Inns

-
Inns
by Andrew Demoline

Insecure and unsecured
The road shall always be,
But there, upon that hill, I spy
A light to welcome me.

The Inn upon the hill you see,
Fire warm and food for all.

The road is always very long,
the world too large for men,
But find me welcome just this night
And come morn' I'll rise again.

The Inn upon the hill you see,
Fire warm and food for all.
The Inn upon the hill you see
Bids welcome, though its small.

Highwaymen and vagabonds,
may steal and slay and fight
But give me four strong walls and friends
And I know I'll fare alright.

The Inn upon the hill you see,
Fire warm and food for all.
The Inn upon the hill you see
Bids welcome, though its small.
The Inn upon the hill you see,
Strong walls, good drink, and friends.

Life, it makes my feet ache,
Rains stay far to long,
But when I step inside to rest
Within me rises song.

The Inn upon the hill you see,
Fire warm and food for all.
The Inn upon the hill you see
Bids welcome, though its small.
The Inn upon the hill you see,
Strong walls, good friends, and beers.
The Inn upon the hill you see,
Gives rest as days end nears.

What's that you say?
I dream of such a place?
No inn upon the hill you see? 
Ahh, but look with eyes of grace!

The Inn upon the hill you see,
Fire warm and food for all.
The Inn upon the hill you see
Bids welcome, though its small.
The Inn upon the hill you see,
Strong walls, good friends, and beers.
The Inn upon the hill you see,
Gives rest as days end nears.
The Inn upon the hill you see
is but a taste of home

There is an Inn upon the hill.
But if you would look close
It's not an inn but the mansion where
Pain's wind no longer blows.

The Inn upon the hill you see
is the mansion saved for you.
And all good moments on the road,
of that long and dusty life,
are Inn's that point beyond the now
To the future end of strife. 




Authors Note: Inspired by "The Problem of Pain" by C.S. Lewis. Specifically this quote: "The Christian doctrine of suffering explains, I believe, a very curious fact about the world we live in. The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and merriment, He has scattered broadcast. We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy. It is not hard to see why. The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and oppose an obstacle to our return to God: a few moments of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, a bathe or a football match, have no such tendency. Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will note encourage us to mistake them for a home."- C.S. Lewis "The Problem of Pain"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Forgiveness: A Hard Word From Luther

-
"Those who follow Christ grieve more over the sin of their offenders than over the loss or offense to themselves. And they do this that they may recall those offenders from their sin rather than avenge the wrongs they themselves have suffered. Therefore they put off the form of their own righteousness and put on the form of those others, praying for their persecutors, blessing those who curse, doing good to the evil-doers, preparing to pay the penalty and make satisfaction for their very enemies that they may be saved. This is the gospel and the example of Christ." - Martin Luther (Quoted by Miroslav Volf, Free of Charge, pg. 161-162)
Read more

A Good Tree Bears Good Fruit....

-
Image
"Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." - Matthew 7:17-18 "One of the most powerful ways to influence the behavior of a system is through its purpose or goal. That's because the goal is the direction-setter of the system, the definer of discrepancies that require action, the indicator of compliance, failure, or success toward which balancing feedback loops work. If the goal is defined badly, if it doesn't measure what it's supposed to measure, if it doesn't reflect the real welfare of the system, then the system can't possibly produce a desirable result. Systems, like the three wishes in the traditional fairy tale, have a terrible tendency to produce exactly and only what you ask them to produce. Be careful what you ask them to produce." - Donella H. Meadows, Thinking in Systems. 
Read more

A Gracious Reading of Rob Bell

-
The Journey So Far The controversy rages on over Rob Bell's upcoming new book. No matter what happens now, this controversy has effectively guaranteed that 'everyone who is anyone' will need to read this book. Either to find out what is wrong and bash it, or because someone we generally disagree with also disagrees with the book so it has to be good stuff! Then, because 'everyone' is reading it, people like me will 'have to' read it to. After all, I am a pastor, and if many of my people are reading and being influenced by a book, don't I need to know what is going on as well?  Or so the reasoning will go... and perhaps I will read it, who knows. In the meantime, none of this will stop me from continuing to join this fray which I probably ought to have stayed out of in the first place. Onwards, Christian... :) The Latest Salvo The latest salvo has been fired by DeYoung  claiming that not only do we not need to talk with Bell but, more importantly, it...
Read more