But yet I know, where'er I go

Today was my Dad's birthday. He would have been 56. It's curious to pause and wonder how today might have been different - a phone call, a birthday dinner perhaps - and what sort of thing he might have liked for a present, and how I might have been different growing up with his influence. I asked my Mum once about how things had changed for her and she said "it's like life was technicolour once, and it's been in black and white ever since". That does remind me of Wordsworth's Ode: Intimations of Immortality, which I believe he wrote after his Lucy died:

There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,

The earth, and every common sight,

To me did seem

Apparelled in celestial light,

The glory and the freshness of a dream.

It is not now as it hath been of yore; -

Turn wheresoe'er I may,

By night or day,

The things which I have seen I now can see no more.

The Rainbow comes and goes,

And lovely is the Rose,

The Moon doth with delight

Look round her when the heavens are bare;

Waters on a starry night

Are beautiful and fair;

The sunshine is a glorious birth;

But yet I know, where'er I go,

That there hath past away a glory from the earth.

I think that is just what happens to your view of the world when the effects of the fall have actually bitten you on the nose.

But it really doesn't bear to think about the "what ifs" and possibilities. There would be a billion alternatives for each of our lives. We have to remember that it is gift from God that we wake up each day and trust to his wisdom. And so I will think of this:

My heart is filled with thankfulness

To Him who reigns above;

Whose wisdom is my perfect peace,

Whose every thought is love.

For every day I have on earth

Is given by the King.

So I will give my life, my all,

To love and follow Him.

Keith Getty and Stuart Townend Copyright © 2003 Thankyou Music