Tag Archives: Expression

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 44

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English: Compact Disc player carousel for thre...

Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep?
    Get up! Do not reject us forever.
Psalm 44:23 (NLT)

Go through almost any CD and you’ll generally find a wide mixture music. A fast paced, energetic song will be followed by an introspective ballad. The next song will have driving intensity and a powerful social message, but the following track will be a sweet song of love. Record producers know that you can’t put together a CD with ten tracks that all sound the same. Variety is the spice of life. As life’s journey contains both peaks and valleys, we need music to express the breadth of the human experience.

When reading through the book of Psalms, we can never forget that it is a catalog of musical lyrics. It was carefully compiled by ancient record producers. Like the CD that slides into the dashboard of our car stereo, the psalms contain a diverse selection of songs which speak to an immense variety of life circumstances.

Everyone experiences crushing defeat from time to time. The greatest sports teams of all time still lose some of the time. Watch the Biography Channel and you’ll see that every person who has reached the heights of success has had to experience tremendous loss on their way up. There is a time for everything under the sun. There is a time for victory, and there is a time for defeat.

The lyric of today’s psalm come out of the confusion and questions which rise up in our hearts and minds after a crushing loss. In those acute moments of despair we remember past victories and when things were good. We feel the injustice of the defeat in light of our self-righteousness. We feel alone and abandoned as if God decided to sleep in and forget about us.

Music reminds us that we’re not alone. Turn up the blues and we find encouragement that others have been there before us. We sing along and our negative emotions find a healthy outlet of expression. Keep listening. Keep singing. The next track on the CD reminds us that these feelings of abandonment and despair are momentary. Better times are just a song away.

Random Thoughts

Tom’s 30 Day Blogging Challenge Day 25

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David Oscarson - Celestial
Image by s.yume via Flickr

If you could have the world’s largest collection of one thing, what would it be?

I’ve collected a lot of stuff over the years. When I was a kid, I tried my hand a baseball cards and comic books. I dabbled in collecting postcards, books, and for a while I had quite a collection of Coca-Cola memorabilia. But, somewhere along the journey I got tired of having to manage and caretake the things I collect. It’s the age old example of starting by trying to own something and having it own you instead.

The only things I can say I modestly collect today are writing instruments (they more than just “pens”) and timepieces (they are more than just “watches”). The thing I like about both is that they are functional in every day life, they are small and don’t take up much room, and there’s not a lot of expense in maintenance. Plus, there is a metaphorical side to them: time and expression.

So, if I was to have the world’s largest collection of one thing, I’d have to choose between the two. This morning, my head stuffed with the common cold, I don’t have the mental energy to choose nor reason through my choice.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Leviticus 24

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Dictionary

 It makes no difference whether he is a foreigner or a native, if he blasphemes the Name, he will be put to death. Leviticus 24:16 (MSG)

blas·pheme

/blæsˈfim, ˈblæsfim/[blas-feem, blas-feem] verb, -phemed, -phem·ing.
–verb (used with object)
1. to speak impiously or irreverently of (God or sacred things).
2. to speak evil of; slander; abuse.

Those who faithfully read these chapter-a-day posts are likely sick of hearing me say that God is a God of metaphor. And yet, in our journey through God’s Message I am continually amazed at how deeply this truth is woven into the very fabric of life. Words themselves are metaphors. A word, whether spoken or written, is something which stands for something else without using “like” or “as.” God’s Message refers to Jesus as the “Word.”

Consider that each morning we wake up with a blank verbal canvas, and the words that we choose to utter become brush strokes which paint a metaphorical self-portrait; they paint a metaphorical expression out of our deepest thoughts, emotions, and beliefs.

Think about all that you did yesterday. Recall, as best you can, all of the words that came out of your mouth: the conversations, the exclamations, the idle gossip, the song lyrics you sang along with in the car, the curses under your breath, the complaints, the arguments, the demands, the insults, the compliments, the private moments, and the deragatory remarks.

What kind of self-portrait do those words paint? Would others look at a summary of the words that came from your mouth and say that it is a portrait of love? Anger? Contentment? Hatred? Dissatisfaction? Gentleness? Pride? Greed? Compassion? Lonliness? Humility? Fear? Patience? Anxiety?

God takes the word we use very seriously. In fact, I believe God takes them far more seriously than we care to think about.

“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” – Luke 6:44-46

“But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.” – Matthew 12:36

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry….” James 1:19

I read today’s chapter and scratch my head at the extreme reaction God had towards one man’s curse. My first reaction is to think “how can God be so upset about words?” The longer I meditate on it, the more I hear God’s return question: “How can you so easily profane the power and meaning of words themselves?”

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