Hymn-ful Sundays! "We Plough the Fields and Scatter"

This week's hymn is one by German poet Matthias Claudius in the late eighteenth century. Matthias' father was a Lutheran pastor, and he originally went to university to study theology, but then changed his course of student to law and languages. He wrote many many poems, several of which were under the name Asmus. His work includes the poem Death and the Maiden, which was used in a composition by Franz Schubert. He turned to writing religious works after a grave illness caused him to return to the faith of his childhood. 

Hymn-ful Sundays! "Jesus, Friend of Little Children"

This week's hymn is best known as a children's hymn. It was written by Walter Mathams, a British chaplain, in the late 19th century.

Hymn-ful Sundays! "Trust and Obey"

John Sammis was a minister and hymnwriter at the turn of the 20th century. The term "trust and obey" was used in the testimony of a young man at an evangelistic meeting hosted by Dwight L Moody. Daniel Towner, inspired by those words, gave them to John Sammis, who developed the lyrics for this hymn. Towner then composed the music.

Hymn-ful Sundays! "Great is Thy Faithfulness"

This week's hymn is by Thomas Chisholm, a Methodist minister and hymnwriter at the turn of the 20th century, who wrote it as a testimony of God's faithfulness over his lifetime.

Hymn-ful Sundays! "A Charge to Keep I Have"

This week's hymn is another by Charles Wesley, one of the prominent hymnwriters of the Methodist tradition.

Hymn-ful Sundays "It is Well"

This hymn and the story behind it are so powerful. Horatio Spafford was a lawyer who lived in the latter half of the nineteenth century. In a four-year span, his life was turned completely upside down. He lost his only son in 1870, then in 1871, the Great Chicago fire burned down the city, and he lost most of his assets. Finally in 1873, he sent his wife and daughters to England on holiday, only to receive a telegram from his wife saying "saved alone." The boat that they were on had gotten caught in a storm, and all four of Spafford's daughters died. As he sailed to England to join his wife, he penned this hymn when the ship passed over the spot where the boat carrying his family had sunk.

Living in the Moment

Part of being intentional is being able to live in the moment, being present in the every-day, here-and-now, sometimes mundane moments that make up today.

Not that we shouldn't have goals and dreams and plans, but we should never spend so much time making them, or updating them or dreaming about them that we forget to live them.

Not that we should just forget about the past, but we should never spend so much time reliving it, or reminiscing about it, or wishing that we could change it, that we forget that life is still happening all around us.

Hope

This weekend I went to a conference designed to help me understand and learn more about what career paths are available to me once I've finished with my degree. Presenters spoke on a myriad of job areas including government, policy, business, academia, education (no, those are not the same), consulting and more. There were also workshops on resume writing, networking and other useful skills for a job search. I got a lot of great info and access to lots of resources to help me decide what I want to do next.

As I was processing the events of the day this verse came to mind:

Love, Faith and Faithfulness

Like many of the prophets of his time, God's word to Hosea changed his whole life. Hosea's task was to go make a wife out of a whore. (Hosea 1:2) So he married Gomer, and she bore him three children, whose names God told Hosea would mean, "God sows", "Not pitied" and "Not my people" (Hosea 1:3-4,6,8-9). Hosea's relationship with his wife was to mimic the faithlessness and infidelity of Israel to their God that had chosen them as a people. Yet even then, God tells Jezreel (God sows), to call his brother and sister "My people" and "Pitied", for Israel would be restored (Hosea 1:10-11, 2:1).