 And what a magnificence in this Son of God come to walk this earth and make wide the proof of the door to eternity.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I AM EASTER (The Other Side of Forever)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND THIS BLOG TO A FRIEND GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS BLOG AND CLICK ON THE ENVELOPE.

 

*****************************

 

In one of his lighter moments, Benjamin Franklin penned his own epitaph. Here's what he wrote: The Body of B. Franklin, Printer Like the Cover of an old Book Its contents torn out, And stript of its Lettering and Guilding, Lies here, Food for Worms, But the Work shall not be wholly lost: For it will, as he believ'd, Appear once more In a new & more perfect Edition, Corrected and amended by the Author.

There is such great difficulty in describing Easter because there is so much beyondness in it.  It does not deny death. 

It simply cries out that it is not an end but a beginning.  Try to prove the resurrection?  Even Peter did not try to do this.  It happened.  He related the happening. 

What is Easter? 

It is liberty and freedom from fear.  It is the glad cry in the midst of mourning that we die to live again.  I like the way Emily Dickerson put it, “I will die but that is all I will do for death.”

I am Easter. 

I am the spirit of the risen Lord.  I am the quiet hush of reverence before the love of a God who sacrificed His Son for man.  I am the message of eternity proclaimed from pulpits throughout the land.

I am Easter. 

I am that strange force that swells church attendance and momentarily swells the languid faith of men.  I am like the sun of early morn sweeping away the dark of doubt.  I am the truth of God’s promise now celebrate more than 2000 times.

I am Easter.

I am not a time of the tomb, but rather the reviving cheer of the Resurrection. I am the glad cry that the valley of the shadow of death is a passageway and not a dead-end street.  I am a balm to the wound of the widow.  I am an ambassador for the Great Physician as I give hope to the sick. 

Without me, life becomes a tale told by 600 million protophlastic creations called men.  With me, life becomes a destiny lived by 600 million souls.

I am trampled upon by Easter bunnies hop-hop-hopping down the bunny trail.  I walk a thin line sometimes between holiday and holy day.  But I am not forgotten. 

My true meaning is not obscured even in this.  And I do not believe that my optimism is a drum to my logic as I express my faith of mankind’s faith in what I really am.

 For I believe that man, with all his propensity for the crass, does not forget the Cross.  And that, for all his building, he cannot forget the house not made with hands which is promised to him. 

I am Easter. 

Long have I watched my celebration, in simple country church with quiet dignity, in great cathedral with much pomp and Pageantry.  And I am glad.  For while the mistakes of men concerning my day are many, they do not cause me half so much pain as would be felt were they to forget me completely.

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK?  IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG?  IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

***********************************

 

ALREADY STARTED on his other blog WYRICK’S WRITINGS…Serialization of another of his books SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING 

To read this book

 

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL

http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

Each week there is also a serialization of his novel RUST ON MY SOUL and serialization of another of his books 60 PLUS AND NOT HOLDING

MANY OF THE IDEAS IN THIS BOOK FOR BETTER LIVING ARE GOOD FOR ANY AGE. (This book is about dealing positively with the challenges of getting older and fosters the belief  that “If we would have new knowledge, we must get a world of new questions.”  (Susanne K. Langer)

 

TO VISIT Neil’s other blog WYRICK’S WRITING (A variety of serializations; a novel on Sunday and Tuesday and Thursday varying subjects) (3 times a week added to)

 

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL

http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

****************************

 

To view his One Man Dramas on film (see by millions, live and on film and on video)(Martin Luther, Ben Franklin, Charles Wesley, Abraham Lincoln)

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING

http://www.speakerneil.com/

 

********************************

 

To access info his other book’s and get some great used book prices, go to Amazon.com (books) and type in Neil Wyrick.

 BOUNDARIES UNLIMITED, RUST ON MY SOUL, POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC, I AM SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, THE ABC’S OF PARENTING AND GRANDPARENTING, LETTERS TO AMERICA…

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

A quote below from ONE A DAY blog entitled SKIN DEEP

He was an unlikely candidate for fame for any reasons.  He had a big nose, a small body and his skin was pale as death itself. 

A woman fell in love with from reading and singing the hymns he wrote but when she met him his appearance was so unsettling there was no place for her love to go but away.  Confused and saddened she said, “I only wish I could admire the casket (jewelry box) as much as I admire the jewel.”

Then this hymn writer suffered a stroke that left him with the ability to speak but took away his ability to write…

 

+++++++++++++++++++++

As It Never Could Have Been

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND THIS BLOG TO A FRIEND GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS BLOG AND CLICK ON THE ENVELOPE.

There are over 600 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.

We all know what Jesus did and why and when and how.  And the WHY is the cornerstone of our faith, the underlining of the love of Father God for you and me…and one day I began to ask myself how could I emphasize the sacrifice on the cross in a way that would be different…and I thought, what if Jesus had done otherwise when those around Him failed to listen.

And then I wrote…As It Never Could Have Been

                                                  

    The time was the fourteenth Nisan in the year 3790.  It was a dark spring evening in the seven hundred and eighty-third year of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius.  We would say it was the seventh day of April in the year of our Lord 30.

    Three hundred thousand pilgrims moved within and without this strong-hold of Jewish faith and Roman occupation.  There was noise enough already; but then over the hill came charging one in a seamless garment. 

He stood straight and tall and his chariot was pulled by six white horses.  His lieutenants or disciples as they were called, each mounted on their black Arabian steeds, rode by his side.  Jesus of Nazareth, for this was what he was called, wheeled up before the Fountain Gate, and watched the crowds surge forward and round about him and listened to them call out, “Hail Jesus King of the Jews.” 

He stretched out his hands and acknowledge their praise.

    After awhile Jesus grew tired of their shouts. 

 It had been a long trip from bethany. Every few miles people asking for a few words of wisdom and the sick, everywhere you looked. 

Jesus thought to himself, “I must have healed five thousand if I healed one.”  He gave a wave of his hand, his lieutenants forced their horses through the surging crowd.  And Jesus moved in the direction of the Upper Room.

    Once they reached the thinly lit Upper Room where they would celebrate the Passover, Judas found a seat near the end of the table and close to the door. 

As the food was passed Jesus began to outline his plans for taking the city.  Half way through the meal Judas edged toward the exit and in a moment was gone.  “Now!”  With this one word Jesus motioned to Peter and Peter followed Judas out into the night.

    By Wednesday Jesus had the city of Jerusalem well in hand. 

The Roman Legions were caught off guard.  Three hundred thousand Jews with the taste of freedom in their souls was too much.  The crown sat easily on his head, a garland of golden leaves with berries made of rubies. 

Above his head laced on satin were the words, “Jesu Nazarenus, Rex Judaeori.”  (King of the Jews)

    He granted two hours every morning and two hours every afternoon to the healing of the sick. 

They stretched from the Palace beyond the Gennath Gate the length of the Via Dolorosa to within sight of the temple, where Caiphas rubbed his hands in glee and planned a coalition with this new King Jesus.

    The coronation ceremonies had been hasty but pontifically correct. 

James and John had received appointments making them co-chief of administration, and Peter had been put at the head of the Army to fight off the Roman legions who would certainly attack as soon as reinforcements arrived.

    One of the first duties of Thomas, a police inspector who trusted no one, was to place Pilate in the very dirtiest of cells and deny him any water, even for a bath. 

Thomas was not quite what made him treat Pilate in this particular way but somehow it seemed appropriate.

    By Thursday, Peter had appointed Bartholomew head of propaganda and had equipped the people with Roman swords and weapons of war. 

They looked uncomfortable in their shields, and some with long robes combined with Roman belts seemed awkward warriors at the best.

    On Friday the Roman legions began their siege. 

 They entered from the Mount of Olives, pouring over Gethsemane in the direction of the Golden Gate. 

A smaller diverting forced moved down from the higher hills surrounding Golgotha. 

Within a few hours the streets of Jerusalem were covered with the dead and dying. 

And Jesus of Nazareth lay at the foot of the throne with a spear thrust deep into his side. 

 His last gasping words were made as he looked up toward the heavens and said, “Father, forgive me…forgive me, Father, I…I knew not what I did.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK?  IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG?  IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

***********************************

ALREADY STARTED on his other blog WYRICK’S WRITINGS… Serialization of another of his books SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING 

To read this book

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL

Each week there is also a serialization of his novel RUST ON MY SOUL and serialization of another of his books 60 PLUS AND NOT HOLDING

MANY OF THE IDEAS IN THIS BOOK FOR BETTER LIVING ARE GOOD FOR ANY AGE. (This book is about dealing positively with the challenges of getting older and fosters the belief  that “If we would have new knowledge, we must get a world of new questions.”  (Susanne K. Langer)

TO VISIT Neil’s other blog WYRICK’S WRITING (A variety of serializations; a novel on Sunday and Tuesday and Thursday varying subjects) (3 times a week added to)

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL

****************************

To view his One Man Dramas on film (see by millions, live and on film and on video)(Martin Luther, Ben Franklin, Charles Wesley, Abraham Lincoln)

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING

********************************

To access info his other book’s and get some great used book prices, go to Amazon.com (books) and type in Neil Wyrick.

 BOUNDARIES UNLIMITED, RUST ON MY SOUL, POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC, I AM SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, THE ABC’S OF PARENTING AND GRANDPARENTING, LETTERS TO AMERICA…

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

A quote below from ONE A DAY blog entitled I A EASTER

What is Easter?  It is liberty and freedom from fear.  It is the glad cry in the midst of mourning that we die to live again.  I like the way Emily Dickerson put it, “I will die but that is all I will do for death.”

DEAR ABRAHAM (A special Easter Time story)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND THIS BLOG TO A FRIEND GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS BLOG AND CLICK ON THE ENVELOPE.

There are over 600 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.

These stories I wrote years apart but like all stories they germinated as I consider the monumental events that were taking place.

Dear Abraham,

            Today in Jerusalem they crucified the man named Jesus. The one you heard preach that afternoon on the side of a mountain. 

Pilate said, “I see no wrong in this just man,” but the crowd seemed intent on only one decision.  It was obvious some had been paid to shout, “Let him be crucified!” but we both know how this is.  Life is cheap in our day and love a commodity not easily come upon.

            You said you had never met anyone like this man and I agree.  He had more dignity carrying the cross down the Via Dolorosa than some men can muster sitting on a throne.  I

 I do not make a habit of attending crucifixions and surely one day they will be outlawed.  I have certainly never before stayed to the bitter painful end, but as he hung on the cross he proved his mettle. 

It is not that he spoke often but what he had to say.  I have forgotten some of his words, but others I will never forget.

            “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”  How he could say this at such a time escapes me.  That love he has been preaching for three years, he meant it.

            When I heard him say, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” his father was not the same as if I had said it.  And I heard his last words; “It is finished.” 

He was calm when he spoke.  There was almost a smile on his face like someone anticipating going back home.  One of the soldiers cried out, “Surely this man was the Son of God.”

            Son of God…the phrase seems to echo over and over in my mind.  Why should the Son of God come to live among men only to die on a cross?  I think and ponder and have more questions than answers.  I dare not share them with many, but my friend of so many years, allow me to share them with you. 

I wonder of God wanted us to know he cares?  Perhaps there was a special meaning to this death and the world has not heard the last of it.  Caiphas walked away in triumph. Could it be his victory will be brief?

            I am no prophet.  For all my schooling I am not that wise.  You were always the better student. But I know what I feel and what I feel is God.

            I shall be leaving here in the next several days and traveling by of the road to Emmaus.  God’s blessings on you.

Your friend,

David

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK?  IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG?  IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

*******************************

 

ALREADY STARTED on his other blog WYRICK’S WRITINGS… Serialization of another of his books SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING 

To read this book

 

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL

http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com

Each week there is also a serialization of his novel RUST ON MY SOUL and serialization of another of his books 60 PLUS AND NOT HOLDING

MANY OF THE IDEAS IN THIS BOOK FOR BETTER LIVING ARE GOOD FOR ANY AGE. (This book is about dealing positively with the challenges of getting older and fosters the belief  that “If we would have new knowledge, we must get a world of new questions.”  (Susanne K. Langer)

TO VISIT Neil’s other blog WYRICK’S WRITING (A variety of serializations; a novel on Sunday and Tuesday and Thursday varying subjects) (3 times a week added to)

 

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL

http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com

****************************

To view his One Man Dramas on film (see by millions, live and on film and on video)(Martin Luther, Ben Franklin, Charles Wesley, Abraham Lincoln)

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING

http://www.speakerneil.com/

 

****************************

 

To access info his other book’s and get some great used book prices, go to Amazon.com (books) and type in Neil Wyrick.

 BOUNDARIES UNLIMITED, RUST ON MY SOUL, POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC, I AM SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, THE ABC’S OF PARENTING AND GRANDPARENTING, LETTERS TO AMERICA…

+++++++++++++++++++++++

A quote below from ONE A DAY blog entitled As It Never Could Have Been

            The time was the fourteenth Nisan in the year 37900.  It was a dark spring evening in the seven hundred and eighty-third year of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius.  We would say it was the seventh day of April in the year of our Lord 30.

            Three hundred thousand pilgrims moved within and without this strong-hold of Jewish faith and Roman occupation.  There was noise enough already; but then over the hill came charging on in a seamless garment.  He stood straight and tall and his chariot was pulled by six white horses.  His lieutenants or disciples as they were called, each mounted on their black Arabian steeds, rode by his side.  Jesus of Nazareth, for this was what he was called, wheeled up before the Fountain Gate, and watched the crowds surge forward and round about him and listened to them call out, “Hail Jesus King of the Jews.”  He stretched out his hands and acknowledge their praise.

            After awhile Jesus grew tired of their shouts.  It had been a long trip from bethany. Every few miles people asking for a few words of wisdom and the sick, everywhere you looked.  Jesus thought to himself, “I must have healed five thousand if I healed one.”  He gave a wave of his hand, his lieutenants forced their horses through the surging crowd.  And Jesus moved in the direction of the Upper Room…