December 1992
The Beauty of Simplicity and Child-likeness
Tiny cornflower in the grass,
You never blush at your own beauty;
Robin redbreast in the tree,
You are not aware of your beautiful song;
Have you not yet understood why the Lord your God
Created a Covering Cherub?
Learn, my children, of the true glory that is un-self-conscious;
Learn of those beauties and abilities that shine forth
With praise to their Creator Without drawing attention to themselves,
For this will be the character of my Kingdom
As I have revealed to you,
There will be some who will be disallowed.
These are they who desire their own glory,
And they have no place in my Kingdom.
The whole earth will be at rest,
And break forth into singing,
A singing that will be like the robin redbreast.
The whole earth will be full of radiant faces,
And they will shine like the cornflowers in the grass.
There will be no self-consciousness.
They will glow with my glory and will not blush.
These are the characteristics of my Kingdom.
Seek and you will find;
Look for those who demonstrate these characteristics;
Observe my preparations for this great day.
My Kingdom will not be composed of great pomp and circumstance,
But quiet simple beauties will cause the hearts of man
To rejoice and glow with warmth.
My Sabbath Rest shall be a time of great joy.
I yearn for it with a full heart, says the Lord.
– – – – – – – –oOo– – – – – – – –
Souls of men why will you scatter,
like a crowd of frightened sheep?
Foolish hearts, why will you wander
from a love so true and deep?
Was there ever kindest Shepherd,
half so gentle, half so sweet
As the Saviour, who would have us
come and gather round His feet?
There is no place where earth’s sorrows
are more felt than up in heaven,
There is no place where earth’s failings
have such kindly judgement given,
There is grace enough for thousands
of new worlds as great as this,
There is room for fresh creations
in that upper home of bliss.
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,
For the love of God is broader
than the measures of man’s mind,
And the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.
There is plentiful redemption
in the blood that has been shed,
There is joy for all the members
in the sorrows of the Head,
But we make His love too narrow
by false limits of our own,
And we magnify His strictness
with a zeal He will not own.
Souls of men why will you scatter
like a crowd of frightened sheep?
Foolish hearts why will you wander
from a love so true and deep?
If our lives were but more simple
we should take Him at His word,
And our lives would be all sunshine
in the sweetness of our Lord.
Frederick William Faber, 1814 – 1863
