William D Longstaff – birth, Nov. 26, 1822

Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.

Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.

Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

William D (Dunn) Longstaff was born this date, 11/26/1822 at Sunderland, Durham, England.  He was a philanthropist and friends with the founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth, with Dwight L Moody, and Ira D Sankey. Longstaff is remembered now for his hymn, “Take Time to Be Holy” but wrote a number of other hymns which appeared in the Salvation Army’s paper, The War Cry, in the 1880’s.  He died 4/2/1894 at Cambridge Terrace, Sunderland, Durham, England.

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George Boone – arrived in America, Oct. 10, 1717

An Englishman named George Boone on this date, 10/10/1717, arrived with his family at Philadelphia, PA.  They were Quakers (Society of Friends) arriving at the “capital” of American “Quakerism.”  They had departed from England (Devon) on August 17^th. 

His son, Squire Boone and Sarah Morgan’s marriage was “decently accomplished” by Quaker ceremony the seventh month, twenty-third day in 1720 (7/23/1720).  Their sixth son, Daniel, was the famous “Daniel Boone,” born 11/2/1734. 

Daniel was so successive in understanding Indians because of his grandparents and parents’ Quaker faith.  Friends (Quakers) treated Indians fairly and traded with them and thus Daniel got to learn Indian ways from peaceful Pennsylvania Red men.

It is sadly true that Daniel killed his share of Indians but sources will show that he did not enjoy this carnage and that he also saved Indian life.  This all started 10/10/1717 – ought to be easy to remember 10, 10, 17, 17.

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Look Up!

When you’re tempted to look down,

                                                       Look up.

When you’re tempted to wear a frown,

                                                      Look up.

When your friends seem to be few,

When sunshine fails to come through,

When you don’t know what else to do,

                                                      Look up.    -eab, 5/20/07

 

Written when I pastored the Kingston Pilgrim Holiness Church, Ontario, Canada

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Dreams

We live in three worlds;

The real, the imaginary, and the dream.

The real has nuts and bolts and such,

And quit clutters our lives with lint.

The imaginary we can fill day or night,

With things we like to invent.

But the world of dreams is different,

It’s neither tangible nor created by us.

It opens without our behest,

And closes again without fuss.

It is peopled by friends know long ago,

Or by strangers, strangers who came at night.

Dreams mix-up our acquaintances,

Until, though out of place, seem right.

Dreams can scare us into awakening,

So glad the cliff or lion scene,

Was not quit completed, or is so

The lion wasn’t even mean.

Or dreams can send us into a humorous world,

Where logic can go or stay,

And we ‘waken ourselves laughing,

And wonder why it’s colored this way.

Oh, we live in three worlds here and now.

The real, the invented, and dreams.

But in the one we control least of all,

Is the one famous for its night-time themes.  -eab,  2/1996

 

 Written while pastoring the Bible Holiness Chapel in Olerichs, South Dakota

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