If you have your speakers on, you will hear the Harding University Concert Choir singing “Safe in the arms of Jesus.” I always thought about that song as being about Heaven, and being safely Home, but if you think about the words, it is a word for us today. It is a place to run to in these uncertain times.
President Kennedy once said in a speech in the early sixties, “We are living in perilous times…” (I was 10 when he was assassinated, so I was pretty young when he made this speech.) I remember an evangelist using President Kennedy’s words as a sermon text at our little country church, and shivering on the bench as I rolled those words over and over in my head. The end of time felt so imminent.
I’ve been thinking alot about “perilous times” in these days of flood and earthquake and war. I look into the faces of our children, now young adults, and think about the world they will live their lives in and pray that they will understand that there is a safe place for them in the Arms of Jesus.
The good news is this: His arms are big enough to hold us all.
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe on his gentle breast,
There by his love o’ershaded,
Sweetly my soul shall rest.
Hark! ’tis the voice of angels,
Borne in a song to me,
Over the fields of glory,
Over the crystal sea.
Refrain:
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe on his gentle breast
There by his love o’ershaded,
Sweetly my soul shall rest.
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe from corroding care,
Safe from the world’s temptations,
Sin cannot harm me there.
Free from the blight of sorrow,
Free from my doubts and fears;
Only a few more trials,
Only a few more tears!
Refrain
Jesus, my heart’s dear refuge,
Jesus has died for me;
Firm on the Rock of ages,
Ever my trust shall be.
Here let me wait with patience,
Wait till the night is over;
Wait till I see the morning
Break on the golden shore.
Refrain
Fanny Crosby
Delaware Grammy 
It is so comforting to know that we have a heavenly Father to rely on in these times.
That song reminds me of a verse I just noticed this morning, Psalm 131:2. I had marked it on 11/11/03 because I honestly felt that I was experiencing that verse, even though my husband had just been diagnosed with Lymphoma after almost 8 years of remission. The verse says: “But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.” I remember how a nursing child is always “rooting” when you hold them, but after they are weaned they are content to just be held, no longer demanding anything, just happy to be in your arms. That is how I want to be in the arms of Jesus.
Perilous times….haven’t times always been perilous? I, too, think of what kind of world my grandchildren will grow up in. I shiver at some of the thoughts that go through my mind. Then I remember the tailend of WW II, the nuclear bomb drills etc at school and think times have always been fearful. You are so right. A Spiritual Anchor makes it not so threatening.
Thanks for sharing the wonderful thoughts – Love the song and your Happy laundry 🙂
RYC: Happy Anniversary to you guys as well!! Have fun doing corn. =)