The Rest of the Hymn

Continuing the exercise.  If you start here, drop back to the previous post and it’ll make more sense.  Maybe….  By the way, my oldest son graduates from high school today.  One of those mileposts you notice and that take on more significance as you get older.  Anyway, here’s my attempt at the rest of “Be Thou My Vision”

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

“God, I need you to guide my life and give me wisdom and truth that only come from you.  That happens when I’m with you constantly and I know you are with me.  Our relationship is like how it is supposed to be with a father and a son, because you are the perfect Father.  And somehow Your Holy Spirit is actually IN me, connects me with You and unites us.”

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

“When things get tough, You can be counted on in the struggles of this life, even when our enemy tries to take us out.  You are everything to me.  You give me my sense of worth and value.  You give me joy and satisfaction.  You are where I go for protection and security.  God, bring me even closer to You.  That’s where I want to be and I’m coming to You because You give me the strength and ability to get there.”

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

“Wealth and reputation and the esteem of men don’t mean anything to me compared to the joy of having a relationship with You that I can count on now and forever.  God, you are the One and Only!  You’ve got no competition.  You’re the Ruler of heaven and yet make Yourself available to provide what really satisfies me.”

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

“God, one day I want to be with you after I finish my life here.  I want heaven because it sounds wonderful, but most of all I want heaven because that’s where You are!  Whatever happens, I love You and pray that You’ll always be the clear and unchallenged center of my life.  You’ve got me, as you’ve got it all and rule over it all.”

Hymn Translated

Sing this old hymn along with me if you would……

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art

Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

According to the folks at Wikipedia, it is from the Irish monastic tradition, was first written down in the 8th Century, was translated from Old Irish into English in 1905, and was put into verse in this form in 1912.  The tune is that of a traditional Irish folk song.

It’s a beautiful song and the sentiment and faith expressed are breathtaking, but I just don’t talk that way.  It’s beautiful to hear, but I have to work at it to get it.  It may not add much for any of my readers, but this was good therapy for me.  Here’s how I would translate that first stanza into a prose prayer:

“God, I ask that You be my focus in life and that my eyes stay fixed on you as you rule in my heart.  I don’t want anything to keep me from You as You really are.  I want You and your goodness to be what captures my thoughts and affections.  When I think of You always being there, it gives me clarity and purpose that I can count on and cling to all day and all night.”

At least I think that’s what it means, and when I sing the ancient words, that’s what I’m trying to express through them.  Cool to think about some Irish monk from the 700’s humming this same tune and using different language to express devotion to the same great God!

“Faithful” Servant

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

“Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’?  Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’?   Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?   So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ “  Luke 17:5-10

Jesus told his followers to do something difficult.  In response, the disciples asked for faith.   Jesus tells them that faith isn’t really their problem…..that if they had just a little faith they could do wonders.  What they needed was to understand their true position before God and to check their attitude. 

Sometimes I find myself asking, “Does what I do matter?  Does anybody appreciate me?  I’m doing stuff I think God wants me to do, and for what?  Maybe I just need more faith.”

Jesus’ response reminds me who I am, and Who He is, and to just get back to work…….

Bad Days

I like the Bible and I’m pretty good about reading it for myself, but I really do get a lot from reading blogs and hearing others teach me.  One of my habits these days is to use my mp3 player to download podcasts from churches, teachers, and leaders I respect.  (I get them through the itunes store for free.)  Then as I’m driving I’ll listen to them instead of music or the radio.  A lot of what I’m learning ends up in my musings here.  Today I want to give props to Craig Groeschel at LifeChurch.tv  His blog link is on this site and I highly recommend visiting, but he recently did a teaching on the book of Habakkuk that was really cool.  Essentially it was about how God is still there even on really bad days, and He’s still God even when we don’t understand Him.

God told Habakkuk that He was going to punish Judah using the wicked Chaldeans to do it.  Habakkuk gives some honest pushback, but his response to God even in the face of some very bad days to come is utterly amazing.  It is the difference between faith in God Himself versus faith that God will makes things work out just the way we want.  It’s the only faith that will make it through bad days, and it reminds me how far I have to go…..

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,  yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Habakkuk 3:16-18 (NIV)

24

The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.  Proverbs 14:1 (NIV)

Twenty-four years ago today, I married my favorite person.  Lots of experts can give way better advice than me on the most important things in a successful marriage.  All I’d add today is that the underlying character and the heart of the person you marry will come out….and it matters.  For you singles (or single-agains) out there,  “Pray hard and choose wisely.”  For you married folks out there, “Pray harder.  You already chose.  Don’t quit.”

By God’s grace, I married a very wise young woman in 1984.  The way she chooses to live her life, pursue her relationship with God, relate to her family and friends, nurture and teach her children, and love and support her husband is just what this Proverb is talking about.  I’ve been fortunate to live in a house with Laura that she’s been building for 24 years.  Happy Anniversary….to me!

Better than mine

Read this post at a site that usually makes me smile.  It is more serious than usual and it was so wise I thought I’d share my tiny blog platform today since this idea is better than mine….today.

http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2008/05/229-margin-or-life-balanc-or-what-3.html

Does the building matter?

I was in Maryland last week for a business meeting and got to tour the US Navel Academy, which was cool.  Most impressive building on campus was the chapel.  Huge, ornate, stained glass, mega-organ, the works…   The building itself inspired a sense of awe and respect, which I found in myself really didn’t have a lot to do with God.  It’s like I felt this sense of respect for tradition, for the sacrifice of the men and women that had come through the door, and for my country and the values that it stands for……and that’s all well and good; but it was completely independent of my faith and love for God.  I took off my cap to enter the chapel out of respect, which was proper, but I didn’t find that respect specifically connected to God….if that makes any sense.

I read where the folks at Lifeway just finished a poll where they asked what kind of building “unchurched” people liked….and the result was that very traditional-looking, formal structures were preferred.  I joked to a friend that this meant, “I don’t intend to enter a church except to get married or be buried, so this type building is what I’d like for my wedding and funeral.”  Maybe that’s sarcastic; well I know it’s sarcastic, but I think it’s also true.  I actually think the “grandness” of some spaces, can even draw attention AWAY from God, rather than To Him.  At least that’s what I find in myself.

King Solomon, who had just completed building the temple in Jerusalem, which was pretty snazzy in it’s day, said this:

“But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!  I Kings 8:27 (NIV)

 

Focus

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.  Luke 10:41-42a (NIV)

This reply from Jesus was to his friend Martha.  Martha was busy working to get dinner ready for Jesus and His peeps and she whined to Jesus about her sister, Mary, not helping her out.  Jesus call to Martha was simple.  ”Focus!”

We just completed a company district meeting where we talked business, got training, and did the team-building thing.  My boss is a smart fellow and gave us all the challenge of quickly drawing on a flip chart our own personal “coat of arms” that defined who we were and what was important to us….and then we showed that to the group and explained it.  It was a great exercise to make you think about your own life and was very revealing of what’s inside others.

I was shocked to find how simple and and focused mine was, and how easy it was for me to do.  I really was surprized because I think my life is complicated (and it is) and is too busy (and it is) and I’m such a mess (which I am).  Yet in spite of that, I feel like God has given me a completely undeserved and poorly understood gift of focus and clarity about what is important.  I’m learning every day, mostly about how far I have to go, and things are still a little fuzzy.  But I’m learning, like Martha, to at least go to God with the questions and to pay attention to what He says.

Vintage Jesus

“We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”   John 10:33 (NIV)

“Jesus Christ.  No one is more loved and hated than Jesus Christ.” 

This is the first line of the book VINTAGE JESUS by an influential young pastor in Seattle named Mark Driscoll (of Mars Hill fame or infamy depending on who you talk to).   Dr. Gerry Breshears is noted as the co-author but the voice is unmistakably that of Discoll if you have ever heard him.  He is not shy to speak up and speak out….which he does with biting humor and lots of references to modern (or more appropriately post-modern) American culture.  The odd juxtaposition is that Driscoll’s viewpoint is very conservative, and the book offers and delivers very dense and weighty doses of theology throughout.  The focus is, per the title, presenting Jesus as the Bible and in particular His reformed Protestant followers have understood Him for many, many, many generations.

I suspect you’ll either absolutely love this book, or you’ll hate it.  Frankly, more people will reject it.  And everyone will be a little unsettled.  That’s probably appropriate because Jesus had exactly the same effect on people…….

Not Fair

Life really isn’t fair is it?  You or someone you love isn’t healthy.  Your kid (spouse/parent/friend) is making terrible decisions.  Your job’s not all that.  People misunderstand and/or mistreat you.  You’re worried about the future because of the war (election/economy/morals of society) and don’t know if it can be fixed.  And Brooke just got voted off AMERICAN IDOL.  Life is not fair.

Being a Christian means struggling with the fact that we and the world we live in are broken.  It really is not fair.  But what God did for us by and through Jesus is not fair either.  He is so much better.  He is the bedrock we trust in when everything around us seems out of balance or worse.  It’s not easy, and I hesitate to say this because there are folks that have and are going through things a lot worse  than anything I’ve faced, but our faith can’t be based on things working out great.  They may not.  Our faith has got to be in God himself, and that because of Who He is, we can trust Him and believe.  Because we know HIm, we know that sin and pain and unfairness WILL be washed away, engulfed, overwhelmed and completely covered. 

For the earth will be willed with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.  Hebakkuk 2:14 (NASB)