A New Baptism

"Day is dying in the west, Heav'n is touching earth with rest; Wait and worship while the night Sets it's evening lamps alight Through all the sky.  Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts! Heav'n and earth are full of Thee!  Heav'n and earth are praising Thee, O Lord most high!"   I first learned and came to love this song long years ago at Young Harris College as we gathered each evening for vespers in the chapel.  Although not sung often through the decades since those days, it is a song never forgotten.  Recently, I have found myself remembering, re-discovering, and singing aloud this wonderful evening song so filled with praise.

 

The season of retirement has opened new windows to see the world.  In the evenings I am no longer rushing to the church building for a meeting.  No longer do I spend those transition moments between day and night inside.  Instead, a majority of my day is spent outside and each evening as the day is finishing up, I am doing what I think of as my end-of-the-day chores, things like feeding the dog, gathering the eggs, shutting up the chicken coop for the night, checking the water level in the cow trough, and making sure everything outside that needs tending has been tended.  It has come to be a favorite time of the day.

 

Tonight I was a bit late getting started and the sun was long gone from the  western horizon.  Darkness had settled in.  The Frosty Full Moon had risen and was shining through the fog which was rising in waves all around me.  The air was filled with strong hints of winter coming and I was just privileged and blessed to see and to be a part of it.  It seemed like a moment of being baptized in creation and I found myself remembering and singing aloud that song of praise learned so long ago at Young Harris College.  "...Heav'n and earth are full of Thee!  Heav'n and earth are praising Thee, O Lord most high!"