As people of faith, we are frequently asked to pray for those experiencing trouble. Be they victims of natural disaster, those experiencing a health crisis; perhaps folks going through a difficult transition such as a job loss, or going away to school. We pray because as part of the beloved community we are called to do so. This was part of the model for ministry which Jesus taught. However, do we remember to give thanks for the comfort which comes from and through prayer?
In Psalm sixty-six, the author divides the song in two equal parts. The first half is a plaintive request for Holy intervention. The words reflect a life in need of fixing, so the prayer is one of ‘God let’s make a deal.’ It has been said that ‘there are no atheists in fox-holes.’ To that end the early part of this psalm/song is one of siege. The second half is about holding up the personal promise given. The author states that if God grants protection, and care, then a life of service and praise will result. To modern hermeneutic scholars this sounds like the prosperity theology of a televangelist, yet a closer look at the Psalms would reveal it to be a balanced understanding of what a life of faith looks like in real time.
Anyone, past puberty in terms of faith, knows that sometimes life is all about cherries while others is about the pits, figuratively if not literally. A good friend once said, “Too often we treat our faith as if we live in a Stained Glass Fox-Hole, but the reality is we reside in a garden with ample room to take root and grow.” How fortunate we are that God’s grace is the foment of our existence.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
May 22, 2011, part 2
When we are just getting started whether in sports, work, or even life itself, we need an extra measure of support and care. As a small boy I can remember very clearly my mother forcing us to take a shovel full of Cod Liver Oil (well it seemed like it to me) each night before bed. She was interested in the health of her five children and to that end did all she could to be certain we had the food education and nurture to make us strong.
In first Peter 2:2-10, the author is writing in this same paternal vein. With the care of someone wise and understanding along with that of one willing to nudge a loved one in terms of spiritual growth. The letter opens, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation– if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
Though these words were written for the early converts in Asia Minor, they continue to have great value when considering the work of a faith community. That work is one needing both formation and outreach. The formation is the work done within the body of believers in terms of worship, nurture and outreach. The work is the fuel which then enables the community to go forth and demonstrate the Love of God in tangible means in cities, states, countries in the Biblical sense to the world.
One of the things I lean on for spiritual strength is music. Not just so called sacred music; though I like ‘Old Traditional Hymns, along with popular Christian music.’ One of my favorite classic Rock and Roll singer songwriters is Jackson Browne. In part it may be because he is just a bit older than myself, and we both grew up in Orange County. However, it probably is simply because of the words he uses when crafting a song which feels like a musical vitamin, only not as onerous. In a song from the album “Running On Empty,” the words convey a convincing thought. “Gotta do what you can, just to keep your love alive. Trying not to confuse it with what you do to survive. In sixty-nine I was twenty-one and I called the road my own. I don’t know when that road turned onto the road I’m on. Running on empty, Running Blind, Running into the Sun, but I’m Running behind.” Words like these I find at times can be an elixir for me. Just as helpful as that Cod Liver Oil, and more pleasant to boot.
In first Peter 2:2-10, the author is writing in this same paternal vein. With the care of someone wise and understanding along with that of one willing to nudge a loved one in terms of spiritual growth. The letter opens, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation– if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
Though these words were written for the early converts in Asia Minor, they continue to have great value when considering the work of a faith community. That work is one needing both formation and outreach. The formation is the work done within the body of believers in terms of worship, nurture and outreach. The work is the fuel which then enables the community to go forth and demonstrate the Love of God in tangible means in cities, states, countries in the Biblical sense to the world.
One of the things I lean on for spiritual strength is music. Not just so called sacred music; though I like ‘Old Traditional Hymns, along with popular Christian music.’ One of my favorite classic Rock and Roll singer songwriters is Jackson Browne. In part it may be because he is just a bit older than myself, and we both grew up in Orange County. However, it probably is simply because of the words he uses when crafting a song which feels like a musical vitamin, only not as onerous. In a song from the album “Running On Empty,” the words convey a convincing thought. “Gotta do what you can, just to keep your love alive. Trying not to confuse it with what you do to survive. In sixty-nine I was twenty-one and I called the road my own. I don’t know when that road turned onto the road I’m on. Running on empty, Running Blind, Running into the Sun, but I’m Running behind.” Words like these I find at times can be an elixir for me. Just as helpful as that Cod Liver Oil, and more pleasant to boot.
May 22, 2011
When we are just getting started whether in sports, work, or even life itself, we need an extra measure of support and care. As a small boy I can remember very clearly my mother forcing us to take a shovel full of Cod Liver Oil (well it seemed like it to me) each night before bed. She was interested in the health of her five children and to that end did all she could to be certain we had the food education and nurture to make us strong.
In first Peter 2:2-10, the author is writing in this same paternal vein. With the care of someone wise and understanding along with that of one willing to nudge a loved one in terms of spiritual growth. The letter opens, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation– if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
Though these words were written for the early converts in Asia Minor, they continue to have great value when considering the work of a faith community. That work is one needing both formation and outreach. The formation is the work done within the body of believers in terms of worship, nurture and outreach. The work is the fuel which then enables the community to go forth and demonstrate the Love of God in tangible means in cities, states, countries in the Biblical sense to the world.
One of the things I lean on for spiritual strength is music. Not just so called sacred music; though I like ‘Old Traditional Hymns, along with popular Christian music.’ One of my favorite classic Rock and Roll singer songwriters is Jackson Browne. In part it may be because he is just a bit older than myself, and we both grew up in Orange County. However, it probably is simply because of the words he uses when crafting a song which feels like a musical vitamin, only not as onerous. In a song from the album “Running On Empty,” the words convey a convincing thought. “Gotta do what you can, just to keep your love alive. Trying not to confuse it with what you do to survive. In sixty-nine I was twenty-one and I called the road my own. I don’t know when that road turned onto the road I’m on. Running on empty, Running Blind, Running into the Sun, but I’m Running behind.” Words like these I find at times can be an elixir for me. Just as helpful as that Cod Liver Oil, and more pleasant to boot.
In first Peter 2:2-10, the author is writing in this same paternal vein. With the care of someone wise and understanding along with that of one willing to nudge a loved one in terms of spiritual growth. The letter opens, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation– if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
Though these words were written for the early converts in Asia Minor, they continue to have great value when considering the work of a faith community. That work is one needing both formation and outreach. The formation is the work done within the body of believers in terms of worship, nurture and outreach. The work is the fuel which then enables the community to go forth and demonstrate the Love of God in tangible means in cities, states, countries in the Biblical sense to the world.
One of the things I lean on for spiritual strength is music. Not just so called sacred music; though I like ‘Old Traditional Hymns, along with popular Christian music.’ One of my favorite classic Rock and Roll singer songwriters is Jackson Browne. In part it may be because he is just a bit older than myself, and we both grew up in Orange County. However, it probably is simply because of the words he uses when crafting a song which feels like a musical vitamin, only not as onerous. In a song from the album “Running On Empty,” the words convey a convincing thought. “Gotta do what you can, just to keep your love alive. Trying not to confuse it with what you do to survive. In sixty-nine I was twenty-one and I called the road my own. I don’t know when that road turned onto the road I’m on. Running on empty, Running Blind, Running into the Sun, but I’m Running behind.” Words like these I find at times can be an elixir for me. Just as helpful as that Cod Liver Oil, and more pleasant to boot.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Who Guards Your Neighborhood?
In a magazine titled “Departures” the May/June issue deals with the culture of luxury. In a very brief single page article, actor Alec Baldwin writes of the necessary luxuries, then lists his own. Both by name and in a pictorial setting. They are as follows: A print copy of the New York Times; drawing with Crayons; Fig Newtons; and the City of New York. Though he elaborates a bit on each as to why these items bring him comfort, it is clear he has a personal connection in his life to each.
I can still recall with some vividness a childhood experience. I was with my family at the beach at age six or seven. My father had just come out from a swim and scooped me in his arms and walked toward the ocean. At first I was fine, then became a bit afraid as he walked in the waves, then near hysteric as we moved further in. My dad then recognized my fear and deposited me beside my mom. I will never forget the look of disappointment on his face. He was a great swimmer, barely forty at the time, yet his youngest could not muster enough comfort to trust in his care. Later, when I went to work for him I came to understand him as a person who would never intentionally put someone, let alone one of his own, in harm’s way. One of my fondest memories is how much trust and delight my sons had in their Grandfather, and he in them.
Scholars tell us that most of the Psalms were for use in worship. Some were shared in formal ways while others were more private devotions. Psalm sixteen is of the latter category. It is titled “A Miktam of David.” According to Dr. Elmer A. Leslie a professor of Hebrew Scripture, Miktams are writings of personal relational spirituality which deal with ‘atonement or expiation.’ Virtually all of the first forty-one Psalms fit this description as they deal with protection, comfort and care from God for the one writing the prayer.
What makes Psalm sixteen work so well as a personal prayer is the specifics of the wording. In verse one it opens with a direct plea; ‘Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge...those who choose another god multiply their sorrows.’ The emphasis is on a deep trust the author (here it is David) has in relationship with God. The comfort derived from known boundaries of faith, and spiritual guidance. The Psalm closes with a summation of the author’s appreciation in verse eleven, ‘You show me the path of life. In your right hand are pleasures forevermore.’ So whether it is writing or saying a specific prayer, reading a newspaper, drawing a picture, or eating a cookie, especially a “Tates chocolate chip with walnut;” we each need personal places of comfort which we store in our memory and bring out to draw strength.
I can still recall with some vividness a childhood experience. I was with my family at the beach at age six or seven. My father had just come out from a swim and scooped me in his arms and walked toward the ocean. At first I was fine, then became a bit afraid as he walked in the waves, then near hysteric as we moved further in. My dad then recognized my fear and deposited me beside my mom. I will never forget the look of disappointment on his face. He was a great swimmer, barely forty at the time, yet his youngest could not muster enough comfort to trust in his care. Later, when I went to work for him I came to understand him as a person who would never intentionally put someone, let alone one of his own, in harm’s way. One of my fondest memories is how much trust and delight my sons had in their Grandfather, and he in them.
Scholars tell us that most of the Psalms were for use in worship. Some were shared in formal ways while others were more private devotions. Psalm sixteen is of the latter category. It is titled “A Miktam of David.” According to Dr. Elmer A. Leslie a professor of Hebrew Scripture, Miktams are writings of personal relational spirituality which deal with ‘atonement or expiation.’ Virtually all of the first forty-one Psalms fit this description as they deal with protection, comfort and care from God for the one writing the prayer.
What makes Psalm sixteen work so well as a personal prayer is the specifics of the wording. In verse one it opens with a direct plea; ‘Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge...those who choose another god multiply their sorrows.’ The emphasis is on a deep trust the author (here it is David) has in relationship with God. The comfort derived from known boundaries of faith, and spiritual guidance. The Psalm closes with a summation of the author’s appreciation in verse eleven, ‘You show me the path of life. In your right hand are pleasures forevermore.’ So whether it is writing or saying a specific prayer, reading a newspaper, drawing a picture, or eating a cookie, especially a “Tates chocolate chip with walnut;” we each need personal places of comfort which we store in our memory and bring out to draw strength.
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