Tag Archives: Eddie

Heartbroken
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Heart Broken

Heartbroken

My son, give me your heart. Proverbs 23:26a

“Grumpy for Life” – that’s the shirt I purchased outside Disney’s Magic Kingdom. I wanted to get an Eeyore sweatshirt but couldn’t find one. Somebody must have taken the last one. That’s just the sort of luck I have . . . always wanting what’s not available.

Grumpy is me in the mornings. Grumpy is me before coffee. Grumpy is how I bumbled down the steps in the dark and entered my friend’s kitchen. Yes, I have friends. Two, in fact, though one is in jail right now and the other recently “unliked” me on Facebook.

I found the coffee pot and pressed the ON button, then using the light from my cell phone, I checked the cabinets until I found a bowl of sugar. I poured myself a mug and was about to sweeten my bitter brew when a voice – God’s maybe – told me to stop. I wet my finger and tested the sweetener.

Salt.

Isn’t this so like us? We look sweet, but we’re not. We profess to have the love of Christ but our words are salted with bitterness. “Let your gentleness be evident to all,” Paul writes. “Love your neighbor as yourself,” says Jesus. “I’ll preserve them with the salt of the gospel,” we proclaim, seeding God’s fields with our toxic words.

Real love, the love that heals broken hearts and flows from God’s Spirit, draws others to us. This is why we can never manufacture love. Oh sure, we can produce lust, obsession, and a measure of kindness. We can even act with compassion and practice gentleness, but sincere love – the kind displayed by Christ — can only come from God.

I have a broken heart. I don’t know when it cracked. Maybe I was jiggled and jilted once too often and cracked from too many rejections. Or maybe my heart’s always been busted.

But I know this. I am capable of testing my sweetener before dispensing to others.

To all my friends, co-workers, authors, family, and anyone else I’ve offended this week, last week, and the weeks before that, I say I’m sorry. I should’ve tested the bowl before I poured salt in your wound.

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Lord, take my heart and fix it, please.

Pooh Finds His Honey – He Said
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Pooh Finds His Honey

Pooh Finds His Honey

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24, Darby Translation (DARBY)

One day when the sun rose over the Hundred Acre Wood, bringing with it the smell of Spring, and all the streams in the Forest were tinkling happily to find themselves their own pretty shape again, Christopher Robin said to Owl, “I am going to give a party.”

“Oh? You are, are you?” said Owl.

“And it is to be a special sort of party, because it’s for Pooh. Will you hurry quickly and tell Pooh and the others?”

Owl tried to think of something very wise to say – a very witty and clever remark – but couldn’t. So he flew off to tell the others. And the first person he told was Pooh.

“A party for me?” said Pooh. “Will there be those little cake things with pink sugar icing?”

Owl felt that it was rather beneath him to talk about little cake things with pink sugar icing, but he allowed that. “Yes, I suppose there will be sweets of all kinds for you are the sort of bear who enjoys such things and after all, what sort of party would it be without you and sweets?”

“And honey? Will there be honey?”

“I suppose. But now I must be on my way to tell the others.” Owl flew off to tell Eeyore and Piglet and Roo.

“A party for me?” thought Pooh to himself. “How grand!” And he began to wonder if all the other animals in the Hundred Acre Wood would know that it was a special Pooh Party and why he deserved such a grand event.

While Pooh pondered these things, Owl was talking to Eeyore. “Eeyore,” said Owl. “Christopher Robin is giving Pooh a party.”

“Very interesting,” said Eeyore. “I don’t suppose Christopher Robin thought to invite me to Pooh’s party.”

“Yes, yes! I am your invitation.”

“Very well. I shall come. Only don’t blame me if it rains.”

But it didn’t rain. Christopher Robin had made a long table out of some long pieces of wood and they all sat around it. Christopher Robin sat at one end, and Pooh sat at the other, and between them on one side were Owl and Eeyore and Piglet and all of Pooh’s closest and dearest friends. It was a fine party with little cake things with pink sugar icing and everyone had a grand time.

“Only…” said Pooh, looking down the long table filled with wrapping paper and opened boxes and new jars that had the words POOH on them, and new fluff for when his stuffing fell out…. “Only where is the honey?”

Christopher Robin smiled and said, “Silly old bear. Did you think we would forget your honey?”

Owl and Eeyore and Piglet and all of Pooh’s closest and dearest friends rose from the table and left the room and returned quickly with a large box — one nearly as large and round as Pooh.

“Open it, Pooh!” said Piglet.

“Yes, hurry!” exclaimed Roo.

Pooh tore at the wrapping paper and lifted the lid of the box. Immediately his face clouded over with confusion. “But this… this is not honey,” he said, sadly. “This is only a…”

“Girl,” replied Christopher Robin. “She is sweeter than honey. And when you feel lonely or sad or your stuffing falls out, she will be there to help put you back together. She, Pooh, is Mrs. Pooh.”

Pooh found himself at a loss for words, which for a bear with a very small brain happened often. His eyes began to leak. Then a most wonderful thing happened. The new Mrs. Pooh touched his cheek with her fingers and Pooh found himself thinking, not of honey, but of how beautiful Spring smelled and how the tinkling of the streams sounded like wind chimes and how this new Mrs. Pooh stuck to him like honey.

“Honey, if you live to be a hundred,” Pooh whispered to Mrs. Pooh, “I want to live to be a hundred minus one day.”

“But why?” asked Mrs. Pooh.

“So I never have to live without you.”

The End.

(Adapted from A.A.Milne’s, Winnie-the-Pooh – Eddie made up the Mrs. Pooh part.)

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This weekend our oldest son, Win, marries his Honey. Congratulations, Pooh!

I’ve Got a Beef With Greed – He Said
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Frozen Cow Cabin

Frozen Cow Cabin, AP Photo

…for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. Psalm 50:10 NIV

I don’t wish to alarm anyone but two very troubling stories came to my attention this week. One involves frozen cows and the other a welfare mother scraping by on $735,000. First the cow catastrophe.

You may recall that in 2011 the University of Colorado Buffaloes bolted from the Big 12 Conference and joined the Pac-12. At the time, no one paid much attention to this news. In fact, many of the Buffalo players were not even aware they had changed conferences until they ran onto the field at the Rose Bowl wearing layers of fleece and wool under their uniforms and promptly passed out from heat exhaustion.

Now we learn that around the same time the Buffaloes were losing 45 to 6 to the UCLA Bruins, stray cattle were seeking shelter from the cold inside a Colorado cabin. This week, those six cows were found frozen together. U.S. Forest Service spokesman Steve Segin said of the catastrophe, “Time is of the essence. We don’t want them defrosting.” According to Seginm, officials are worried that if the cows start decomposing, they could contaminate the water in the nearby hot springs.

The same day the frozen cow story broke, a Michigan lottery winner admitted to collecting $5,475 in food stamps and public medical benefits. Amanda Clayton, recipient of $735,000 in the lottery-sponsored game show “Make Me Rich,” continued to collect food and aid because, in her words, “I have bills to pay. I have no income. And I have two houses.” No word on whether one of those houses is a cabin in Colorado.

God may own the cattle on a thousand hills but He also knows our every need…and greed. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the poverty line for an individual in the United States was $10,830 in 2010. This means the poor in America are in the top 14% of the global income distribution. As a nation we are blessed like none other. We have cows sleeping in cabins, amateur athletes making millions for their universities, and single mothers winning the lottery.

What we do not have is the good sense to know when we have enough. If a cow knows when to come in from the cold, shouldn’t we be smart enough to recognize the providence of God and His blessings? We do not need a lottery to “Make Us Rich.” As a nation we are rich. What we need is to acknowledge the source of that bounty.

Find a cow – or stranger – and make them rich today. Give them God’s love.

 

Search Warrant – He Said
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Search Warrant

Search Warrant

He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.  1 Peter 2:24 NIV

He was sitting alone in the dark when he heard the knock on the door. “Open up. I have a search warrant.” He punched the power button on his laptop and the monitor screen went dark.

Standing behind the door he called, “Why are you picking on me? Leave me alone.”

“We had a agreement,” the voice replied. “And you broke it.”

He glanced back at his computer. How did he find out? Has he viewed my search history? Tracked my website visits by the IP address?

He found a small screwdriver in the kitchen and began unscrewing the hard drive. “You can’t touch me. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Open up right now.”

He turned the oven on high and placed the hard drive on the rack. Returning to the front door he tried to calm himself. “You have no right to—”

“I have all the right in the world and you know it. Now let me in.”

He unlocked the door and the man stepped inside. Turning toward the kitchen the unwelcomed guest sniffed. “You scared little man. Did you really think hiding it would work?” Opening the oven door the man reached inside and clasped the hard drive, its metal skin glowing red with heat. If the pain bothered him, he didn’t show it. “Let’s talk about what’s on this.”

“No, I can’t.”

“You have to. Otherwise it will only get worse, you know that.”

“It’s not so bad now. I have it under control.”

“Really?” The man placed the hard drive on the stove, paying no attention to his blistered palm. “I could say it pains me to see you like this but I doubt you can comprehend the magnitude of that statement.” He motioned toward the den. “Let’s talk.”

The scared man took a seat across from his guest. “You said you had a warrant. Aren’t you going to toss my place?”

“Why bother? If I found anything you would only argue that you have no control over your impulses. That God made you the way you are. This is the lie you believe. Until you accept the truth I cannot help you. Now, do you want to deal with your problem right here, right now? Or should I leave you to your shame and come back later?”

The man fidgeted in his chair, unable to take his eyes off the reddened blister. “I don’t want to be this way. Even if others tell me it’s only natural, I know it’s not.”

“Then make the decision to crucify your sin with me. Let me kill it completely in you.”

“But how? I have asked for help from you before and it hasn’t worked. These urges are too strong.”

“Look into my eyes and say this: ‘Lord, I identify with Your death. I want this sin to be dead in me.’ Then picture this repulsive act being burned into my flesh and removed from you.”

With tears streaming down his checks, the small man confessed his guilt and grasped the man’s wounded palm. He felt no change. No warmth flooding his soul.

“There now. It is done.”

It is done…. How many times had he heard that phrase? Only now did it make sense.

Turning on a lamp, he invited his guest to stay.

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Any effort to hold on to sin will only diminish the energy and power of Christ in your life. He has a search warrant. Let him enter.

The Cover Up – He Said
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The Cover Up

The Cover Up

“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.  Matthew 27:65-66

Having released a murderer and the son of a rabbi, they killed the Son of God.

Now the task falls to us, the Roman guard, to secure the tomb. The Jews who opposed him fear the dead man’s disciples might sneak into the tomb and steal his body. Let them try. I have my orders. I know my duty.

But why steal his body? What purpose would that serve? Oh I know the deceased spoke of rising from the dead. I am not a fresh recruit new to Jerusalem. I have heard how this man healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, and raised the dead. But now heis dead. Will stealing his body and promoting a lie gain his followers anything but more death? Son of God . . . King of the Jews. The deceased boasted he could rebuild the temple in three days. Is he mightier than my lord, Caesar? I think not. There, now. We have placed the mark of Pilate on the stone. The entrance is sealed.

Growing dark now. I take my position along with the others. Feet apart, arms folded across my chest. We’re an imposing sight, the four of us, standing in front of the tomb. I hear the rest of our guard patrolling the grounds, watching for suspicious activity; warning mourners to hurry along and vacate the premise. With the heft of my sword resting against the side of my calf, I stand at my post ready to defend the honor of Rome.

***

“Women appeared. They asked about the body. I told them as I have told you. Something like an earthquake shook the ground. I fell to my knees and when I tried to stand, I found the stone removed. A man—no more than a man—an angel, stood before the entrance. His brilliance burned my eyes.  The rest of my unit? They scattered. I might have too, but I could not stand. A force like a large hand held me down until all I could do was weep. Yes, in shame, but not for failing to secure the tomb. For other things. Acts I dare not speak of.”

I glance down at the pouch of coins tossed at my feet.

“You want me to lie? To say this man’s disciples came during the night and stole him away while I was sleeping? But I just told you… Very well, I will do as you say, if only to spare my life and that of the others in my unit. But I know what I saw. This man’s followers did not take him, nor were we bribed, except for now. Promote this lie if you wish, but I know what I saw.”

“The dead man is not.”

Recycling Recyclables – He Said
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Bin There, Stole That

The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.  Romans 11:29

Recycling recyclables in the City of Raleigh is now against the law. Thanks to vigilant community watch organizers (one) and members of our City Council (one government committee too many), it is now illegal to swipe soda cans, newspapers, and glass bottles from your neighbor’s recycling bins.

I frequently get messages from Facebook friends asking me why our local government passes such stupid laws. Actually their messages are more like: “Just where does your dumb city get off banning (and then they fill in the blank with an alternative form of cohabitation that — anatomically speaking — must make making babies painful, if not impossible). Often these individuals are new arrivals, having recently immigrated to our city from more liberal, metropolitan areas where cold weather and crowded living conditions make for some really strange bedfellows; not to mention bizarre rent control policies.

I recently received such a message from a Facebook friend after a local man, Bart Turnupseed, noticed a suspicious looking man in a dented blue pickup stealing cans and bottles from his neighbor’s recycling bin. Bart called the police, demanding something be done. And so it was. Within days our City Council voted to make pilfering your neighbor’s recycling bin a misdemeanor.

This incident led me to wonder about our spiritual recycle bins. Is our trash safe in God’s recycle bin? When we kick His goodness and grace to the curb, does He guard our rubbish or allow others to pilfer and expose our consumables? The love of God is in Christ Jesus. If God gave us His own Son, will He not also graciously give us all things, including the chance to retrieve our trash from the street and recycle His mercies again and again?

Our greatest challenge to spiritual growth is not our sin. Our greatest challenge is working for God, rather than walking with God. If the Spirit of God shows you litter in your life, do not attempt to throw it out. You are not strong enough to carry it to the curb anyway. Instead, ask God to help you sort through your emotional litter bucket. He’s in the recycling business.

Prepare to Wait – He Said
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Prepare to Wait

Prepare to Wait

Make the most of every opportunity. Colossians 4:5a

Even though he led his high school team to a state championship, no college offered him an athletic scholarship. Harvard allowed he might be able to play for them – but he must pay his way.

During his sophomore season he averaged 12.6 points and was named All-Ivy League Second Team. By his junior year he was the only NCAA Division I men’s basketball player who ranked in the top ten in his conference for scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, blocked shots, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and three-point shot percentage. ESPN called him “one of the twelve most versatile players in college basketball.” Professional scouts were not impressed. On the day of the NBA draft no one called his name. The Golden State Warriors finally offered him a partial contract but released him a few months later. He bounced around with a couple other teams before falling into the development league.

Then he received “the call.” The New York Knicks needed him to play starting guard while their star player recovered from his injuries. In his first four NBA starts he scored more points than any player in NBA history, surpassing Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Michael Jordan. With him on the floor, the struggling Knicks became unstoppable. He produced game winning shots and helped fuel a seven game winning streak. Jeremy Lin continues to shoot over thirty percent from three-point range and average around 15 points per game. He is professional sport’s “Linsation.”

The Apostle Paul directs us to make the most of every opportunity; not make do or make excuses. When tossed into prison, Joseph the Dreamer changed the culture of captivity. When sent into the fields, Ruth gleaned more than grain — she gathered a husband. Peter, when told to fish for men, founded a church. What door of opportunity has God placed before you?

Pastor David Jeremiah writes in his best selling book, Life Wide Open:  “God’s open doors are often disguised as problems, time-sensitive, met with resistance, and often missed because of fear.” Are you afraid, stuck, and overwhelmed by difficulties? If so, practice, prepare, and pray for an opportunity to shine for Him.

Good things come to those who wait – great things come to those who prepare while they wait.

***

Bahama Breeze, by Eddie Jones

Print: $14.95 NOOK & Kindle $4.95

Looking for a fun read about a man overcoming his past, problems, and deadly hurricanes –  nuclear missels, missed opportunities, clogged toilet bowels (No, wait! That’s toilet BOWLS),  personal demons, political demonstrators, terrorist cells, corrupt politicians, cockroaches in the shower and a broken heart (hey, we even threw in a Cuban spy ring tied to Sesame Street)… then grab a copy of Bahama Breeze: Eddie’s latest “blessed seller.” Money back guaranteed. If not completely satisfied contact the Bahama Bureau of Tourism and ask for a one way ticket to Cockroach Cay. (Hey, it doesn’t hurt to ask, right?).

This offer not valid is states ending in A E I O U or on days ending in Y.

With Prayer, We Cannot Fail – He Said
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With Prayer, We Cannot Fail

With Prayer, We Cannot Fail

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:18

“Chaplain, sit for a moment. I want to talk to you about this business of prayer.” George S. Patton stood by the window watching the steady rain. For days the Third Army had been bogged down due to the weather. “Chaplain, how much praying is being done in the Third Army?” The Chaplain admitted that lately, not much.

“Chaplain, I am a strong believer in prayer. There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by praying. Any great military operation takes careful planning, or thinking. Then you must have well-trained troops to carry it out: that’s working. But between the plan and the operation there is always an unknown. That unknown spells defeat or victory, success or failure. Up to now, God has been very good to us. We have never retreated; we have suffered no defeats, no famine, no epidemics. This is because a lot of people back home are praying for us. We were lucky in Africa, in Sicily, and in Italy. Simply because people prayed. But we have to pray for ourselves too. We must ask God to stop these rains. This Army needs the assurance and the faith that God is with us. With prayer, we cannot fail.” (http://www.pattonhq.com/prayer.html)

But what if we are forbidden to pray for the protection of our nation, wisdom of our leaders, and freedoms of our people?

On August 29, 2011 a three-judge panel of the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled officials could not pray before public meetings. The ruling, in the case of Joyner v. Forsyth County, admonished public officials to refrain from invoking the name Jesus.

To pray is to call upon God and to invite Him into conversation. The Greek word enteuxis is often translated as “intercession.” In the New Testament the word is used to describe a petition presented to a king on the behalf of another. A petition is not an unspoken request but a bold supplication that carries with it the signatures of those who dared to come before the ruling authorities. God listens to our silent prayers, but He also longs to hear our voices raised to the heavens, demanding justice for the oppressed and help for the wounded and hurting.

Between December 12-14, 1944, two-hundred-fifty thousand copies of General Patton’s Prayer Card were distributed to the troops. On December 20, the rains ceased. For almost a week, American warplanes bombarded the German army that had been advancing under the cloak of fog. General Patton prayed for fair weather, and he got it.

Perhaps it is time we gathered in our homes and churches, public squares and courtrooms and asked God to have mercy on us, to forgive our sins and repent. Each year the United States recognizes a national day of prayer; what our country needs is to pray without ceasing.

Will you?

Rise Up and Advance – He Said
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Rise Up and Advance

If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.  Hebrews 11:15 Today’s New International Version (TNIV)

In the winter of 1862 President Lincoln drafted the following message to the head of the Union Army: “My Dear McClellan: If you are not using the army, I should like to borrow it for a short while. Yours respectfully, Abraham Lincoln.”

The president’s message failed to rouse General George McClellan to action and on January 15, 1862, President Lincoln ordered McClellan to appear before an investigative committee. When asked why he refused to attack, McClellan replied he needed time to prepare the proper routes for retreat. Months later McClellan attacked, but his lethargic movements and Robert E. Lee’s unrelenting assaults, forced McClellan to abandon his bid  to seize the Confederate capital. As expected, McClellan retreated to the safety of Washington.

What does God expect of you? When summoned, will you advance or piddle in endless preparation until the opportunity for victory passes? This is the great failure of God’s people: Too often we abandon the field of battle before fully engaging the enemy. But God doesn’t want courageous cowards; He needs confident commanders.

God is not surprised when we return to the convenience of our comfortable past. In fact, He offers us a “properly prepared” retreat for those who cannot let go of their past. When God assembled Gideon’s army, he told the wavering commander to send home all who were afraid and would not remain alert and vigilant. This is the Commander In Chief we serve.

Too often we attend spiritual retreats but seldom advance beyond our own boastful proclamations of: “I’m a follower of Christ” – whatever that means. We move in fits and starts and fall back, but that is to be excepted if we are not convinced of God’s calling. Here are three things you should know about the God you serve.

First, if He has called you to a work, His angels go before you, beside you, and behind you (Psalm 91:11). This bubble of protection will not spare you from an assassin’s bullet, but you advance in the knowledge that God’s hand shadows you.

Second, God’s column of fire will give you light by night and warmth by day (Exodus 13:21). His Word, Spirit, and wise council (offered from the mouths of godly men and women), will help guide your steps.

Third: He will fight for you (Deuteronomy 1:30). This battle, this job, this opportunity is not yours. It is God’s. If you invest your time in prayerful discernment and preparation, you can trust the outcome to Him. We may not see the victory. Many of the heroes of faith did not see their promised land either.

But it is better to have fought and died than never tried. Rise up and advance.

Beach Boys – He Said
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Beach Boy

Beach Boy

O God, you are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.  Psalm 63:1 (NKJV)

August 12th — Coquina Beach, Outer Banks, NC.

Water temperature 79. Air 94. Humidity 100%. Wind dead, waves flat. Surface temperature? Too hot to trot.

Summer living on the Carolina coast will toast your tootsies. If you want to make it from the car to surf without scalding your pigs, leave the beach chairs with the wife and hope the kids can find their way to the beach access area. Even the surfboard stays behind. When the sand scalds your bare feet, you sprint toward refreshment.

So why, if hot sand spurs us to run toward cool water, do we linger in our spiritual deserts, refusing to chase after God? Why do we yearn for God and still cry out, “Why me, Lord?” Do we break camp early in the morning and go in search of Him or do we loiter on the dunes looking back the way we came, remembering fondly the good old ways?

Another beach story comes to mind. Rabbi on the shore. Beach buddies hanging out. Rabbi turns to his buds and says, “Get in the boat. I’ll catch ya at the next port.”

Beach boys set sail. Sun sets. Storms come. Winds slam into the canvas. Waves buffet the tiny vessel, spilling boat drinks. Fins to the right, friends left behind. The rabbi is back on the beach, Skipper Pete thinks. Doing what, I don’t know. Abandoned us, I know that. He knew we’d have a hard go of it and still sent us out… alone.

What do you do when God calls and you obey and the desert goes on and on and…? Has he called you back? If so, turn around. But if He hasn’t, if His call hasn’t changed, then all we can do is pick up the pace and continue forward.

I know you’ve set out across God’s desert. If so, you have my admiration. The trek is lonely and long. There’s a reason they call it a desert and not a beach. But if I could offer you any advice it would be this: keep walking. Hold your family and friends close. Look back long enough to see your footprints vanish in the sand and continue toward the horizon. If He’s called you, then whatever lies beyond the horizon will fill your soul.

He is in this heat. Long for His refreshment.