STAVE TWO
THE FIRST OF THE THREE SPIRITS
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WHEN Scrooge awoke, it was so dark, that looking out of bed, he could scarcely distinguish the transparent window from the opaque walls of his chamber. He was endeavouring to pierce the darkness with his ferret eyes, when the chimes of a neighbouring church struck the four quarters. So he listened for the hour.
Dickens, Charles. "A Christmas Carol." The Christmas Books Volume 1: A Christmas Carol/The Chimes. Ed. Michael Slater. London: Penguin Classics, 1985. 66. Print.
8
The Pit
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I CANNOT POSSIBLY DESCRIBE to you what it felt like to be standing alone in the pitchy blackness of that silent wood in the small hours of the night. The sense of loneliness was overwhelming, the silence was as deep as death, and the only sounds were the ones I made myself. I tried to keep absolutely still for as long as possible, to see if I could hear anything at all. I listened and listened. I held my breath and listened again. I had a queer feeling that the whole wood was listening with me, the trees and the bushes, the little animals hiding in the undergrowth and the birds roosting in the branches. All were listening. Even the silence was listening.
I switched on the flashlight. A brilliant beam of light reached out ahead of me like a long white arm. That was better. Now at any rate I could see where I was going.
Dahl, Roald. Danny the Champion of the World. New York: Puffin Books, 1998. Print. (pp. 62-63)
CHAPTER 12
DEATH ON THE MOOR
The last red streaks had faded away in the west and night had settled upon the moor. A few faint stars were gleaming in a violet sky.
A terrible scream--a prolonged yell of horror and anguish burst out of the silence of the moor. That frightful cry turned the blood to ice in my veins.
Blindly we ran through the gloom, blundering against boulders, forcing our way through gorse bushes, panting up hills and rushing down slopes, heading always in the direction whence those dreadful sounds had come. At every rise Holmes looked eagerly round him, but the shadows were thick upon the moor, and nothing moved upon its dreary face.
"Can you see anything?"
"Nothing."
"But, hark, what is that?"
A low moan had fallen upon our ears. There it was again upon our left! On that side a ridge of rocks ended in a sheer cliff which overlooked a stone-strewn slope. On its jagged face was spread-eagled some dark, irregular object. As we ran towards it the vague outline hardened into a definite shape. It was a prostrate man face downward upon the ground, the head doubled under him at a horrible angle, the shoulders rounded and the body hunched together as if in the act of throwing a somersault. So grotesque was the attitude that I could not for the instant realize that that moan had been the passing of his soul. Not a whisper, not a rustle, rose now from the dark figure over which we stooped. Holmes laid his hand upon him and held it up again with an exclamation of horror. The gleam of the match which he struck shone upon his clotted fingers and upon the ghastly pool which widened slowly from the crushed skull of the victim. And it shone upon us something else which turned our hearts sick and faint within us--the body of Sir Henry Baskerville!
There was no chance of either of us forgetting that peculiar ruddy tweed suit--the very one which he had worn on the first morning that we had seen him in Baker Street. We caught the one clear glimpse of it, and then the match flickered and went out, even as the hope had gone out of our souls. Holmes groaned, and his face glimmered white through the darkness.
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. "The Hound of the Baskervilles." Sherlock Holmes: The complete Novels and Stories, Volume II. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003. 121-123. Print.
EXODUS
10 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt--darkness that can be felt." So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places there they lived.
The New International Version Study Bible. Ed. Kenneth L. Barker. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011. Print. (Exodus 10:21-23)
PSALMS
BOOK V
Psalms 107 - 150
Psalm 119
נ Nun
Your word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path.
I have taken an oath and confirmed it,
that I will follow your righteous laws.
I have suffered much;
preserve my life, LORD, according to your word.
Accept, LORD, the willing praise of my mouth,
and teach me your laws.
Though I constantly take my life in my hands,
I will not forget your law.
The wicked have set a snare for me,
but I have not strayed from your precepts.
Your statutes are my heritage forever;
they are the joy of my heart.
My heart is set on keeping your decrees
to the very end.
Ibid. (Psalm 119:105-112)
JOHN
1 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Ibid. (John 1:1-14)
God Of This City
Words and Music by
Aaron Boyd, Richard Bleakley,
Peter Comfort, Peter Kernoghan,
Andrew McCann and Ian Jordan
You're the God of this city,
You're the King of these people,
You're the Lord of this nation,
You are.
You're the light in this darkness,
You're the hope to the hopeless,
You're the peace to the restless,
You are.
There is no one like our God.
There is no one like our God.
© 2006 sixsteps Music | worshiptogether.com songs
2 PETER
1 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
The New International Version Study Bible. Ed. Kenneth L. Barker. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011. Print. (II Peter 1:12-19)
