coat of arms

Westfield House at Cambridge University, the theological institute of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England, has recently been granted its own Coat of Arms by the Crown.

The crest features a white horse in reference to the White Horse Inn, a former Cambridge pub where the works of Martin Luther were read and discussed. The arms features a cross as its central motif; a book which alludes to Scripture, the Lutheran Confessions, and a Luther rose. The motto is Fidelis et verax - Latin for “faithful and true.”

I think it's rather smashing ....


(ht - gene veith)

glass half full?

christ is risen!

lamb of god

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

thursday morning

When You woke that Thursday morning
Savior, teacher, faithful friend
Thoughts of self and safety scorning
Knowing how the day would end
Lamb of God, foretold for ages
Now at last the hour had come
When but One could pay sin's wages
You assumed their dreadful sum

(Jaroslav Vajda)

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light of life

Did you get up early this morning (or stay up late
last night) to watch the lunar eclipse?

I only woke up in time to see the last stages of it,
but it was still quite a sight.

Don't worry too much if you missed it - there will be three
more "blood moon" eclipses in the next year and a half or so.

Genesis chapter 1 states - "God made two great lights,
the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light
to govern the night" (Gen. 1:16)

Although the Sun and Moon look about the same size,
we know that the Sun is actually about 400 times the
diameter of the Moon and about 400 times further from
the Earth. The Moon basks in sunlight - moonlight is
reflected sunlight - except at those times when it is
eclipsed by the shadow of the Earth.

Two lights - a greater light and a lesser light.
The lesser light basks in the light of the greater light.
It bears witness to the existence of the greater light.
Its light reflects the greater light in a world of darkness.

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world" as well as
"You are the light of the world". The greater light and the
lesser lights. His promise is that we will never walk
in darkness, but will have the light of life.
Our "light" can never be eclipsed because it is His
living light that shines in and through us.

There are many "dark" things in the world around us
this Holy Week, but we don't have to live
in the darkness - we have the Light of Christ.
He calls us to shine his light into the darkness
of our world, so others will see our good deeds
and praise our Father in heaven.

Keep shining!

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luther statue dedication

A photo from the dedication of the Martin Luther statue at Concordia Seminary in 1903.

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