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: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
25 September 2014 The Gamble

The Gamble

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If you’ve been following my posts on Fyodor Dostoevsky, here is the final and perhaps the best one. Last week I challenged readers to read the famous chapter, “The Grand Inquisitor,” from Dostoevsky’s crowning achievement–an epic novel called, The Brothers Karamazov. It’s so remarkable that complete copies of the chapter are available online.

I wept, reading it again. I always do, even though it is a fantastical story in a fictional novel. Take a moment now in your busy week and ponder the deep questions in this famous piece of writing…

Imagine the wonder of Jesus returning to the earth. Not as promised in all His glory—yet. Rather, just to see what’s become of us in the interim, in the long lapse of time that started when He said, “Behold, I come quickly.”

The Seal for the Tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition

The Seal for the Tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition

The sub-story is set in Spain at the time of the Inquisition, a forceful suppression of religious freedom, punishable by death. Jesus came in ordinary clothes to the hot pavement of Seville, which on the day before, a hundred heretics had been burned by order of the Grand Inquisitor. Dostoevsky initially paints a beautiful scene…Continue reading

Filed Under: 2014, Experiencing God, God's design Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
21 August 2014 Interestingness

Interestingness

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“Self-consciousness is the enemy of ‘interestingness.’” — Malcolm Gladwell.

iStock_000016049950SmallOne of the most beautiful things about small children is their lack of self-consciousness. They sing, dance, and whirl without pretext. Their shimmering self is uncloaked and skipping about with abandon. Spend some time with a three-year-old.

Jesus said we must become as children in order to see the kingdom. Yet, sadly, children are ‘older’ now at younger ages.

Author Marie Winn, in Children Without Childhood, wrote about the cultural changes and demands that put children at risk, causing them to grow up too early–things like family breakups, accessibility of drugs and premature exposure to sex and coarse language in books, movies, TV, and on the Internet.

I was privileged to be child for most of my childhood. In other families divorce happened, people drank too much, and sometimes adults fought. I remember the moment I heard JFK had been shot and watched Martin Luther King’s funeral. But those realities were mere shadows on the periphery of my otherwise sunny world.

HidingStill, sooner or later innocence is lost. And one kind of loss is the development of self-consciousness. While it’s good to know how your words and actions affect others, there is a dark side to self-consciousness that can become a lifelong tyranny.

Do you remember being unaware of yourself? A time when you didn’t know you didn’t have a hairstyle? A place of acceptance where any question could be asked? A season of dreaming and exploring and belly flops without embarrassment.

A shift comes.Continue reading

Filed Under: 2014, Barriers, God's design Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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