Musical Musings

I bought my third guitar yesterday.  It was one of those spontaneous spending sprees that was prompted by seeing a guitar staring at me when I sat down in an antique store.  It was really not very expensive and I did not know I wanted a guitar until that one saw me.  My first guitar I bought when I went to college and later sold it to a friend when I bought my roommate's old guitar.  When I retired I gave that second guitar to a young boy in my church who was more interested in playing it.  So, after thirteen years of not having a guitar, I am back in the music playing business.     

Of course, I say playing music lightly.  I only played well enough to entertain me.  And, maybe my mother.  But, the truth is I have always loved music, loved to hear it, and enjoyed singing very much.  One of the perks of being a preacher and worship leader was being able to stand in front of a singing congregation on Sunday morning when the seats were full and the hearts were brimming over with a desire to sing praise to God.  In those moments I loved to sing.  No one could hear my poor singing and all that good singing in the sanctuary just washed over me like a surging river that filled my soul to overflowing.   

The gospel writer, Mark, lets us in on a bit of Jesus trivia when he wrote about a moment after the last meal, "When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives."  (Mark 14:26)   Jesus was a singer, too.  Of course, the book of Psalms is a section of Hebews hymns.  So many of them have become the inspiration for hymn writers through the centuries who sought to enrich the worship life of the church.  And, then the book of Revelation enables us to know that there is singing in heaven.  "When we all get to heaven, What a day of rejoicing that will be!"  

The New Word

While in Texas a few weeks ago, my grandson who was traveling with me and I visited a couple of nights with a former casual friend who has become a best friend in many ways.  A word which continuously came up in our conversation was the word generous.  He told us many stories of some freinds who lived with the same spirit of generosity which he and his wife modeled as we were with them.   And since then there have been several others who have spoken the language of generosity by kindness extended in my direction.  Sometimes it feels like a word from the Almighty which is being given to me about being more generous in my own life.    

It might seem at first that generoisty might cost us something, or deprive us of things we might need, or even diminish our own stockpile of stuff, but what it really does is enrich our life.  We may not be able to be generous to the extent of some who bear the markings of the more affluent, but being generous is something we can all do.  It must surely start with being generous in giving things like a smile, or an act of kindness, or offering patience in a world filled with hurry.  Once we allow ourselves to be open to the spirit of generosity in the little things, the bigger things will surely follow.  It  flows out of us into the lives of others in ways that bring blessings to us and those who are touched by the wind of generosity born out of our own spirit.     

There can be no doubt that God is pleased with a generous spirit.  And, neither can there be any doubt that it is His intent for us to be generous in our living.  Constantly the Word of God calls us to care for those around us whose lives are filled with struggles.  We are admonished to give not according to obligation, but according to love.  It is the servant who hears divine words of affirmation for serving can only come from a spirit which does not count self more highly that others.  Generous people make for a better world which means that you and I can make for a better world.  

Middle of the Night Stillness

In the middle of the night the voices of the home are silent.  All that is left is the steady humming noises of some appliance that has a life of its own and the ever shining digital lighting.  The insulated walls of the house keep the night time sounds of the creation on the outside and away from ears that might hear.  At times the quietness and the stillness within is broken by the noise of wind rattling windows, the spattering of rain on the roof, or the distant hoot owl as it conducts its nocturnal searching.  

If we are able to get beyond being awake when our body says we should be sleeping,  we may be able to hear the voice of the Holy One who gently speaks in the inner stillness.  For even as the interior of the house is still so is the interior space in our spirit. The middle of the night hours have a way of pushing away the distractions of the day so that our sub conscious mind opens the door to the inner space which seems to have no voice in the heat and brightness of the day.  It is no wonder that the Psalmist wrote of meditating on the things of God during the night.  (Psalm 63:6)  

When sleep is elusive it may be God's way of bringing us into a moment of sensing His presence, or hearing His voice, or knowing an invitation to enter into the work of intercession for the Kingdom.  There is value in sitting expectantly for a few minutes in the silence to which He has awakened us.  Instead of fussing with ourselves about not sleeping, maybe we should pray the prayer of young Samuel, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening."  (I Samuel 3:10)

Morning Stillness

This new day brings with it such a stillness.  To see out beyond the open door is to see stillness.  Nothing seems to be moving.  Pecan limbs and leaves which often seem to have a life of their own are now just out there hanging without any hint of wanting to  be moved.  Even the cows which are grazing a little further beyond the trees seem to move in such slow motion that they, too, appear to have joined the morning stillness.  It would seem that all the creation in which I am immersed is in a moment of anticipation, a  moment of waiting, a moment of expection of something still not here.    

My heart longs for such stillness.  It is a moment of being gripped by those words of the Psalmist, "As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for You, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God."  (Psalm 42:1)  My soul is like the soul of those unseen souls who are a part of my life.  They, too, hunger for God.  They, too, long for the stillness which is seen outside to be the stillness known in the inside where we have learned to know the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.   I wait, but not alone.  Together we wait. 

As the stillness of creation speaks of waiting with anticipation so are we called to live if we are truly in step with the plan of God which is always unfolding around us and in us.   He is always out there about to come; and yet, mysteriously enough, He has already come.  In such an awe filled place we are blessed to live.  Even though present with us, as we allow the stillness to fill us with the anticipation which is a part of that moment, we can expect to soon feel the stirrings of that gentle Spirit which will once again bring signs of new life coming into being within us.  

Reading the Psalms

There is probably no section of the Scripture that is read more often the book of Psalms.  Many of us remember the 23rd Psalm as the first one we memorized.  Along the way we have likely learned a few others, but no Psalm is more often quoted.  There are some folks who have memorized not just the 23rd Psalm, but the entire collection.  In spiritual conclaves such as monasteries the Psalms are read or experienced by the community every day in its worship.    

As we think back over the years of own spiritual journey, we know that God has spoken to us in numerous ways through these ancient writings.  In times of trouble we have found solace, in times of grief and mourning we have found the way forward, and in times of joyful thanksgiving we have found ways to express the gratitude and praise which comes rising up from within us.  They are expressions of the experiences of our humanity written by a man who was a lover of God as a boy who tended sheep and as a man who led his nation.   

Of course, what we know is that the Spirit used an imperfect and flawed man to write these words which have transformed the lives of so many.  The fact that they came from one who desired the ways of God even though flawed resonates with our own spiritual journey.  Like David we are flawed.  Like David we are hungry for God.  Life David we seek to walk beyond where we are able to walk alone and in our strength.  Like David we need the help and the deliverance of the Lord to reach the end of the journey in faithfulness.   And like David we have discovered what it is to walk in the paths God has set before us.  

Name Changes

Back in 1948 my parents put the name William Lester on my birth certificate and called me Billy.  I wore that nickname until I went to college when I took it upon myself to change it to Bill.  Maybe I thought Billy was a boy's name and Bill was more of a man's name.  Anyway, I had a name change.  My name change was rather inconsequential when compared to some of the name changes which took place in the Biblical story.  Abram and Sarai got their names changed to Abraham and Sarah.  God made this name change as a way of sealing a divine promise.  When Abraham was one hundred and Sarah was ninety, the old guy got a new name to declare that he would be the father of many.     

There are also some noteworthy name changes in the New Testament.  Saul of Tarsus became known as Paul the Apostle.  We often think that Jesus might have changed his name on the Damascus Road, but Acts 13:9 speaks of "...Saul, also known as Paul..." which suggests that he was known by both names, but came to be known not as Saul, but Paul.  And, of course, Simon became Peter by viture of a name change instigated by Jesus.  (Matthew 16:18-19)  

When it comes to name changing, the plan of God casts a net so big that we are all caught up in it.  We who were sinners are called saints.  In the letters to the church we read where the Apostles wrote to the saints in the church.  And in I Peter 2:9-10 we read of that great name change as the Word says, "But, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people...Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people..."   Though known by the name sinner, it is by the work of the cross that we are finally known not as sinners, but as saints, the set apart and holy people of God.  

The Edge of Glory

 Under the shadow of the arm of the Almighty, 

       inside the amazing love of the precious Son, 

         surrounded by the holy wind of the Spirit

now abide those who have slipped away and

        found their eternal Home now finished.  

And now those who lag behind, folks like you and me, 

     find our unsteady step is slowly quickening,

        as our eyes have seen some of what is ahead,

our heart longs no longer for here, but for there

       where those loved here have become the saints there.

What grace and mercy the Holy One gives to all of us, 

     those whose eyes are now filled with glory

       and those who only hear the sound of it

through flowing tears and unending memories.

      May God who joins us together be forever praised!