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Foresight: Spent

28/10/2021

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'The Widow's Prayer', Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

'Sonnet 19: (On His Blindness) When I consider...' by John Milton

When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest He returning chide,
'Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?'
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, 'God doth not need
Either man's work, or his own gifts. Who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
​They also serve who only stand and wait.'


Frederic Leighton (1830–1896) was a British painter, artist and sculptor.

John Milton (1608–1674) was an English poet.
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a voice in the darkness

25/10/2021

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By Emma McCoy

(Samuel and his visions)

Listen! Here, in the dark,
someone calling your name.
Not the old prophet, sleeping
heavy, nor his sons who
sleep dreamless every night.
Look! There, on the inner steps
of the temple, a woman praying
and pleading with God.
Her whispers float over cold
marble and you shift
your child’s feet. Familiar?
Perhaps, like a dream
that comes once a year.
You blink once and she’s gone,
quiet like the name 
just outside your reach.
Wait! Someone else must be here
in shadowed corridors and empty
nighttime splendor
for you can feel it
as close as your next breath.

Now, in those days there
were no frequent visions

but the dark seems less scary
and you can see the faith
the future holds, with oil
and pride and pastures.
This must be what your mother
prayed over you when she
dropped you off on the temple
steps, blessing personified.
You, child, are love embodied,
proof of a warm and living God
who spins dreams. You see
His mysteries this night, and every night,
walking past prophets and sons,
feet cold on marble head
light and full of promise.
Breathe, Kingmaker, and 
fall asleep to the sound of
your name whispered with love.

Emma McCoy is a literature student at Point Loma Nazarene University, California. Much of her poetry explores biblical narratives through re-imagination, closed forms and a close look at the structures and imagery of the original stories. When she's not writing, she spends her time outdoors chasing the downhill -- either skiing or mountain-biking.

Emma's other poems on
Foreshadow:
- the third movement of Genesis (January 2021)
- To Cross the Jordan (June 2021)
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Foresight: Calling

21/10/2021

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'The Calling of Samuel', Joshua Reynolds, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

'The Collar' by George Herbert

I struck the board, and cried 'No more!
               I will abroad.
What, shall I ever sigh and pine?
My lines and life are free; free as the road,
Loose as the wind, as large as store.
          Shall I be still in suit?
Have I no harvest but a thorn
To let me blood, and not restore
What I have lost with cordial fruit?
          Sure there was wine
Before my sighs did dry it: there was corn
          Before my tears did drown it.
Is the year only lost to me?
          Have I no bays to crown it?
No flowers, no garlands gay? All blasted?
               All wasted?
Not so, my heart; but there is fruit,
          And thou hast hands.
Recover all thy sigh-blown age
On double pleasures; leave thy cold dispute
Of what is fit and not; forsake thy cage,
          Thy rope of sands,
Which petty thoughts have made, and made to thee
     Good cable to enforce and draw,
               And be thy law
While thou didst wink and wouldst not see.
          Away, take heed:
               I will abroad.
Call in thy death's head there: tie up thy fears.
               He that forbears
     To suit and serve his need,
               Deserves his load.'
But as I raved and grew more fierce and wild
               At every word,
Methought I heard one calling, 'Child!'
     And I replied, 'My Lord!'

Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) was an English portrait painter.

George Herbert (1593–1633) was a Welsh poet and an Anglican priest.
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Forecast (Ep 17): Songs of Zion

18/10/2021

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After clicking 'Play', please wait a few moments for the podcast to load.
You can also listen on ​Spotify, Apple, Google, Podomatic, Player FM and Deezer. 
Listen to other Forecasts here. 

This Forecast is a mixtape of music by the podcast's co-hosts, some of which has been featured in clips in previous episodes, and some of which is new.  
​
Outline of today's 
Forecast
​
  • 00:00 -- ​Introduction
  • 01:06 -- 'Now Your Love Satisfies Me' by Josh Seligman
  • 05:49 -- 'Hilltop' by Will Shine
  • 09:27 -- 'Here, There, and Everywhere In-between' by Will Shine
  • 14:10 -- 'More Than This' by Will Shine
  • 18:48 -- 'Love Is' by Will Shine
  • 23:11 -- 'The Singer Saith of His Song' poem by Francis Thompson
  • 24:24 -- Bonus Track: 'Hoʻonani Ka Makua Mau – Doxology' by Will Shine

'Now Your Love Satisfies Me' by Josh Seligman
Based on the Gerasene man from whom Jesus cast out an army of demons

​In the morning, I used to fear
The strangers I had seen in my dreams
They'd pin me down and change my name
But now those voices never make a sound

In the morning, I used to hide
From the people who used to hide from me
I'd bruise my face to try to get away
But now I'm so glad to be around

In the morning, now I sing

In the morning, I used to cry
That toil and trouble would follow all my days
I'd break my chains, they'd clamp again
But now they are nowhere to be found

In the morning, I used to climb
The hillside to jump into the sea
But then I found you, when you found me
And now I am sitting on the ground

Now your love satisfies

And when you asked my name, I couldn't say
But when you come again, I'll find a better place
Where you can stay

In the morning, now I sing
To tell of all the good God's done for me
And if you hear me sing my song
And if you know the words, then sing along

In the morning, now I sing
That now your love satisfies
'Cause now your love satisfies me.

Josh Seligman is the founding editor of Foreshadow and a co-host of its podcast, Forecast. 

Will Shine is a co-host of Forecast.

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Foresight: Songs of Sion

14/10/2021

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'River at Evening', William Keith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

'The Singer Saith of His Song' by Francis Thompson

​The touches of man's modern speech
Perplex her unacquainted tongue;
There seems through all her songs a sound
Of falling tears. She is not young.

Within her eyes' profound arcane
Resides the glory of her dreams;
Behind her secret cloud of hair,
She sees the Is beyond the Seems.

Her heart sole-towered in her steep spirit,
Somewhat sweet is she, somewhat wan;
And she sings the songs of Sion
By the streams of Babylon.

William Keith (1838–1911) was a Scottish-American painter.

Francis Thompson (1859
–1907) was an English and Catholic poet. 
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Upon Turning Sixty in October

11/10/2021

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By Susan Yanos

Unless you be born again. . .     (John 3:3)

Do not ask this—howling winter
soon bearing down—this just now do
not ask:

born in ripeness to reject nectar
of pear, hanging heavy from bough, for rhubarb’s
tart spikes

abandon sanctuary padded with costly
harvests for road of endless summits and wind
tormented tent

let cold locked in bones seep into flesh
and brain until it under scalding sun
boils dry.

Too much your call too
much I fear I must say no while do
yes.

Susan Yanos is the author of The Tongue Has No Bone, a book of poems, and Woman, You Are Free: A Spirituality for Women in Luke; and is co-editor and co-author of Emerging from the Vineyard: Essays by Lay Ecclesial Ministers. Her poems, essays and articles have appeared in several journals. A former professor of writing, literature and ministry of writing, she now serves as a spiritual director, retreat leader and freelance editor. She lives with her husband on their farm in east-central Indiana (US), where she creates art quilts and tends to her hens, fruit trees and gardens.

'Upon Turning Sixty in October' was first published in 
The Tongue Has No Bone. It has been republished here with the author's permission.

Susan's other work on Foreshadow:
- God Who Sent the Dove Sends the Hawk (Poetry, January 2021)
- Love Song of the Anawim (Poetry, April 2021)

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Foresight: Trees

7/10/2021

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Picture
Grigoriy Myasoyedov, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

'Trees' by Walter de la Mare

Of all the trees in England,
     Her sweet three corners in,
Only the Ash, the bonnie Ash
     Burns fierce while it is green.

Of all the trees in England,
     From sea to sea again,
The Willow loveliest stoops her boughs
     Beneath the driving rain.

Of all the trees in England,
     Past frankincense and myrrh,
There's none for smell, of bloom and smoke,
     Like Lime and Juniper.

Of all the trees in England,
     Oak, Elder, Elm and Thorn,
The Yew alone burns lamps of peace
     For them that lie forlorn.

Grigoriy Grigorievich Myasoyedov (1834–1911) was a Russian realist painter.

​Walter John de la Mare (1873–1956) was an English poet, short story writer and novelist.
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Forecast (Ep 16): Looking Backwards and Forwards

4/10/2021

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After clicking 'Play', please wait a few moments for the podcast to load.
You can also listen on ​Spotify, Apple, Google, Podomatic, Player FM and Deezer. 
Listen to other Forecasts here. 

Co-hosts Josh and Will look back over this past (and first) season of Forecast. After briefly reviewing each of the episodes thus far, they share their highlights and challenges as well as emerging themes for future episodes, especially concerning Christian worship.

From today's Forecast:
​
Will: I'm always struck by the 15th- or 16th-century monastic Brother Lawrence and his The Practice of the Presence of God. This monk in the kitchen, former foot solider, finds some sense of deep fulfillment and purpose in an otherwise monotonous, mundane and otherwise milk-toast job.

And yet there's this huge, exuding sense of both worship -- and for him this means devotion and dedication to his notion of God and to Christian service -- but also just this joy, this sense of joy and wonder...and just appreciation of life. And I think that just as that was true for that individual...I think that's true for all of our guests. They found some sense of purpose and joy, even despite problematic dimensions to things they're working on or working through, despite challenges. There's something about sitting in that, where the real...blessedness is.

It's in struggle, it's in work, it's in trial that you really can recognise a blessedness, not because it's soothing, comforting or reassuring, but because you need to turn to something bigger than yourself...and you recognise that you're a part of something that's moving forward.

Josh Seligman is the founding editor of Foreshadow and co-host of its podcast, Forecast.

Will Shine is a co-host of
Forecast.
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