THE OPEN ROAD

AT THE ALTER 230

3/27/2020

  AT THE ALTER 230

Have you got burdens that bother
                                            Have you got troubles and woe
                                            Give them to your Master and Savior
                                            Just drop them at the alter and go

                                            With a heart that's filled with mercy
                                            Jesus is looking for you
                                            He knows all your faults and follies
                                            Now there's only one thing to do

                                            Drop your sins at the alter
                                            Your years in battle with strife
                                            Come, take the hand of your Master
                                            Let Jesus be Lord of your life

                                            Go, go in peace
                                            Go in peace, sin no more
                                            Go, go in peace
                                            And sin, sin no more
                                           (First published on October 17, 1975)

PROVERBS 3:1-4

3/22/2020

   PROVERBS 3:1-4

...Forget not my law, but let
thine heart keep thy commandments

For length of days, and long life,
and peace, shall they add to thee

Let not mercy and truth forsake thee:
Bind them around thy neck
Write them upon the table of thine heart

So shall thou find favor and good
understanding in the sight of God and man

THE BEGINNING OF THE ENDING

3/21/2020

THE BEGINNING OF THE ENDING

It has been over eighty years since
I was born. During that life span,
the following events occurred:

The ending of the great depression
of the twentieth century, World War II,
the Korean War, the Viet Nam War, the
mid-east wars (still in progress).

With the exception of the mid-east wars,
all events mentioned above now fall under
the cliche'd heading of "This too shall pass."

And even now as I write coronavirus, I believe,
with the whole world up in arms against this
pandemic, its days are surely numbered.

(Written on March 19, 2020)

HUMOR 622

3/21/2020

       HUMOR 622

   In this daily drudgery whereupon we trip over
so many of the foibles and fumbles of mankind,
perhaps we shall one day discover the sanest
of men are those who have learned to laugh
loudest at themselves.

For after all, "Humor is a sense of proportion"
(Kahlil Gibran). And, while there is time for
seriousness, there remains, on the scale of life,
abundant room for humor.

James Thurber stated that humor was "one
   of our greatest and earliest national resources
which must be preserved at all cost."

   (Before we leave this article, we do have one
   final question....Has anybody heard about the
elephant that sauntered into the Democratic
headquarters and ... )

(First published on May 22, 1974, with revisions
made on March 21, 2020)

SEND ME 454

3/21/2020

SEND ME 454

  If you read the New Testament carefully, you
will discover that the disciples of Jesus Christ
were usually being sent somewhere, in distance from
a half mile to several hundred miles.

If Christ were to send us somewhere today,
would it matter where? And, would we go?

Ponder these lines by George M. Matheson...

Send me
     To the hearts without a home
To the lives without a love
To the crowd without a compass
To the ranks without a refuge
Send me
   To the children whom none have blessed
To the famished whom none have visited
To the demoniacs whom none have claimed
Send me
To the fallen whom none have lifted
To the lepers whom none have touched
To the bereaved whom none have comforted
Then I shall have the birthright of the fist born
Then shall I have the blessing of the mighty God
of Jacob

PROVERBS 2:3,4,5

3/15/2020

   PROVERBS 2:3,4,5

Yea, if thou criest after knowledge,
and liftest up thy voice for understanding

    If thou seekest her as silver and searchest
for her as for hid treasures

Then shalt thou understand the fear
of the Lord, and find the knowledge
of God

SAINTS ALIVE

3/14/2020

   SAINTS ALIVE

                                         Have you ever noticed how much
                                         easier it is to venerate a dead saint
                                        than a live one? Have you ever
                                         wondered why?

                                        Perhaps the answer lies within these
                                         words by an unknown author, taken
                                       from a card from St. Stephen's Church
                                         in Philadelphia...

                                        "Why were the saints, saints?
                                         Because they were cheerful
when it was difficult to be cheerful,
patient when it was difficult
                                         to be patient; and because they
                                         pushed on when they wanted
                                         to stand still, and kept silent when
                                         they wanted to talk, and were agreeable
                                         when they wanted to be disagreeable
                                         That was all. It was simple and always
                                         will be."

                                         Many are called to be saints...
                                         but few are chosen.

PROVERBS 1:20,23,33

3/8/2020

PROVERBS 1:20,23,33

Wisdom crieth without;she
uttereth her voice in the streets

Turn you at my reproof: behold,
I will pour out my spirit unto you
I will make known my words
unto you

Whoso hearken unto me shall
dwell safely, and shall be quiet
from fear of evil

LITTLE CANDLES

3/8/2020

   LITTLE CANDLES

                                      George Bernard Shaw made this wise
observation...

  "I am sure that if people had to
choose between living where the noise
of children never stopped and where it
was never heard, all the good-natured
   and wise people would prefer the
   incessant noise to the incessant silence."

                                 Many years ago, we read this to our sweet
   wife, and she replied, "let me think about
that for awhile, I'm not too sure."

   Of course, this was after a full week of
having all four (count them, four) children
   at home from school with colds.

                                 Albeit, there is bickering, quarreling and
fighting from time to time, we would be
   quite lonely and miserable without our
   children.

                                 For their lives are little candles, whose flames
                                continue, in this darkened world, to lighten our
                                 path with a celestial glow.

                                (And this continues even more so to this day,
   and now includes our 12 wonderful grandchildren,
and one great grandson.)

(First published on March 27, 2014 with revisions
made on March 8, 2020.)

BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES 601

3/8/2020

BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES 601

"Let us not desert the ship in the tempest
because we can't control the winds."

Sir Thomas More probably was referring to the
Ship of State when he penned these lines.

But, we believe this could apply equally well
to the partnership of marriage.

Too many marriages are ship-wrecked because
the captain and the first mate to quickly exclaim
"Abandon Ship," at the first sign of grey cloud.

Sea battles have been won, and marriages have
remained in tact, through the acceptance of the
motto, "Don't give up the ship."

The cargo is too precious. Aye, too valuable,
to let any storm of life overcome the marriage
relationship.