#hymnals

[hisfluer]

and i sing of dionysus — o! ivy-crowned god with a smile as dark as the secrets he  keeps. i sing and i dance, a flurry of humanity let loose until i am joy unbound! the bindings  cannot hold me just as they could not hold you!  sweet-smelling god, i ask you to bless me as  you bless the vines of the wood. may i grow  unfettered, reaching up, up, up! may my voice be loud! may my body shift and change! and may this change be a blessing unto you! oh, dark-curled god, flushed with wine and eternal youth — may  i bloom, bloom, and bloom! give me the will to  never back away from the awe-struck joy that it is to be alive — may i never shrink but only grow as you grew from impossibility. may i find favor in your heart & may your hands turn my meekness into wild opportunity. 

[spilling--the--beans]

Zoar Norwegian Lutheran Church

Day County, South Dakota

August 2021

Had to stop and check out this beauty during a recent family road trip.

[fieriframes]

[A piece of cake on a plate. Caption: And the polished cherry wood of the pews and the golden tassels on the hymnals.]

[majoring-in-christmas]

My children 😭😭😭

[elderling]

ppl on this website just hate to see ppl enjoy shit this is why yall dont have any irl friends

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Where Have Those Hymnals Gone?

by Aiden Wilson Tozer

In order to express myself more freely on a matter that lies very near to my heart, I shall waive the rather stilted editorial we and speak in the first person.

The matter I have in mind is the place of the hymnbook in the devotional life of the Christian. For purposes of inward devotion, there is only one book to be placed before the hymnal, and that of course is the Bible. I say without qualification, after the Sacred Scriptures, the next best companion for the soul is a good hymnal.

For the child of God, the Bible is the book of all books, to be reverenced, loved, pored over endlessly and feasted upon as living bread and manna for the soul. It is the first-best book, the only indispensable book. To ignore it or neglect it is to doom our minds to error and our hearts to starvation.

After the Bible, the hymn book is next. And remember, I do not say a songbook or a book of gospel songs, but a real hymnal containing the cream of the great Christian hymns left to us by the ages.

[empressofherownimaginaryplanet]

Lord of all nations, grant me grace to love all people, every race, and in each person help me view my kindred, loved, redeemed by you.

Break down the wall that would divide your children, Lord, on every side. My neighbors’ good let me pursue; bind them to me and all to you.

Forgive me, Lord, where I have erred by loveless act and thoughtless word. Make me to see the wrong I do will hurt my neighbor, Lord, and you.

Give me your courage, Lord to speak whenever strong oppress the weak. And should I be a victim, too, help me forgive, remembering you.

With your own love may I be filled and by your Holy Spirit willed, that all I touch, whatever I do, may be divinely touched by you.

[hisfluer]

i sing to thee, poseidon — o lord of the everdark waters — to him who moves the earth, who feeds from the fruitless sea,  o savior, helper, destroyer, & god — i sing  to thee. give me the heart to look upon  the storm ; give grace to my feet, let me  step through upon unbroken water & let the earth tremble with your strength. lord  of the sea — vast and endless is your glory as radiant as sunlight through gentle tides ;  bless me to be as foam upon the waters —  spray upon the wind — my boat unshattered and constantly sailing towards your sharp horizons —