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Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save what Thou art:
Thou my best thought, by day or by night;
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son,
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Riches I need not, nor man’s empty praise;
Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all!
… Anonymous medieval Irish hymn

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The Unbridgeable Gulf

We are separated from one another by an unbridgeable gulf of otherness and strangeness which resists all our attempts to overcome it by means of natural association or emotional or spiritual union.  There is no way from one person to another.  However loving and sympathetic we try to be, however sound our psychology however frank and open our behaviour we cannot penetrate the incognito of the other man, for there are no direct relationships, not even between soul and soul.  Christ stands between us, and we can only get into touch with our neighbors through Him.

… Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), The Cost of Discipleship

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A Young Pastor’s Declaration

Young Pastor in Zimbabwe, Africa, later martyred for his faith in Christ

I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I
have the Holy Spirit power. The die has been
cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision
has been made—I’m a disciple of his, I won’t
look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be
still.  My past is redeemed, my present makes
sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and
done with low living, sight walking, smooth
knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly
talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity,
position, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I
don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized,
praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by
faith, lean in his presence, walk by patience, am
uplifted by prayer, and I labor with power.

… Men’s Devotional Bible, Zondervan, Pg. 1177, 1993 quoted from “Signature of Jesus” by Brennan Manning, Multnomah Press, 1992.

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The Weight of Glory

Commemoration of Charles Williams, Spiritual Writer, 1945

It may be possible for each of us to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbour.  The load, or weight, or burden, of my neighbour’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken.  It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship—or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only  in a nightmare.  All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.  It is in the  light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct  all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.  There are no ordinary people.

… C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), “The Weight of Glory”

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You Know You’re From Chicago If…

1. The “Living Room” is called the “front  room”(pronounced fronchroom)

2. You don’t pronounce the “s” at the end of Illinois.   You become irritated at people who do.

3. You measure distance in minutes (especially  “from the city”). And you  swear everything is pretty much 15 minutes away.

4. You have no problem spelling or pronouncing “DesPlaines” or “Lisle”.

5. Your school classes were canceled because of cold.

6. Your school classes were canceled because of heat.

7. You’ve had to switch from “heat” to “A/C” in the same day.

8. Stores don’t have sacks, they have bags.

9. You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition.
Example:  “Where’s my coat at?” or “If you go to the mall I wanna go with.”

10. Your idea of a great tenderloin is when the meat is twice as big as the bun, “everything” is on it and a slice of dill pickle is on the side.

11. You carry jumper cables in your car.

12. You drink “pop.”

13. You understand that I 290, I90, I-94, and I-294 are all different roads.

14. You know the names of the interstates: Stevenson, Kennedy,  Eisenhower,Dan Ryan, and the Edens. But you call the interstates “expressways”.

15. You refer to anything South of I-80 as “Southern Illinois”.

16. You refer to Lake Michigan as “The Lake”.

17. You refer to Chicago as “The City”.

18.”The Super Bowl” refers to one specific game in a series of 35 played in January of 1986. GO BEARS!!

19. No matter where you are, when you hear the term  “Downtown” you immediately assume they’re talking about Downtown  Chicago. (and HATE it when suburbanites declare they are from Chicago.. and you know they have probably never been to the city)

20. You have two favorite football teams: The Bears, and anyone who beats the Packers.

21. You buy “The Trib”.

22. You think 35 degrees is great weather to wash your car!

23. You know what goes on a Chicago Style Hot Dog.

24. You know what Chicago Style Pizza REALLY is.

25. You know why they call Chicago “The Windy City”.

26. You understand what “lake-effect” means.

27. You know the difference between Amtrak and Metra,  and know which station they end up at.

28. You have ridden the “L”.

29. You can distinguish between the following area  codes: 847, 630, 773,  708, 312, 815

30. You have at some time in your life, used your furniture to guard your parking spot in winter.

31. You respond to the question “Where are you from”  with a “side”,  example: ” WEST SIDE”, “SOUTH SIDE” or “NORTH SIDE.”

32. You know what the phone number is to Empire Carpet  (588-2300)

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Chicago Pizza Recipes

http://pizza.ruehl.us/