for ward

 (of  Heaven and Earth)..

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The God whose hand gives me each breath I take,

and chance to think, recall, and make a choice

as conscious being, who can see and make

and put together words that thus gives voice

to matter and to energy down here;

that recognizes good and sees its source,

and is then able to focus, and cheer

another on, as they move through this course.

I seem to have capacity to see, 

and act and speak in ways that focus light

upon the stage of life we call hist’ry 

that helps all goodness to be glorified.

And so I now acknowledge what I’ve learned

by looking, seeing, list’ning, hearing too,

and thinking, so to honour (not to spearn)

deployment of creative love that woos

so much, so often, so to grow us up -

to be ourselves such humans as might make

our father to be blest, and not corrupt

his world, imaginations that might take

the Earth into the spaces that would bring

some smile upon the dial of good itself,

to join in with what heaven loves to sing.

To help shallom, to thrive, which must mean health-

y kinds of ecosystems that enhance

the whole she-bang, as goodness might well hope

it would become if we took ev’ry chance

to just acknowledge both what’s seen and known!

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“...But the God in whose hand is your life breath, & all your ways are his, you did not glorify..” 

• You acted against the Lord of heaven - you have exalted yourself against him..

• You praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone — gods that cannot see or hear and that do not know anything. 

But 

• you did not honour the God in whose power is your very breath, and 

• you did not honour the God to whom belongs all your ways

Daniel, speaking to the King, son of Nebuchadnezzar, after being called on to interpret a cryptic text written in front of him on the wall of his festival room, by a disembodied hand:

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“...But the God in whose hand is your life breath, & all your ways are his, you did not glorify..” (Daniel 5:23, The Hebrew Bible, translated into English by Robert Alter)

“You acted against the Lord of heaven and brought in the cups and bowls taken from his Temple. You, your noblemen, your wives, and your concubines drank wine out of them and praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone — gods that cannot see or hear and that do not know anything. But you did not honour the God who determines whether you live or die and who controls everything you do. 24That is why God has sent the hand to write these words. (Daniel 5:23-24 GNBUK)

“You have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven! The vessels of his temple have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have been drinking wine from them. You have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose power is your very breath and to whom belong all your ways, you have not honored. (Daniel 5:23 NRSVUE)

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The next King, King Darius to Daniel in the Lion Pit:

“Your God who you always worship will save you.” 

& In the morning after a sleepless night (of fasting) he spoke in a sad voice to Daniel… 

“the king spoke out, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, your God whom you worship always, can he have saved you from the Lions?’

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King Nebuchadnezzar after dream and fulfillment:

His kingdom shall endure, and his dominion is forever… 

King Nebuchadnezzar after Shadrach Meshach & Abednego’s disobedience to the King and obedience to the King of kings and the fiery furnace:

His kingdom shall endure, and his dominion is forever…

King Darius, after Daniel & the Lions’ pit:

His kingdom shall endure, and his dominion is forever…

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