What did the boy know?

After 1 Samuel 17:26-49 

What did the boy know,

what did the boy think,

as he approached the giant,

the giant hurling insults

and taunts? Did the boy

feel uncertainty, feel fear?

Did he walk across

the field with a sinking 

heart or with confidence

and trust? Did he hear

the angry words of his

own brothers, embarrassed

by their cowardice, their

own fear? What we know

is this: the boy knew

the king’s own armor 

was not only useless but

a hindrance, to be cast

aside. What we know is 

this: the boy picked up

five smooth stones from

the creek bed, his only

armament against

the armed giant. What we do

know is this: the boy 

with the stones prevailed

against the armed giant,

the boy anointed 

by his Lord.

 

Photograph by Awais Jamil via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

On Hospitality – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

Why Dads Still Matter – J. Warner Wallace at Cold-Case Christianity.

 

Evangelism and the Cynic – Melissa Edgington at Your Mom Has a Blog.

It's never about us

After 1 Samuel 17:26-49 

It’s never about us,

this life we live,

this world we inhabit;

it never is. And it never

was about us. A drama

unfolds across the years, 

across the millennia, 

across time human

and divine, a drama

in which we play but

a small part. No, it’s

not about us, but

about the one who

has written the drama,

the playwright, as

it’s always been.

 

Photograph by Hamish Kale via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“Psalm,” poem by Michellan Sarile-Alagao – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

Seeing God’s Faithfulness in the Mundane – Lara d’Entremont at A Mother Held.

 

“Softly and Tenderly,” hymn by Will Thompson – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

I Miss the Stars – Seth Lewis.

Small things

After 1 Samuel 17:26-49 

The small things

of this world are

sometimes the most

powerful things

of this world. Like

using a small, smooth

stone to fight an army

with its champion 

a taunting giant,

a giant working fear

into the hearts of

ordinary men. But

a taunting giant is

no match for one

smooth stone, cast

by a boy, the Lord’s

anointed, a boy

outraged by insults

hurled at the army

of the living God.

 

Photograph by John Salzarulo via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

God Is Our Guide on Paths We Did Not Choose – Glenna Marshall.

 

What Does a Post-Literate Culture Look Like? – O. Alan Noble at You Are Not Your Own.

 

One of These (Beatitudes) Is Not Like the Others! – Br. Patrick Bubel at The Imaginative Conservative.