After Cezanne’s Mont Sainte-Victoire, 1895

. . . beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion,

in the far north, the city of the great King.

Psalm 48:2

To have not been left waiting and lonely

At the foot of the mountain would have been

Enough, but he led us to his holy

House. We were welcomed as his very kin.

Tears once flooded our faces; shaming night

Shadows filled our thoughts. Now his very hands

Wash us clean; each memory bathed by light.

He gathers multitudes of those from lands

Of every time and tongue. Yet more he shares

When he beckons us to enjoy fine wine

And meat from his table—he nothing spares.

With his invitation to ask and find,

We drink living water, gladdened by springs

Which offer us peace to rest and to sing.

The featured image is of Cezanne’s Mont Sainte-Victoire, 1895.

The illustration of the oak leaf is courtesy of Jordan Durbin and used with her generous permission for Cultivating. 

Leslie Bustard

Leslie Anne Bustard takes great joy in loving people and places, whether at church, around her kitchen table, in a classroom, or traveling around. She delights in words, and marvels at the beauty found in the details of ordinary life. Reading, writing, teaching literature, baking, producing high school theater, and museum-ing are some of Leslie’s favorite things.  Leslie is the host of The Square Halo, a podcast for Square Halo Books  and is developing a book titled Wild Things and Castles in the Sky: A Guide to the Best Children’s Books. She and her husband Ned have been married for 30 years and live in a century-old row house in Lancaster City, where they raised their three daughters.

www.squarehalobooks.com/