Isaiah 64:8

1. But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

Matthew 20:30-34

1. And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.
2. And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.
3. And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?
4. They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.
5. So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.

In a day when voices are so many, so loud and shrill, I find the following poem is always worth the while to sit quietly and frequently read now more than ever. I won't speak to all that is upsetting to us in the world at present. You know it all too well! I ask only the following:

1. In a throw-away-world, have we lost the true value of the most important things in life?
2. Have we disregarded any of those we look upon as likely having no future worth—maybe even ourselves?
3. Are we too busy to pause, if just for a moment, to allow something so unexpected that passes our way to touch our soul?
4. Have we become so jaded and desensitized by those incessant voices that we no longer see the individual worth of the people and things within each of our worlds?

More Than Ever, Our World Needs Today A Fresh Touch Of The Master's Hand. Unfortunately, As A Nation Who Once Was A Godly People, We Have Allowed The Minority of Shrill Voices Among Us To Driven Him Away. But He Still Calls, No Matter How Distant, And He Still Can Be Heard, By One Who Truly Listens.

Imagine the scene about to unfold to the shock of the audience. Sit for a moment in your favorite place and read, observe and listen.

'Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But held it up with a smile.
"What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,
"Who'll start the bidding for me?"
"A dollar, a dollar. Then two! Only two?
Two dollars, and who'll make it three?"
"Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;
Going for three..." But no,
From the room, far back, a grey-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;
Then wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loosened strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet,
As a caroling angel sings.

  The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said: "What am I bid for the old violin?"
And he held it up with the bow.
"A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two?
Two thousand! And who'll make it three?
Three thousand, once; three thousand, twice,
And going and gone," said he.

  The people cheered, but some of them cried,
"We do not quite understand.
What changed its worth?" Swift came the reply:
"The touch of the Master's hand."
And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd
Much like the old violin.

  A "mess of pottage," a glass of wine,
A game — and he travels on.
He is "going" once, and "going" twice,
He's "going" and almost "gone."
But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the touch of the Master's hand.

  - Myra Brooks Welch
February 26, 1921

This was a poem that Myra Welch proclaimed that she was so moved and filled with the Master's Light it was penned in less than one hour. Feeling it was a gift from God, she offered it anonymously for print in her church's news bulletin. (Written in 1921 and published on February 26, 1921 in the Gospel Messenger)

Crippled by arthritis and unable to play the music she so dearly loved, using nothing but the eraser end of a pencil, she would painfully stroke each letter on a typewriter to produce the songs and poems which were born from the Light in her soul. She is quoted by those who knew her, saying, the joy of her writing outweighed the pain of her efforts. Finally, relegated to a wheelchair in her latter years, she had to give up her joy of playing the organ. But she tediously stroked away with her pencil until going home to be with her Master on August 11, 1959. (Myra Brooks Welch was born in Los Angeles, CA on October 12, 1877.)

Here is just one testimony, besides mine, who find Myra's works a continuing inspiration:

"Heard this in church many years ago, sung by a group of American students.The words are so special, all life is valuable in the Lord's eyes, no matter how sinfully battered a person might be." - Gloria Eliott, March 19, 2019

If you identify as one the poem so eloquently describes, one who was formed by the Creator's hands, can you not hear His calling you back to the Master's Hands to be remolded once again in His image?—transformed in an instant into an instrument that He alone can bring out its best. If hope seems fading, call out to Him. As He has done for countless others, he will do for you! He alone knows your true worth and loves you with an everlasting love.

Enjoy this version by Leon Ferrira.

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The Old Violin - The Touch of The Master's Hand
- Leon Ferreira

The following is taken from the Book, Adam2: A Guide For The Walk Home, written by our founder. It is A Commentary On The Gospel Of John, complete with a background look at the contemporary Jewish groups active in Jesus' day. It includes a summary of each chapter, a redacted study of each disciple, a brief study of Gnosticism of the time, pertinent timelines, and much more. Each chapter of study includes extensive Biblical references to the notes on the chapter.

A chronological excerpt of each section will be posted here at the beginning of each month. You can access free of charge at any time a complete online digital version for your further study. In addition, a link will be provided to purchase the book on CD to install on your own computer for convenience of study and print. All we ask is that you observe the stated copyrights as with any book you buy over the counter, limiting your print to only one hard copy for your own personal use. If further hard copies are necessary, please contact us for an additional nominal fee. Thank you for your interest in this study. Our hope and prayer is that through the work of the Holy Spirit as you study you will be blessed by it, and if so, recommend it to a friend.

We begin this month with the Preface to the book: Adam2.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Genesis 1,2, & 3 KJV - Redacted)

Unpermitted to carry with him even one day's provision when he walked through the closing gate of the Garden into a new hostile world, one cannot help but wonder if, as Lot's wife, this first Adam did not look longingly over his shoulder at a sealed and vanishing home of cherished memories. If he did, then he had to have seen a lonely Figure standing in the doorway in the distance in heart-broken agony, just as the prodigal's father, watching the departure of a loved son lost through his own desires—and with the expectant look of a hope to see him someday return. And if this errant son had looked closer, he would have seen standing beside this Father another Son, a Second Adam yet to be born, One who would later enter this fallen world outside that Garden to show the first Adam's descendants the way to this Eternal Home's hidden entrance.

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As recorded in Genesis, the drama of the origin and fall of that first Adam had just concluded in unparalleled tragedy. But John tells us there is a sequel to that sad story, one that begins with his Gospel and concludes in triumph with his final chapter called Revelation. What lies between the end of that first story and its final conclusion is a mere parenthetical expression of Adam and his sons' wayward wanderings and this Father's Introduction to His grandsons. And so John begins, as did the first, "In the Beginning," and proceeds to introduce the Earthly Coming of God's Second Son, this time as His Only Begotten. Born to a virgin granddaughter of the woman He fashioned from the first, He has come to walk the dusty and lonely trails of a fallen planet for one purpose—to search out and tell Adam's descendants they must be born through Him to see clearly Eden's opening, and by their own choice, choose to re-enter it, or remain in the darkness of a doomed world. This is John's story, as God chose him to tell it.

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There are so many things in life that are uncertain—important things. This may itself be a time of uncertainty for you. Understanding, you think, if I could just understand it wouldn't seem so bad. We think if we could see just a silhouette of what might be, today would not seem so dark. Strength fails us. Weariness adds its weight daily to my soul. Anxiety strikes and seizes me frequently without warning. I do not understand what is happening with me. How long? When, when shall my deliverance be when life seems so uncertain now?

There are times when we have exited the clouds of uncertainty only to discover some things we are glad we had no prior knowledge, things that if known would have clouded and weighed our minds even further. But still, there are some things we desire desperately to know—now: answers to long sought objects of our tearful prayers or the way clear of a present cloud or storm. It could be the sting of a betrayed loyalty, love, or friendship, fear of an impending loss or a time of great chaos, confusion and upheaval. We believe having prior knowledge or some understanding of how it may eventually be with us would mitigate our present anxiety thus allowing some joy, any joy, in our current dark days. God does not generally give us the choice of that knowledge. However, one thing we can know is that while we can't see, He can. While we can't control the outcome, He does...

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When we come to the end of our logic and reason, all the advice of family and friends, read the last chapter in the latest best seller self-help book, we have to turn to the One from whom all things came. If anyone is to understand, it must be Him ("So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." - Romans 10:17). One of the things He tells us is that we are to "walk by faith and not by sight." (II Corinthians 5:7) "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:26) "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1) "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." (Hebrews 11:3) "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:" (I Peter 1:7)

It is clear in these few examples of His Word, God does not have to look to "things that are" for solutions for "things to be." To have been an observer when He brought "all things" into existence from "no thing", we would stand with mouth agape in stark disbelief. Who among ten thousand would not say: Impossible! I saw it but I still don't believe it! Regardless of your belief, there it is! The evidence of that event and fact remains. It is undisputed by modern scientists—that moment when matter exploded into existence and continues to expand and form in wonder and awe. Look about you. New discoveries of what once was thought, impossible! continue to delight us. But, you retort: I don't see how! Precisely! Now, isn't that where you are in your present uncertainty? You don't see how? You've exhausted all reason from the best wisdom of men.

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The following is taken from the Book of Old Testament Summaries.

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