Today's Word:
Daniel 13:1-62 (Susanna and the elders)
Psalm 23 (Even though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil; for You are with me)
John 8:1-11 ("Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to cast a stone")
I went to bed last night wondering how God might answer my prayer and questions. So much went on in my mind I felt certain I would have dreams about it.
But there were none.
My dear wife realizes that wounds in me inflicted ten years ago have been reopened. She's being very kind. Given what she showed me yesterday (which was hinted at in the prayer/letter I posted) she has been concerned, and very supportive of me. On the other hand, just bringing up the subject as I have in these reflections is not unlike picking at a scab. Wounds do get reopened. It was Tim Rice who wrote in Circle of Life (from Disney's "The Lion King"):
Some of us sail through our troubles
Some have to live with the scars...
Today's a brand new day, though; as Sting writes:
Why don't we turn the clock to zero honey?
I'll sell the stock we'll spend all the money
We're starting up a brand new day...
And with this brand new day, some inkling - almost immediately - that God is listening.
Of course, God is well known for answering questions with other questions; the Book of Job is a prime example. One of Bill Cosby's earliest stand-up routines has Noah going at it with God over the building of the ark. When obedient Noah finally snaps in front of God and rants, God's response is, "How long can you tread water?" So, when the radio heralded the start of another chapter in the book of my life, I heard this and latched onto it immediately:
It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in trying to fade into the faces
The girls teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know
But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way
A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances
Tells him that his chances are better out on the road
But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way
Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the body of Christ
But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way
Jesus is the way
--If We Are The Body (2003)
cf. James 2:1-9
Mark Hall
Casting Crowns
When will we get there? To quote a fellow blogger:
"(W)hen we learn to be a cooperative as opposed to competitive species, and greed is no longer the most lauded human virtue."
Or as someone very close to my heart said (something like this): When we start giving more than we are taking.
Heaven help us all.
Can this feeling that we have together
Suddenly exist between
Did this meeting of our minds together
Happen just today, somewhere
I'd like to know,
Can you tell me -- please don't tell me
It really doesn't matter anyhow
It's just that the thought of us so happy
Appears in my mind, as a beautifully mysterious thing
Was your image in my mind so deeply
Other places fade away
Blocking memories of unhappy hours
Leavin' just a burnin' love
I'd like to know,
Can you tell me -- please don't tell me
It really doesn't matter anyhow
It's just that the thought of us so happy
Appears in my mind, as a beautifully mysterious thing
Can this lovin' we have found within us
Suddenly exist between
Did we somehow try to make it happen
Was it just a natural thing
I'd like to know,
Can you tell me -- please don't tell me
It really doesn't matter anyhow
It's just that the thought of us so happy
Appears in my mind, as a beautifully mysterious thing
Yes it does now
Questions 67 and 68!
--Questions 67 & 68 (1969)
Robert Lamm
Chicago (the band)
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