Encouraged by saints and souls

Passage for reflection: Revelation 7: 9 - 17

I can’t believe we have reached November. The beginning of November is a special time in the church year when we remember those who have gone before us, without who we would not be the people we are today. 

I love history. I love to think who walked the streets I am walking on in the past. I am very aware I am part of a long story of God’s people which has been full of amazing characters. So it’s good that on All Saints Day, November 1st and All Souls Day, November 2nd, we pause to remember with thankfulness.

On All Saints Day, we celebrate the famous saints of old who lived Christianity and shared it in what were often difficult circumstances. In Ripon, we remember St Wilfrid, in Whitby, where we were last Friday, we remember St Hild, on Lindisfarne, we remember St Aidan and St Cuthbert, in St Albans, where I went to school and we went to the cathedral for our special services being a C of E school, we remember St Alban, the first Christian martyr in this country, and in Canterbury, we remember St Augustine, who brought Christianity to us. I find the board in the cathedral with all the Archbishops of Canterbury on it very moving with Justin Welby at the bottom and St Augustine at the top. On All Saints Day, we remember we are surrounded by a great crowd of witnesses, who encourage us from the reward of heaven. The crowd is huge! 

Revelation, the last book of the Bible is not the easiest book to understand, but in it are lovely details of the abiding of the faithful with God in eternity. On Sunday afternoon in my service we will listen to these words “Come let us join our cheerful songs with angels round the throne, ten thousand thousand are their tongues but all their joys are one.” 

In chapter 7 of Revelation, the writer describes a great multitude that is countless, numbering those from every tribe and people, and language. There is no limit to the scope of this multitude, be it geographic, ethnic, numeric, linguistic, economic, and on and on the list goes. This multitude is a blow-your-mind kind of multitude that no one can fully grasp. 

The multitude is clad in white, it is waving palm branches, and it is crying hymns of praise in a loud voice. The praise will be “forever and ever.”

Not only is this particular multitude to be known for its loyalty, this multitude is to be known as an active group. This group is comprised of individuals who have washed their robes. They are not passive, but active. They do not wait to be served by God, but they actively seek to serve God regularly. John, the writer of the vision gives us a clear picture of this group living out their vocation of worship and praise.

When asked by one in power, John describes not only their current actions but the results of their actions. They remain loyal to the Lamb, they wash their robes, and they worship in the temple. As a result, they are sheltered, they are fed, they are quenched, they are protected. What a place to be! 

The famous saints have their story written in history books, recorded for ever, but there are other stories only known by a few. This is where All Souls Day comes in. I like to read Ecclesiasticus 44 from the Apocrypha in November. The chapter starts by reminding us to sing the praise of famous people but it goes on to say this: 

“And some there be, which have no memorial; 
who are perished, as though they 
had never been; and are become as though 
they had never been born; 
and their children after them.

But these were merciful men, 
whose righteousness hath not been forgotten.

With their seed shall continually remain 
a good inheritance, and their children are 
within the covenant.

Their seed standeth fast, 
and their children for their sakes.

Their seed shall remain for ever, 
and their glory shall not be blotted out.

Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth for evermore.

The people will tell of their wisdom, 
and the congregation will shew forth their praise.”

Who are the souls who you remember who have been part of your life, who you give thanks for? Who are the souls who shared their faith with you and showed you something of God? Who are those who, for you, their name liveth for evermore? Your family, dear friends, people who sat where you sit in your church, people who had vision. 

This weekend some churches will encourage folk to remember those who have lost their lives in the Covid pandemic. This weekend some churches will hold memorial services where people will come and light candles to remember ordinary lives many of us know nothing about, but for them they were precious and will always be remembered. 

I was walking round Ripon Cathedral with a friend on Monday and spent some time reading memorial stones on the walls. One was about a lady called Margaret Chettle who educated young girls. We are told “heaven graced her humble walk in life with majesty of mind and look and acts of pure benevolence, for though her scanty means sprung only from her own industry, she made them flow with silent sweetness to help the work of charity.” I’ve never heard of Margaret Chettle but many young women had life made better because of her and when she died they would remember her, and a wall in a cathedral invites us when we pass to remember her too. Go and read some memorials or gravestones. They tell unique stories. My Grandad’s gravestone in a village cemetery in Hertfordshire has some simple yet powerful words: “life’s work well done.”

We remember saints and souls to remind us how we should be living today. History must always move us to change the present. We learn from it. Paul in his letters addresses the churches he writes to as “the saints in, for example, Ephesus.”

We are called to be saintly. We are called to reflect God because our souls belong to him.

Nadia Bolz-Weber in a fabulous book called

“Accidental Saints: finding God in all the wrong people” says this about our call:

“And this is it. This is the life we get here on earth. We get to believe in each other. We get to forgive and be forgiven. We get to love imperfectly. And we never know what effect it will have for years to come. And all of it... all of it is completely worth it.”

We are called as those we remember to bring some light and hope into the world which folk need badly at the moment. How will we be remembered? Hopefully that we made a difference and did our best to live the right way in a mad world. 

I found this prayer to end this reflection. It’s written by the comedian Bobby Ball who passed away on Thursday. Rock on Tommy! 

Pray these words remembering those who rest in the Church triumphant and remembering how we should carry on their work...

In this world of ever-changing faces, help me to stay on the straight line I was destined to be on.
Help me to try and put right my faults, but to realise that my strengths are gifts.
Help me to be patient with others who are as impatient as myself.
Help me to learn the value of each minute of each day that I have on this earth, that I can bring love and happiness into someone elses life and not just my own.
Teach me to be honest with myself because if I am not honest with myself first, then it is impossible to be honest with others.
Make me slow to speak but quick to listen because others have a point of view too.
Help me gain a little wisdom as each day goes by because the smallest grain of wisdom is worth all the riches on earth.
Grant me peace and serenity that I may enjoy the days that I have left on earth.
Help me to see the good in others before the bad.
And last of all, help me to be honest in all that I do, because in spite of all our insecurities and faults we are the children of God and he gave us life.
So I shall try each day to become a better human being and, when my time comes to leave this wonderful world, I can go to God in the knowledge that at least I tried.
Amen.

The most boring book in the Bible?

Passages for reflection: Leviticus 19: 1 - 18 and Matthew 22: 34 to the end of the chapter. 

It's not often that my heart leaps with joy when I read the book of Leviticus.

It is essentially a rule book written for the people of Israel and is often used today as proof texts when arguing about sexuality and gender. It also has plenty to say about the wickedness of wearing clothing made from mixed fibres. So I trust that no one is wearing polyester and cotton as you read this!

The Old Testament reading set for Sunday gives us an insight into what it means to be holy. Holy rather than pious. 'You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy ...' That holiness is to be seen in a way of living in which the people of God do not act unjustly; do not slander or hate and take no vengeance or bear a grudge . In essence it is a call to love your neighbour as yourself.

Jesus' hearers would have been very familiar with these words from Leviticus and so would have made the connection when Jesus talks about the two greatest commandments: love the Lord your God, and your neighbour as yourself.  The two commands cannot be separated, though as humans we often try to. They are two halves of a whole.

In the early centuries of Christianity thousands of people left towns and cities to become monastics, living in the desert far from all worldly distractions.  They sought to devote their lives to loving and serving God, and thereby ensuring a place for themselves in heaven.  In the desert they lived very strict lives according to great lists of rules. 

There was once a monk called Abbot Moses who had a great reputation for holiness and whose wisdom was sought by many.  During Lent the monks asked what they should do to prepare for the feast of the resurrection at Easter.  They were anxious to do something special to show their overwhelming love for Christ. In the end they decided to fast for the whole of Holy Week.  Once they had made the decision each monk went off to his bare, lonely cell to fast and pray.

In the middle of the week a couple of wandering monks came to visit the monastery and to seek the wisdom of Abbot Moses.  They were starving and so he took pity on them and cooked them a stew.  To put them at their ease he ate a little of it himself.  Meanwhile, the other monks saw smoke rising from his chimney and knew immediately that he must be cooking!  He had broken the solemn fast.  They were shocked and saddened at seeing the weakness of their holy abbot.  They went in a group to confront him.  The abbot came out to meet them.  "What crime have I committed?" he said to them, seeing the judgement in their eyes.  "Yes I have broken a human commandment, but in sharing food with these brothers of ours I have kept the commandment of God, that we should love one another.  What do you think Christ would have done?  Did he not eat and drink with sinners, even though the religious leaders called him a glutton and a drunkard?  You cannot tear the gospel of Christ in two.  We did not come into the desert to get away from people, and to be alonewith God.  Rather, we came here to find other people; to find them and love them in God."  The monks went away humbled, but wiser.

It is easy for us to fall into a similar trap as those monks, and the pharisees in the gospel, imagining that there is just one commandment: to love God.  The religious people of Jesus' time strictly observed the minutest rules of the Law.  But by doing so they divorced the law from everyday life and ignored the words of Leviticus in striving to be holy.  They had just two compartments in their lives - God, and the rest of life. 

We too can imagine that by coming to worship, by saying our prayers and putting our offering on the plate each week, we have done enough.  And of course, all of this is important in part, but the heart of the Christian faith is not about rules and regulations, but rather about relationship with God and neighbour; a relationship of love.  It's a relationship which involves every part of us, and reaches into every aspect of our lives.

When we hear the words of the gospel reading we often listen selectively. It is possible to get so caught up in the love of God and neighbour that we forget and neglect ourselves.  We can all be hard and unforgiving to ourselves.  Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God, and your neighbour as yourself."  We can love our neighbour only if we love ourselves.  This isn't an excuse for self-indulgence or arrogant behaviour, but rather a reminder that we need to be merciful and gentle with ourselves, and forgiving and compassionate.  Just as God is with us and wants us to be with other people.  We too need to remember that we are loved by God and we are loveable.  And that is so easy to overlook.

This week I invite you to ponder again these words of the gospel, to hear afresh the truth of Christ's words and reflect on what they might mean for us in our own life situation.  We are called to love God as our maker and redeemer and our love of God will be expressed chiefly by our loving concern and action for our neighbour.  We are all members of one family, the human family, and so we need to look out for each other as brothers and sisters.  We also need to learn to accept God's love for us, learning to be gentle with ourselves, forgiving and compassionate.

Jesus says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart ... and your neighbour as yourself."

Let us pray,

Lord, give us strength to follow your way.

Help us love today those we meet and reflect you in all we do.

Amen.

Sing a new song

Passage for reflection: Psalm 96: 1 - 9

I learnt this week of the passing of a dear soul in one of my former churches, Clifford Foster. Clifford was the organist at the Methodist Church in Rye for over 60 years. He was a superb organist, he had a lovely touch on the keys every Sunday. The congregation would give him a round of applause after every service and we would get an appreciative wave from the organ stall. 

Clifford knew what he liked! Christmas music for the choir was meticulously chosen every summer, Love came down at Christmas had to be included in the carol service, Rejoice the Lord is King always had the magnificent organ piece at the end at full gusto. He was very deaf so sometimes it took time to get his attention to play the hymn after I’d announced it! He didn’t like new hymns, he didn’t want Singing The Faith “that new book” but we’d put something from it on a piece of paper and I’d give him the music and he’d say “ooh, that’s nice, where did you find that?” We got “that new book” eventually! He would often change the tune of a hymn so you didn’t sometimes know what was coming the first time you picked one you wanted. I picked “Sing to the great Jehovah’s praise” once and he played a tune I’d never heard of! I asked what was wrong with the set tune. He said “I don’t like repeats!”

Clifford loved music and he saw his organ playing a ministry. He was also an organ builder. He rarely missed a Sunday. His family owned a printers and an amazing old fashioned department store in Rye. When you rang him your hymn numbers you had to ring the shop. They would put you on hold while they found him, and you would get recorded music down the phone. I’d say to Clifford “nice bit of jazz today” and you could feel him grimace! He used to sit in his fabulous office and he’d always say he couldn’t find a pencil! He was also property steward. He would climb ladders to change lightbulbs. I would shout “I’m not looking!” I’m so sad he has left us. I hope the choirs of heaven have welcomed him with a huge fanfare.

Thinking about Clifford I got thinking about the Psalm set in the lectionary for this Sunday: nine verses of Psalm 96. The Psalm is all about singing a new song. At the moment as this pandemic goes on, those of us who have returned to church buildings for worship are finding not being able to sing very very difficult. Humming behind a face covering is not the same. 

This music-making in worship: where does it come from?  Well, from when human beings first glimpsed God and were moved to worship him and found themselves breaking into song.  It's as if the words run out and some deeper form of speech is needed to touch both the mystery of our own longings and the mystery of the divine. 

Joining in a song lifts your soul, it’s an expression of a sentiment or a mood. To be in a church which can make a corporate joyful noise to the Lord is an expression of our faith. Methodists have always shared faith through hymnody. Away from church, people enjoy singing in choirs, some are meeting on Zoom with an organist or pianist and everyone on mute singing in their homes. 

Apparently it’s very difficult when everyone is unmuted trying to get everyone singing together! 

I enjoy turning the radio up loud and singing along. It does me good (if not those around me!) 

How could we worship without music and singing? Not just in today but in eternity.  In heaven where the likes of Clifford Foster now rest, the song of angels and archangels goes on perpetually.  Here on earth in our singing, we join in that heavenly song, practising what we shall one day do for ever. 

Rest in peace dear friend. Those of us in ministry have those souls we will never forget who become part of us, those who sing that new song we are called to enjoy. 

 I bet today Clifford has found an organ to play with, has changed his shoes, and is playing happily, with no repeats! 

Loving Father I lift up my voice in praise and thanksgiving for the wonder that You have done in my life. I pray that my life in thought, word and deed may be a song of praise to You, for the goodness of Your grace, for You alone are worthy, in Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Rejoice in the Lord always

Passage for reflection: Philippians 4: 1 - 9

At school in assembly in the hall, we used to face the motto we had to learn and live each day by.

“Rejoice in the Lord alway” was carved on a piece of wood hung at the front of the hall. We always wanted to carve an s on the end of it! We did our exams facing it. When you were in a state of despair in O Level Maths, there was little to rejoice about! 

We often forget that Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians in a place far worse than a maths exam! Considering the circumstances under which Paul wrote it, it really is quite remarkable that this letter should have become known as the ‘epistle of joy’. When we look more closely at what was going on in Paul’s life at the time, it’s hard to see what he’s got to be so joyful about.

For a start he’s in a Roman prison, chained up for his faith. Secondly, he knows that he’s facing the distinct possibility of imminent death and he has little earthly security. 

And yet we have this instruction here in Philippians 4:4: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.’

I’m very aware that at the moment with all this ongoing Covid 19 situation and the threat of further restrictions looming, there feels little to rejoice about. People are tired, they see no end to the virus, they worry about the future, it’s all hard work. Is Paul talking absolute nonsense when he tells us that we should rejoice always, even when we feel rubbish? 

There are two clues to how we might rejoice out of darkness in this passage. 

In verse 5 of Philippians chapter 4, Paul reminds us that the Lord we rejoice in ‘is near’. This means two things.

First, the Lord is near in the sense of being closer to us than anyone else. Whoever else we may lose, we cannot lose him. Whatever else we may lose, we cannot lose him. He will never let us down. He will always be there to be rejoiced in!

And secondly, the Lord is near in the sense of being just around the corner as he prepares to return to usher in the glorious fullness of his kingdom. He has promised to return and so return he will. Nothing can cause his promises to fail. Nothing can prevent him from doing what he chooses to do. In the light of his soon-to-be-revealed power, the difficulties we face now will fade into insignificance. So, since his coming again is so certain, let the fading into insignificance begin now! Let us look at our trying circumstances, not from the perspective of the present, but from the point of view of the future when they will all be swallowed up in the Lord’s victory. This is the Lord we rejoice in. This is the Lord who is to be the driving force behind our praise and worship. The Lord who is near. Let God himself be the focus of our joy. It’s about recognising what we face today won’t be how it forever. It is about believing in his Kingdom and seeing a bigger picture. 

Then we have verse 9: ‘Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.’ The key to joy is practical obedience to what God requires. As Jesus promised, ‘If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete’ (John 15.10-11).

This isn’t wishy washy spirituality. This is having hope in a God who is with us in the tough times and leads us from those times into a promise of a better future. We need when we struggle to keep focussed on him, keep prayer happening, find support in each other and have a vision. Someone said to me the other day they were tired of dreams and visions! I was sad they meant they’d had sessions in church to think about the future which left them disillusioned and drained. 

Three thoughts come to me as I reflect further on rejoicing in the Lord always.

First, reasons to rejoice may come when we feel grotty. Where is that unexpected joy in life? Where are those moments where God reminds us powerfully of his presence? We believe in resurrections out of darknesses. To know God is in the darkness can help us know peace in our heart and enables us to rejoice always. One of the best texts on this is Jurgen Moltmann’s “Theology and Joy.” How, he asks, can we laugh and rejoice when there are still so many tears to be wiped away and when new tears are being added every day? He cites the recent musical Fiddler on the Roof. Are the Jewish congregation here singing just to forget, or is there really such a thing as freedom in the midst of slavery, joy in the midst of suffering ? 

Then, maybe, we have times when we are shown God has been there all the time. We just have to search for him. This week I’ve been looking for safes in my new churches. The one at Bishop Monkton took some finding! I searched every room and every cupboard and gave up. Lis then came in the church and we looked everywhere again and were about to give up again when she said “what’s that over there?” Behind a pile of chairs was a little box covered over by a nice piece of fabric. It just took me being patient and looking hard to see it. Sometimes when we think God isn’t there we walk away. We need to look harder! 

And finally, we need to be confident. We rejoice because we have a hope in us. One of my favourite hymns is Rejoice the Lord is King. 

Charles Wesley wrote it for Easter and Ascensiontide. I always think of my organist at Rye, Clifford Foster, when I choose it. The music has an almighty bit at the end where you pull out all the stops but apart from him I’ve not heard an organist play that bit! But it’s a hymn of absolute certainty: a jubilant call to rejoice in the reign of our Lord! Meanwhile we worry about money in the church and how we can survive... um!

Rejoice in glorious hope!

Jesus the judge shall come

And take his servants up,

To their eternal home:

Lift up your heart, lift up your voice! Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!”

Always! 

I wonder have you ever heard the story of Aunt Betty who just loved to hear the Word of God ? But she always presented a problem to the preacher for during the message she would always shout, “ Praise the Lord.” This so upset her pastor that he would lose his train of thought and so every time Aunt Betty shouted out this would throw him, and he would really get messed up. So he went to Aunt Betty and said, “Now Aunt Betty I really appreciate you but I wish you would not shout when I am preaching for it puts me off, I really bothers me.” He continued, “Aunt Betty, I know that you don’t have too much materially so I’ll tell you what I’ll do. If you won’t shout I’ll get you two of the finest blankets you’ve ever seen.”

Well, Aunt Betty agreed, and she came along to the services at the church and held it in, muffed it, and stifled it. Indeed, she did not shout for a month. Then one Sunday there was a visiting preacher and he got preaching about forgiveness, and the grace of God and she blew it right there for she got so happy that her sins were forgiven that she shouted out, “Blankets or no blankets praise the Lord.”

Someone wrote this which I think is great. 

“It’s all too easy for us to be what might be called ‘diabetic’ Christians. You know how with diabetes, patients need regular injections of insulin to keep their blood sugar at a healthy level. Without their insulin, they quickly become unwell and may even die. It is not God’s intention for us to be dependent on injections of joy from the outside, but to have an inner source that bubbles up all the time. How is your spiritual pancreas getting on?”

Let us pray:

God of hope and promise, remind us today you are with us always. Show us the reasons we have for joy. Finding you again, may we rejoice in you. Being blessed by you, may we this week be a blessing to others. In Jesus name. Amen. 

Rejection

Passage for reflection: Matthew 21: 33 - 46

I was asked to judge a cookie baking competition on Wednesday afternoon. Some of the residents of one of the care homes in Ripon met me on Zoom for my verdict. The cookies had been left on my doorstep for me to taste. I was worried I’d upset those I didn’t choose to win. The last time I did judging was an Easter bonnet competition for children and those I didn’t choose as winners got very upset! Wednesday afternoon went okay. The folk had fun and they all enjoyed taking part and they all got a certificate which said “we made cookies today, and it was fab.”

I mentioned I was doing this on Facebook. I love the story a colleague in Cumbria told me. He said, “ I had to judge a lovely legs competition at the local WI. They all stood on the stage and the curtain was lifted, just so I could see the legs. I made my choice and made a speedy exit.”’!!!

Like the children I didn’t choose in the Easter bonnet competition, some people cannot cope with rejection. We all remember job interviews where we were not successful. The matching process for ministers is hard. I’ve mostly been alright through it except for one occasion where I was matched to a very large town centre church and a Superintendency and I was put through ten rounds of an ecclesiastical boxing match (I lost every round) and I was told I was “grossly inexperienced” and I was rejected, not just rejected but devalued and rubbished. 

I feel at the moment for those people who through Covid have been made redundant and who now will struggle to find a new job, especially those who are of a certain age. To suddenly face insecurity through no fault of your own and to have rejection letter after rejection letter is horrific.    

In the bible story for this Sunday, Jesus tells a story to make it clear what happens if religiosity becomes excluding and rejecting and even bullying people away. 

A landowner established a vineyard complete with a fence, a winepress, and even a watchtower. He then became an absentee landowner, returning to his own country as often happened back then in the far-flung territories of the Roman Empire. Tenants were in charge of overseeing the productivity of the vineyard and paying their rent to the owner at harvest time, in the form of a share of the produce. 

In this story, when the owner's slaves arrived to collect his share of the produce, the tenants attacked them, even beating one and killing another. The owner of the vineyard then simply sent another delegation of slaves to collect the rent. 

Those slaves were treated even worse than the first. Surely by now the owner would send in troops or some form of armed enforcement of his rights! But no, instead he sends his son, thinking by some logic that the thugs who have abused two delegations of slaves will respect the owner's son and heir. How foolish! In parallel folly the tenants reason that if they kill the son, they will get his inheritance. 

And Jesus makes two points about rejection.

One, the story is about him and the authorities who question what he is playing at. The story in Matthew 21 comes just after Jesus has entered Jerusalem to adoring crowds, but also huge political and spiritual suspicion about him and impending threat to his life. “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” That which the powerful, even parts of the Church reject, builds a new holy space where different values and behaviour flourishes. 

And two, the Kingdom will be taken away from the ones who behave so atrociously. The rejected run the show! “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.”

Jesus might be rejected and despised and killed and placed in a tomb behind a huge stone, but that isn’t the end of the story. The stone is rolled away, the cornerstone, weak in the world’s eyes, becomes the foundation of all we try and do to be his people. 

Who are the rejected today?

Those who aren’t worth our attention.

Those of a different skin colour or sexual orientation. 

Those who aren’t given a chance because they are rubbished before they even start. 

Those who are easy pickings to shout at and ridicule because we like a target to tell they do nothing right so we destroy them mentally and turn them into people who just think they aren’t good enough.

Small churches which we think should be shut. How arrogant are we when we think we can judge what happens in a place we know very little about. 

For me, the story Jesus tells reminds me of where he went for me, to suffering, to rejection and to death. We will kill anything that might destroy our own ambition to stop us keeping the rent for ourselves. It reminds me the times I feel rejected won’t last, and to keep going, with my faithful doing of what I think is right which will produce fruit. Those who reject me through words and actions will in the end destroy themselves. We hold on. There is life beyond rejection and death —- always. 

“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. 

Give in to it.

There are plenty of lives 

and whole towns destroyed or about to be.

We are not wise, and not very often kind.

And much can never be redeemed.

Still life has some possibility left.

Perhaps this is its way of fighting back,

that sometimes something happened

better than all the riches or power in the world.

It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins.

Anyway, that’s often the case.

Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty.

Joy is not made to be a crumb.“

― Mary Oliver

I love that poem. Amid rejection, remember you are accepted, even if you are “grossly inexperienced” and your cookie or Easter bonnet is never picked. Jesus quoted Psalm 118 to his sniping and snarling audience he told this story to. Basically saying you can do what you like to me — you won’t have the last word.

“The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”