Learning Christ as we Suffer in the Deep~

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Ephesians 4:32

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.  Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.

Romans 12:15-16

O Thou who dost to man accord

His highest prize, his best reward,

Thou hope of all our race;

Jesus, to Thee we now draw near,

Our earnest supplications hear,

Who humbly seek Thy face.

With self accusing voice within,

Our conscience tells of many a sin

In thought, and word, and deed:

O cleanse that conscience from all stain,

The penitent restore again,

From every burthen freed.

O blessèd Trinity, bestow

Thy pardoning grace on us below,

And shield us evermore;

Until, within Thy courts above,

We see Thy face, and sing Thy love,

And with Thy saints adore.

GREGORY I

540-604

         On the torturing cross Christ prayed for His murderers, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And this is the character many a man may get in the dark deep.  To feel for all, to feel with all; to rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep, to understand people’s trials and make allowances for their temptations; to put oneself in their place till we see with their eyes, and feel with their hearts, till we judge no man, and have hope for all; to be fair and patient and tender with everyone we meet; to despise no one, despair of no one, because Christ despises none and despairs of none; to look on every one we meet with love, almost with pity, because they too may have been down into the deep of horror, or may go down into it any day; to see our own sins in the sins of others, to feel that we might do what they do, and feel as they feel at any moment; to give and forgive, live and let live, even as Christ gives to us and forgives us, and lives for us and lets us live in spite of all our sins.

CHARLES KINGSLEY

Out of the Deep