Day Sixteen : 12th December

Numbers 24

Now Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel,
so he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens,
but set his face toward the wilderness.

2 Balaam looked up and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe.
Then the spirit of God came upon him,

3 and he uttered his oracle saying:

"The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is clear,

4 the oracle of one who hears the words of God,
who falls down, but with eyes uncovered:

5 how fair are your tents, O Jacob,
your encampments O Israel!

6 Like palm groves that stretch far away,
like gardens beside a river,
like aloes that the Lord has planted,
like cedar trees beside the waters,

7 Water shall flow from his buckets,
and his seed shall have abundant water,
his king shall be higher than Agag,
and his kingdom shall be exalted…"

and from Rob Lamerton's sermon for 26th October 2003:

"We are called to discover and rediscover our place before God and especially as a community of faith to have our eyes opened so that we might follow Jesus on the way."

In the light of the high heavens
and the infinity of dawnings in space,
in the darkness of ocean depths
and the sea's ceaseless waves,
in the glistening of a creature's eyes
and the dark life-blood that ever flows,
in every emanation of creation's life
and the warmth that moves my body,
in the inner universe of the soul
and its everlasting foundations
your glory glows, O God.
In every shining of the world's inwardness
and the warmth that moves my everliving soul,
your glory glows.

from: Sounds of the Eternal: A Celtic Psalter
J. Philip Newell