A Theist

There’s no such thing

 

                as a true atheist  –

 

they retain God (Theos)

 

                in their very name.

                                                                                                – eab, 11/4/09

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James Montgomery – birth, Nov. 4, 1771

Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Unuttered or expressed;
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.

Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.

Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
Prayer, the sublimest strains
That reach The Majesty on high.

Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath,
The Christian’s native air,
His watchword at the gates of death;
He enters Heav’n with prayer.

Prayer is the contrite sinner’s voice,
Returning from his ways,
While angels in their songs rejoice
And cry, “Behold, he prays!”

The saints in prayer appear as one
In word, in deed, and mind,
While with the Father and the Son
Sweet fellowship they find.

No prayer is made by man alone
The Holy Spirit pleads,
And Jesus, on th’eternal throne,
For sinners intercedes.

O Thou by Whom we come to God,
The Life, the Truth, the Way,
The path of prayer Thyself hast trod:
Lord, teach us how to pray.

James Montgomery was born this date, 11/4/1771, at Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland.  His family moved to a Mo­rav­i­an set­tle­ment at Grace­hill, near Bal­ly­mena, Coun­ty An­trim, Ireland when he was about five. After attending Ful­neck Sem­in­ary in York­shire and a couple of job tries he started working for a newspaper owner.  James eventually bough him out, renamed it the “Sheffield Iris” and edited it of the next 32 years.  He supported the abolitionist cause and equally or more strongly supported the cause of the British Bible Society and foreign missions.  Montgomery is credited with writing some 400 hymns among which one finds the above and his famous “Angels from the Realms of Glory.”  He died 4/30/1854, at Shef­field, Eng­land.

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SEEKING

Men have gone into wild regions,

Gone where it is mainly cold,

Worked their claim day by dull day,

Seeking elusive, yellow gold.

 

Christian, daily search the Bible,

Seeking nuggets in your youth,

Work your claim in middle age,

In old age, seek still, holy truth.

                – eab, 11/4/08

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