HOW TO BE SAFE

In this extraordinary time when the media feed us with daily stories of sickness and death throughout the world, it's all too easy to feel insecure and worried.  The risks for some are particularly heavy, especially for those who work on the front line for the NHS and its equivalents worldwide.  From a practical point of view no-one is safe.

But come with me to have a look at four stories which tell of the ultimate and only source of safety. The coronavirus is by no means the first plague to have threatened mankind.

(1)  The Ten Plagues. We've all heard the story of the ten plagues in Egypt, culminating in the pivotal event in the history of the Jews - the Exodus. Who was safe when the final plague did away with the eldest son in every Egyptian family,  and ultimately when the whole of Pharaoh's army perished in the Red Sea?  The only safe families were those who, because of their belief in God, obeyed strict instructions. The angel of death passed over them (hence the expression 'The Passover') and later the whole tribe passed over the dried-up bed of the Red Sea to safety.

(2) David and Goliath.  When David, a young lad, offered to take up the challenge of the Philistines and fight their giant soldier Goliath in a duel, King Saul said "You can't possibly do it!"  "But I can" said David. 

"One day when I was watching my father's sheep, a lion grabbed a lamb and I went after it and struck the lion and he dropped the lamb. Then he came after me but I caught him by his beard and killed him. Another time I killed a bear with my hands. And I'll do the same to this wicked giant, for he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who saved me from the jaws of the lion and the bear will save me from the sword of the giant."   

We know how the story ended. But where did David's confidence come from? How did he know he would be safe, when the odds were stacked so heavily against him?  The answer stares at us from what David said. He knew he could trust in God.  It 's interesting to reflect that David had spent years as a shepherd in wild land, learning his skills. During that time he cannot have known that those very skills would one day be used to change the destiny of his nation.

(3) The furnace.  The Jews were in exile in Babylon. Three friends of Daniel, named Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, refused to bow down to worship a statue of the Emperor Nebuchadnezzar. As a penalty of this refusal they were threatened with death by burning.  Their respectful but firm response in instructive: "We won't do it! If you throw us into the furnace, our God is able to save us, and He will. But even if He doesn't, we will not worship your gods, sir, nor bow to your gold statue."  
 

Who is the fourth person? Read the bible story to find out.

 The furnace was heated up to such a temperature that it killed the nearby soldiers on duty. The three men were flung into the furnace but escaped unscathed.  Again, it's clear why they were safe. Even in those days, perhaps before there was any clear understanding of an afterlife, these men were confident enough in their God to know that one way or another they would be safe. And they were. (And, in the course of time Nebuchadnezzar himself, the greatest emperor of his time, became a believer in God, realising that his own power was as nothing compared to the power of God).

(4) The Lion's den.   Nebuchadnezzar eventually knew the truth, but his successors didn't.  Daniel lived on into old age (probably he was 80 by now) in exile in Babylon, and those who hated believers in God concocted a scheme to have Daniel done away with. Daniel always regularly prayed to God, so they persuaded the king, Darius,  to make a law that for 30 days, anyone who prayed to anyone other than the king would be thrown into a den of lions.   

Inevitably Daniel  was caught and sentenced to this gory punishment. We know what happened. Daniel was as safe in the lions' pit as he would have been anywhere else.  This was such a stunning outcome that Darius, like his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar, became a believer in God.

(5) I'd like to round off this quartet of stories about where safety lies,  by returning to David, who found himself in 'lockdown' when he was fleeing from Saul, and again later in life when he was fleeing from Absalom. Many of his writings express his feelings whilst in great danger. But those dangers never caused him to abandon his faith in God. In Psalm 61 he looked for safety under God's protection. He said

"Lead me to the rock which is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in your tent for ever, and take refuge in the shelter of your wings."

There are four word-pictures in this about God's protection -  

a rock: rugged strength and stability; 
  
a tower - purpose-built protection;  

a tent - in David's time the tent, or tabernacle was the house of God; 

wings - the sort of shelter which a mother hen gives to her chicks.

(6) I don’t want to be misunderstood. Inevitably the dreadful coronavirus will continue to afflict and in some cases kill thousands of people worldwide, whether they trust in God or not. But the astounding promise of Jesus that "whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life"  gives us a security which no-one else can give. Centuries before Jesus uttered these words, those heroes of the Old Testament somehow had an inner conviction of where true safety lay.

(1) Exodus 8-14

(2) 1 Samuel 17

(3) Daniel 3

(4) Daniel 6.  (…and in this story a prophetic prayer made by Solomon 466 years earlier was fulfilled - see 1 Kings 8.^{30, 46-50)}

(5) Psalm 61.^2-4

(6) John 3.¹⁶

The Neston horse-drawn tramway

(All pictures and maps can be enlarged if you click on them)

Many years ago, stone was mined at Spring Quarry - immediately underneath the present MoD buildings - and transported to Corsham Station on a horse-drawn tramway. (All the stone extraction in Corsham was from 'quarries' even though they were underground).

Stone wharf at Corsham Station

The tramway crossed from Greenhill into Spring Lane, before curving off to the loading bays to the West of Spring Lane.

In 1988, when the quarry in Park Lane was a stone museum, they held an open day and laid a stretch of track to demonstrate the use of the tramway. 

Then in 2024 two stone waggons were renovated by the members of the Brunel Shed in Potley, and placed near the A4 in Pickwick: 

 

 

Everything has now disappeared, though I managed to photograph some of the old rail from the track, now being used as a washing line pole in a Greenhill garden - only 20 yards or so from where the tramway used to run.

Two more pictures supplied to me from the collections of Derek Hawkins and Julian Carosi: 
 

The tramway in Spring Lane, Neston, where it curved off to the loading bays

 

At the corner of Potley Lane - tramway visible on the left

 Another tramway also led to the wharf at Corsham Station by crossing Potley Bridge. The track led down to the wharf at the right of the picture.  Potley Bridge is a Grade II listed building, as it dates from the pioneering stage of railway development and is a rare example of an early flying arch bridge constructed to a design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

 

In the following map I have superimposed roughly the layout of roads in the area to show where the underground quarry workings are in relation to the surface. (Click on the map to enlarge it)

The following reproductions are from a quarry map dated 1900…..

A broken Hallelujah

Our friend Tammy from South Africa drew our attention to a recent music video of  Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' .   The choirmaster at Roedean School in South Africa put together brilliantly and movingly a video of the choir singing this haunting song after the school had closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.  Somehow he used technology to film the choristers individually and then put them together as though they were performing in the school.  It was deeply moving to see them singing together in harmony whilst we saw the empty rooms and corridors.  I recommend that you watch the video before reading on: if you search for 'Hallelujah' on Youtube and choose the Roedean School version, it's easy to find. 

Or copy and paste this link into your browser:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y51WWrYodI&list=RD3y51WWrYodI&start_radio=1

Listening to the strange words of this song I wondered what they really meant. These are the lyrics:

Well, I heard there was a secret chord
That David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
Well it goes like this:
The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah...
 
Well your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya
She tied you to her kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah...
 
You say I took the name in vain

I don't even know the name

But if I did, well really what's it to ya?

There's a blaze of light in every word

It doesn't matter which you heard

The holy or the broken Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah...
 
I did my best, it wasn't much

I couldn't feel so I tried to touch

I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool ya

And even though it all went wrong

I'll stand before the lord of song

With nothing on my tongue but hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah...

Well, baby, I've been here before
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor (you know)
I used to live alone before I knew ya
And I've seen your flag on the marble arch
And love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
 
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah...
 
Well, there was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show that to me, do ya?
But remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah
 
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah...
 
Maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
 
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah

 

Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen was a Canadian Jew - his surname indicates his Jewish background:  Cohen, the most common surname in Israel, means 'priest' and represents an ancient biblical priestly heritage.  Just what sort of a faith Cohen himself had isn't easy to pin down, though towards the end of this song he seems to express a struggle to retain a faith that he once had, or thought he had.  As he struggles with belief versus unbelief, he still retains some sort of desire to worship.     His thoughts expressed in this song have clear links to the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament).

 

David the harpist - window at Roedean School, SA

The song  looks at David, the musician and man of God, who despite his deep faith in God is tempted by Bathsheba and falls into sin. 

 

David spies on Bathsheba - painting by Tissot

Then there is the parallel story of Samson, another man dedicated to God, who falls into the same sexual temptation and is seduced by Delilah. 

 

Samson and Delilah - painting by Van Dyck

 Both are imperfect human beings - (aren't we all?) - yet both are repentant and both want to continue to worship God  -  hence their use of 'Hallelujah', which roughly translates as 'Praise the Lord'.  Though the song doesn't mention it, that's where every believer in God stands. We are all sinners - all fault-ridden individuals. It's only by the grace of our creator that we are acceptable to Him.  It's very appropriate therefore that our praise to Him is described as 'a broken Hallelujah'.

The sinful actions of David and of Samson are recorded in the Bible and we can see in their stories that their actions had terrible results.* They certainly paid a heavy price for their behaviour.  Yet they repented, and David's moving repentance is recorded in Psalm 51 , where David says "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;   you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise."

The Bible is a treasure-house of stories which tells us repeatedly that if we sincerely want a relationship with our maker, he is willing to set aside our imperfections, our inadequacies and our stumblings, provided we acknowledge and repent of them. We can turn to Him and not be turned away.  It seems to me that Leonard Cohen was trying to grasp this when he wrote   Hallelujah!

*  2 Samuel 11 and Judges 16

There's a much more detailed analysis of the lyrics of Hallelujah at

  https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/how-leonard-cohens-hallelujah-brilliantly-mingled-sex-religion-194516/

Covidia

I was about to write a blog entry relating to the coronavirus pandemic, but discovered that Canon J  John has written, probably much better than I could, his thoughts on the issue which are much the same as mine.  So I'd like to share his thoughts with you rather than writing my own blog entry on this:

 

Comfort in Covidia

I imagine I’m not alone in feeling that I have been mysteriously pushed through the doors of some magical wardrobe and now, in a state of severe bewilderment, find myself gazing around a strange, unwelcoming landscape. It is definitely not C.S. Lewis’s Narnia; this hostile desert – which I take the opportunity of naming Covidia – is much more alien and daunting. Yet the door is closed behind us and, to use the old words of the King James Bible, you and I find ourselves ‘strangers in a strange land’ (Exodus 2:22). What we face is threatening and even frightening. Nevertheless, I’m comforted by the fact that many of the followers of Jesus have trod this path before. Although we find the present COVID-19 pandemic unusual, it’s worth remembering that if you look back over history it was a rare generation that didn’t have to grapple with such things as the Black Death, plague, cholera or the like. Other men and women of faith have crossed this discouraging landscape before us.

One man who did is the great reformer Martin Luther. In 1527, at a time when bubonic plague was rampaging across Germany with many fatalities, he was asked the question as to whether it was right to run away from it. Never a man to give a short answer when a long one would do, he wrote an entire booklet in response. Originally given the less than cheering title Whether to Flee From Death, it was later published under the slightly more positive name Whether One May Flee From A Deadly Plague. The full text is found at https://davenantinstitute.org/whether-one-may-flee-from-a-deadly-plague/ and has much of interest. In one paragraph Luther expresses his own position like this:

‘I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbour needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely, as stated above. See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.’

There’s a lot to ponder here and let me offer you three wise principles from it that still hold true.

Principle 1 Learn wisely
In fact, for its time there is here a good example of what you might call ‘sanitary sanity’. Luther intends adopting a strategy of what we would call self-isolation as much as possible and of avoiding going where he is not needed. His reasoning is, very reasonably, that he knows that he could become infected and therefore pass on the plague to others. His comment about that which might ‘tempt God’ refers to presumably the sort of situation where someone claims divine protection and then recklessly runs into a situation demanding God to protect them. Significantly, despite the passing of nearly 500 years, this remains good guidance: we should pay attention to the suggestions of medical experts and think of minimising the spread of the disease to us or to others. COVID-19 has claimed enough victims – try not to give it any more.

Principle 2 Live faithfully
We can no doubt identify with Luther praying for God’s protection but his comments on his own death probably take us beyond our comfort zone. Luther has a deep, calm and commendable trust that if his heavenly Father does decide to take him in death, then so be it; the key thing is that he has done his duty and not put anybody else at risk. Many of us have a faith that asks nothing more than ‘Lord, keep me safe today’. Luther sees his whole life in the hands of God. Indeed, his perspective on death is helpful: he sees it not as an act of bitter tragedy or a demonic victory but simply as an event where God ‘takes him’. Underlying all the actions Luther intends to take is his deep faith in Christ.

Principle 3 Love richly
The question that Luther was addressing is whether someone in a position of church responsibility should flee from peril. To summarise his answer: if you have no duties you can leave, but if your neighbour – and here, following Jesus, he means anybody we are in contact with – needs you, you should stay. Actually, in days of a global pandemic, fleeing disease makes little sense but the principle of being lovingly concerned for those around us remains completely valid. One of the problems with epidemics is that there is always a temptation to ‘look after Number One’ and self-isolation heightens it. We tend to make some sort of physical or psychological bunker and go and hide away inside. While this makes medical sense, it brings its own perils. Jesus asked, ‘What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?’ (Matthew 16:26 NLT). In the same vein we might ask, ‘What do I benefit if we survive this epidemic but, in the process, harm our eternal soul?’ We are to love God with all that we have but also our neighbour.

The bleak landscape of Covidia through which we must travel is very much uncharted territory. Yet we are not the first to travel it; Luther and countless others have gone before us and, if it’s any encouragement, the reformer himself outlived the plague and kept going for another 19 years before God finally ‘took him’.

With that image of a sterile and ominous landscape before us I am reminded of the first few lines of what is the best known of all Welsh hymns, ‘Guide me, O thou great Redeemer, Pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but thou art mighty; Hold me with thy powerful hand.’ Here we have the greatest of encouragements. As we travel through this difficult time, we, who have put our faith in Christ, know that he travels alongside us. Jesus is Emmanuel, the one who is ‘God with us’ (Matthew 1:23). And in our harsh new world, that is the greatest comfort of all.

J.John
Reverend Canon
www.canonjjohn.com

Plague, Pence and Prayer

With coronavirus attacking in more and more locations, it was interesting to read of an atheist's reaction: 

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has been mocked by liberals after the White House released a photo of him in his White House office leading a prayer before commencing a meeting with his coronavirus task force. The White House's official Flickr account released the photo showing Pence and 15 others in his West Wing office, all with their heads bowed in prayer. Pence has been asked by President Donald Trump to lead the federal government's response to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. The author of the "Friendly Atheist" on the Patheos website, Hemant Mehta, responded to the photo by mocking: "It's not a joke when people say these Republicans are trying to stop a virus with prayer." He continued, "What else did anyone expect? Science? Reason? Something sensible? Of course not. If this virus truly becomes a pandemic, we're at the mercy of people delusional enough to think their pleas to God will fix the problem." Mehta even went on to mock God, saying: "The same God who presumably created the virus, at least in their minds, will somehow make sure it hurts only a handful of Americans … and a ton of Chinese people." New York Times Magazine contributor, Thomas Chatterton Williams, responded to the photo saying, "We are so screwed." ¹     

Now it's easy to pick holes in Mehta's comment. He seems to suppose that after their prayer meeting, this team of advisors would sit back and do nothing, waiting for God to sort it out. In reality it's much more likely that they would be praying for wisdom to make good and effective decisions on how to tackle the problem. His comment about "a handful of Americans and a ton of Chinese people" is no more than a cheap jibe, describing imaginary words or thoughts in the minds of the team.

There have been many disasters, both natural and man-made, in the history of the world, and often they have highlighted the difference between believers and unbelievers in God. Several of the best-known are known simply because they are recorded in the Bible. 

The Flood

Think of the well-known story of the great flood and Noah's Ark. ²  The whole point of the story centres upon the fact that one man and his family were in touch with God, and their destiny was assured because they (and especially Noah himself) listened to and obeyed God.  He couldn't have done that without prayer being involved!

The Ten Plagues

Then think of the story of the ten plagues and the Exodus. ³  This story culminates in the parting of the Red Sea and the escape from Egypt of the Hebrews, behind whom the Egyptian army was destroyed as the sea flowed back and drowned them. The Egyptians were led by a king, Pharaoh, who scorned God. The Hebrews by contrast were led by a man, Moses, who followed and obeyed God, and was in constant touch with God by prayer. The whole history of the Jews pivots on these events and is still commemorated by the devout each year in the Feast of the Passover.

The stilling of the storm on Galilee

We also read in the bible of a time when Jesus and his disciples were caught in a great storm whilst out in a fishing boat on Galilee. ⁴    

The disciples were terrified, but Jesus calmed the storm. Their reaction was to say "What kind of a man is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Dunkirk

Now this phrase, "Even the wind and waves obey him" brings me to a much more recent event which happened during the Second World War, which became known as 'The Miracle of Dunkirk' - a phrase first used, and with good reason, by Winston Churchill. If the weather conditions had been different, the outcome would have been different too.  The recent film Dunkirk (2017) describes vividly the extraordinary events which led to the rescue of 338,000 allied troops, but leaves out the main reason why Churchill called it a miracle. 

If you don’t know the story, on 10th May 1940, Hitler unleashed a military onslaught on France and Belgium. Within days the British Army – outmanoeuvred and unprepared – along with soldiers of other Allied nations, found themselves with their backs to the sea and hemmed in by enemies. The German High Command was able to boast with confidence that its troops were ‘proceeding to annihilate the British Army’. That the total destruction of an entire army was imminent was a view shared by many in the military and political leadership of Britain. Prime Minister Winston Churchill found himself preparing to announce to the public an unprecedented military catastrophe involving the capture or death of a third of a million soldiers.

But it didn’t happen. On 23rd May, King George VI requested that the following Sunday should be observed as a National Day of Prayer. Late on the Saturday evening the military decision was taken to evacuate as many as possible of the Allied forces. On the Sunday, the nation devoted itself to prayer in an unprecedented way. Eyewitnesses and photographs confirm overflowing congregations in places of worship across the land. Long queues formed outside cathedrals. The same day an urgent request went out for boats of all sizes and shapes to cross the English Channel to rescue the besieged army, a call ultimately answered by around 800 vessels.

Yet even before the praying began (in my experience, prayer often works like that) curious events were happening. In a decision that infuriated his generals and still baffles historians, Hitler ordered his army to halt. Had they continued to fight, the destruction of the Allied forces would have been inevitable and the war would have taken a different, darker and more terrible path. Yet for three days the German tanks and soldiers stood idle while the evacuation unfolded. Not only so, bad weather on the Tuesday grounded the Luftwaffe, allowing Allied soldiers to march unhindered to the beaches. In contrast, on Wednesday the sea was extraordinarily calm, making the perilous evacuation less hazardous. By the time the German Army was finally ordered to renew its attack, over 338,000 troops had been snatched from the beaches, including 140,000 French, Belgian, Dutch and Polish soldiers. Many of them were to return four years later to liberate Europe.

Now you could argue it was all a coincidence, but I think not. It certainly wasn’t considered so at the time. Sunday 9th June was declared a National Day of Thanksgiving and, encouraged by Churchill himself, the phrase ‘the miracle of Dunkirk’ began to circulate. ⁵

Since those days there has been a steady drift  away from Christian belief and practice in much of the population, so it's almost impossible to imagine that in our current crisis there will be an official call for a national day of prayer!  But there is one clear conclusion which can be drawn from all these events, namely that God is in charge, God controls events, God hears and responds to the prayers of individuals and even of nations, and that what God seeks is that we should recognise this and call out to Him in the belief that he will control the outcome. We can't predict what the overll outcome will be, but I agree with Canon J John when he says says "I think Dunkirk stands as an extraordinary encouragement to pray in faith. However great our problems, God is greater than them all. That ‘Dunkirk encouragement’ to pray in times of need applies at every level of life and to every challenge, from what may be a petty domestic crisis to a national disaster." <sup>5

Postscript, March 15th
To my surprise, within hours of me writing  "it's almost impossible to imagine that in our current crisis there will be an official call for a national day of prayer!", President Trump has announced that USA will have a National Day of Prayer today, March 15th!</sup>

¹ https://christiantoday.com/article/mike-pence-prays-with-coronavirus-task-force-for-gods-help-liberals-and-atheists-mock/134410.htm

² Genesis chapter 6 onwards.

³ Exodus 7 onwards.  Also http://creationday.com/2015/08/scientific-evidence-for-the-parting-of-the-red-sea-2/

⁴ Matthew 8, verse 23 onwards

⁵  https://canonjjohn.com/2017/07/17/national-day-of-prayer-during-dunkirk-1940/

A Mount Olympus memory

It's amazing how a memory will stay in the recesses of the mind over many decades.

A long, long time ago (1963) , I climbed Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece,  with three friends.

On the way up

It was a long climb which took us two days - the mountain is just short of 10,000 ft (3000m) high and you have to begin the climb at sea level.  

Me, Norman Cumming, Sam Yapp, David Relfe, and a German girl we met on the way up

At the summit: Sam, Norman, David, me. 

 We had the advantage of climbing in perfect weather - but the particular memory which sticks in my mind is of viewing a violent thunderstorm from above. We could see the lightning and hear the thunder rolling below us, whilst we ourselves were in brilliant sunshine.

The valley after the storm

 By the time we got down the mountain the storm had disappeared.  We had arranged to stay at a Christian orphanage near the foot of the mountain, and as we approached,  we heard the orphan children singing lustily 'How great thou art' (in Greek, of course). It was a hymn which was just becoming popular in Britain at the time - indeed it has subsequently been voted Britain's most popular hymn on the BBC programme Songs of Praise.

The words in English of this hymn resonated strongly with the experiences we had just had on our climb, and 57 years later it remains a powerful memory.

Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder

Consider all the works thy hands have made;

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, my saviour God to thee

How great thou art, how great thou art.

When through the woods and forest glades I wander

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;

When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur

And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, my saviour God to thee

How great thou art, how great thou art.

The awesomeness of nature expressed in the hymn has a 

parallel written 2500 year earlier when the writer of 

Psalm 19 was awed by looking up at the night sky..... 

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies

proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day 

they pour forth speech; night after night they 

reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use 

no words; no sound is heard from them. 

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, 

their words to the ends of the world. 

Powerful stuff!