2 January 2015 A Chant Sublime

A Chant Sublime

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Wisdom is often about discovering distinctions.

Many of you liked my post on the distinction between discernment and judgment toward others, and the difference between puzzles and mysteries in regard to God. If you missed it, read here.

So this holiday season, I came across another distinction. Let me explain.

It started when I received a YouTube link from musical artist John Gabriel Arends, performing a not-so-known Christmas carol, “I Heard The Bells.” Hear his version here.

For starters, this song is disarmingly honest. That’s saying something in a Christian culture that says we should be inside-outside-upright-downright happy all the time.

Note the third verse…

I heard the bells on Christmas day, their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet the words repeat of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come, the belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along the unbroken song of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head: “There is no peace on earth,” I said, “

“For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep.

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men.”

Till, ringing singing, on its way, the world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime, of peace on earth, good will to men!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Secondly, consider the context of the writer. Arends said, “I love this song because I believe it brings hope in the day we are living. The original words of this Christmas carol were penned on Christmas Eve 1863 during the Civil War in the United States by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, when he received the news that his son had been severely wounded in battle. On the heels of 40,000 lives being lost in the Battle of Gettysburg, Longfellow grappled with darkness around him.”

Understanding context profoundly alters meaning and impact.

What deep reserves of faith did Longfellow draw from in order to write this song?

And finally, upon rereading the lyrics, I discovered I’d been singing it wrong my whole life!Continue reading

Filed Under: 2015, Experiencing God, Hearing God's Voice, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
13 November 2014 The Type E Person

The Type E Person

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cheese puff backgroundI have a weakness for Cheetos. I admit it. I think about them in the grocery aisle. Sometimes I hide them in my pantry when others come snacking. I notice if anyone’s eaten more than his or her fair share. I’m a Cheetos aficionado, but it’s not a dangerous obsession. Yet.

Far more perilous are the mindsets that remain hidden and “run” my life. What’s insidious about these deeply held ideas is that they’re good things—things woven into the fabric of what it means to follow Jesus. It sounds like this…

“Do all the good you can…by all the means you can…in all the ways you can…in all the places you can…to all the people you can…as long as ever you can.”   —John Wesley

I embraced that sort of mantra down to the core of my being—even as a young girl— because it seemed good and right and true. But application is everything.

photo-4Just a few days ago, I realized that the only Beatles song I ever purchased was Eleanor Rigby. It struck me. What a sad song, about sad people, living sad lives.

“All the lonely people, where do they all come from?

All the lonely people, where do they all belong?”

I cared. I worried. I tried to help and serve the marginalized, the rejected, the lonely, the troubled ones, the brokenhearted, the welfare mom, the elderly, the homeless, the kid in my high school who was persecuted for being a narc.

Drunk woman with glassI can remember weeping at frat parties in college because so many kids were destroying themselves with alcohol, drugs and promiscuity. Crazy I know. Who does that? This acute awareness of others felt like wearing high-definition glasses. I saw too much.

Go the extra mile.Over the years, my “do-all-you-can” thinking was reinforced through Scripture, preaching, books, and even trusted people I admired. The title of Oswald Chambers’ devotional, My Utmost For His Highest, just about summed it up.

The enemy is treacherous, because he will take good things and make them more important than God, while convincing you that it’s all for God.

So The One who loves me had to paint a dramatic picture of what was happening to me. Continue reading

Filed Under: 2014, God's design, Hearing God's Voice Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
6 November 2014 From Foxhole to Sanctuary

From Foxhole to Sanctuary

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pebbled textureI don’t know if you’re like me, but I pick up things to worry about as if collecting rocks. The load gets heavier and heavier, until the weight reaches critical mass. HeadacheAnd before you know it, I’m wide awake in bed at night—worried sick.

A toxic pattern, to be sure.

I tell God I’m sorry and lay each rock of concern at His feet. He usually says,

“Dear Susan…Remember Who I am.”

For several years now, I keep seeing the number 722 in countless ways. I saw it on my coffee pot clock not 10 minutes ago. See previous post about it. I believe it’s a reference to Daniel’s vision in 7:21-22.

 21 “I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them 22 until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.”

Don’t you love the word—until?

It signals a great shift. The mystery is—did it happen already with the death and resurrection of Christ? Or could we be in the throes of it at present? Or maybe it’s still future? I wonder. At the moment, many of God’s people are severely embattled and even targeted. I’m no authority on Scripture. But I see this number every few days. God has my attention.

Businessman looking at arrows pointed in different directionsWith that in mind, I found myself gathering stones again…Israel under attack, beheadings, a commercial airline shot down, race riots in Missouri, health issues, rising national debt, addictions, deaths, divorces, suicides—need I go on? Despair is everywhere.

Lord, when will the “time arrive”? Is this just the beginning of the days of sorrow? Will the tribulation be much worse?

My thoughts easily spiral.

So one day when I was swept into the vortex of worry, I saw eights and nines in different combinations: 8899 and 889. I searched it out in Scripture. Was it random, or precisely what I needed to hear?Continue reading

Filed Under: 2014, Biblical Foundations, Hearing God's Voice Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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