Sunday Thoughts

This morning in church we sang one of my favorite "bucking up" hymns -- "God of Grace and God of Glory." It was just what I needed. Here are the words:

God of grace and God of glory,
On Thy people pour Thy power.
Crown Thine ancient church’s story,
Bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the facing of this hour,
For the facing of this hour.

Lo! the hosts of evil ’round us,
Scorn Thy Christ, assail His ways.
From the fears that long have bound us,
Free our hearts to faith and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the living of these days,
For the living of these days.

Cure Thy children’s warring madness,
Bend our pride to Thy control.
Shame our wanton selfish gladness,
Rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal.

Set our feet on lofty places,
Gird our lives that they may be,
Armored with all Christ-like graces,
In the fight to set men free.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
That we fail not man nor Thee,
That we fail not man nor Thee.

Save us from weak resignation,
To the evils we deplore.
Let the search for Thy salvation,
Be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Serving Thee Whom we adore,
Serving Thee Whom we adore.

Encouraging, isn't it? And our family put on the coffee hour after church, which went very well, mostly thanks to my mom, who baked us a gorgeous almond coffee cake and an amazing date/nut cake, both of which got rave reviews. And all of my egg salad sandwiches got eaten. That sort of thing is always gratifying.

So I got home this afternoon filled with warm feelings towards all mankind. Unfortunately, one of my weekend projects has been to catch up on grading papers for co-op. These include the research papers that the boys did, and papers from another week or two from both groups which I have allowed to accumulate. Big mistake. My resolutions to be patient and sympathetic with my students lasted ... well, not very long. I was going to say twenty minutes, but that would be a lie. Wisdom and Courage. Boy, do I need those. And a case of red markers.