12/08/2025
We are approaching the winder solstice, the shortest day of the year. Already the sun has set as early as it will for the winter. This means outside, where it’s cold and snow is on its way today, my vegetable garden is brown, the lettuce harvest complete, flowers have dried up and I’ve even removed all the flower pots from the porch, just outside the windows where I’m sitting right now. But there is still a deep beauty, there is something going on beyond what eyes see and ears hear. God is still speaking.
Reading in Hosea 14 in the New Living Translation this morning I saw something that seemed familiar, something from long ago, in the 1970’s when I was in college.
4 The LORD says,
“Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;
my love will know no bounds,
for my anger will be gone forever.
5 I will be to Israel
like a refreshing dew from heaven.
Israel will blossom like the lily;
it will send roots deep into the soil
like the cedars in Lebanon.
6 Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees,
as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon.
7 My people will again live under my shade.
They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines.
They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon.
I used to sing this song while playing the piano, privately in the sound booths in the music department, letting the words “Comfort Ye My People” hold my heart and fill me with hope.
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupComfort Ye My People · LambLamb Favorites℗ 1974 Sparrow RecordsReleased on: 1995-01-01Composer: Joel ChernoffAuto...
