lyrics for living 3 (dews of quietness)

Last year my daughter Bethany asked me if she could cross-stitch some words that were precious to me.  It took a few seconds to make up my mind. And so it came to pass, over Christmas, that some wise words arrived from the east (well, more the south, I guess), simply framed and starkly beautiful.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness
’til all our strivings cease.
Take from our lives the strain and stress;
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of Thy peace.

It sits now in a prominent place on my desk. Just in front of the tissue roll that helps remove the ‘strain and stress’ from my far-too-frequent spillages of tea across my desk. Just behind the tangled web of cords that remind me of the ‘strain and stress’ in my life caused by technology. Just next to a picture of my other daughter (Alyssa) – and little Micah – who are coming to visit me in 15 days … now, how’s that for a ‘strain and stress’ reliever?

Sometimes we are led to believe that ‘joy’ and ‘happiness’ are somehow related to each other, maybe even synonyms. In reality, ‘happiness’ is a pathetic word, with its experience marked normally by something shallow and temporary. The experience is more thermometer (controlled by the environment) than it is thermostat (controlling the environment).

Far better, I think, to divorce joy from happiness and remarry it to peace. Because ‘peace is joy resting; joy is peace dancing’. This is where oneness lies – maybe even synonymity. These lyrics speak about the beauty of God’s peace and how God drops it like dew onto our lives – quietly, refreshingly, gently, daily – resting upon us in a way that takes away the strain and stress that comes with  living. And when the experience is rich and full, take another look – it might just be joy as well.

This verse gained some profile in the Dunkirk scene in the movie Atonement. I’ll show it here, but it was far more impressive in the flow of the film where it took me so much by surprise:

There are many choral/organ performances of this hymn (Dear Lord and Father of Mankind) but here is a quirky version sung in an odd setting … and yet with its own power (this verse is at 2.48).

nice chatting

Paul

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About Me

paul06.16

the art of unpacking

After a childhood in India, a theological training in the USA and a pastoral ministry in Southland (New Zealand), I spent twenty years in theological education in New Zealand — first at Laidlaw College and then at Carey Baptist College, where I served as principal. In 2009 I began working with Langham Partnership and since 2013 I have been the Programme Director (Langham Preaching). Through it all I've cherished the experience of the 'gracious hand of God upon me' and I've relished the opportunity to 'unpack', or exegete, all that I encounter in my walk through life with Jesus.

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4 Comments

  1. Heather on January 13, 2015 at 7:18 pm

    Thank you. I've now had the hymn rolling around in my head all day, and just now have put the words on my computer desktop to keep it there 🙂

  2. not a wild hera on January 31, 2015 at 7:31 pm

    love love love.

  3. the art of unpacking on February 1, 2015 at 11:34 am

    Thanks to both of you. Once you get these words resonating around inside, they are difficult to shift!

  4. blogger on August 3, 2015 at 10:16 am

    Life is good when you have your love ones around you, I am saying this because when i had issues with my lover i never seen life as a good thing but thanks to Dr. AGBAZARA of AGBAZARA TEMPLE, for helping me to cast a spell that brought my lover back to me within the space of 48hours. My husband left me for another woman after 7YEARS of marriage,but Dr.AGBAZARA help me cast a spell that brought him back to me within 48hours. I am not going to tell you more details about myself rather i will only advise those who are having issues in there relationship or marriages to contact Dr.AGBAZARA TEMPLE through these details via; (agbazara@gmail.com) or call him on +2348104102662

    LUCY from USA.

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