|
Love is the only rational act.
*Stephen Levine
One of the most famous of Charles Wesley's hymns, and my favorite of the Wesleys' hymns, "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling," appeared in Hymns for Those Who Seek and Those That Have Redemption in the Blood of Jesus Christ, 1747.
Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling;
All thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.
Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit,
Into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit;
Let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its Beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.
|
|
Come, Almighty to deliver,
Let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return and never,
Never more Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing,
Glory in Thy perfect love.
Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.
I was honored to be questioned on June 2001 on motives for changes in my approach to ministry in the last years. I replied, "God is Love, Love is God. Say it either way you want." Does that sound simple? It is simple. We humans make complex what is so rudimentary.
Continued... |
