"Still, thou art blest, compar'd wi' me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e'e,
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!"
from "To a mouse" by Robert Burns
Bit late with the Northern Bard but as a tribute to yesterday here is a short verse from his musings in "To A Mouse "written on his thoughts when a plough had disturbed the mouse nest and I was quite moved by the sadness of these lines.
I can feel like that too sometimes, when I can't see what is ahead and I worry about the future. Yet I recently read again the passage in the bible where Peter steps out of the boat as Jesus approaches walking on the water. He steps out boldly but then he makes the mistake of looking down, of seeing the waves and he is filled with fear and starts to sink. What I saw this time when I read was the following, that as soon as he starts to sink and calls for help:
"immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him"
What an amazing image that when we are sinking and we call out, immediately Jesus puts out a hand to save us. We need not share the poets lines
"An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!"
for Jesus calls to us to come to him, to risk the waves, and leave the boat and know even when we 'canna' see - he will reach out a hand.
The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e'e,
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!"
from "To a mouse" by Robert Burns
Bit late with the Northern Bard but as a tribute to yesterday here is a short verse from his musings in "To A Mouse "written on his thoughts when a plough had disturbed the mouse nest and I was quite moved by the sadness of these lines.
I can feel like that too sometimes, when I can't see what is ahead and I worry about the future. Yet I recently read again the passage in the bible where Peter steps out of the boat as Jesus approaches walking on the water. He steps out boldly but then he makes the mistake of looking down, of seeing the waves and he is filled with fear and starts to sink. What I saw this time when I read was the following, that as soon as he starts to sink and calls for help:
"immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him"
What an amazing image that when we are sinking and we call out, immediately Jesus puts out a hand to save us. We need not share the poets lines
"An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!"
for Jesus calls to us to come to him, to risk the waves, and leave the boat and know even when we 'canna' see - he will reach out a hand.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down."
Matthew 14 vs 29-32
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