Older And Wiser

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Ancient Songs Sung Anew, experiences, grace, growth, hand of God, hear, instruction, listen, path of life, praying, psalm 119, teaching, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, voice, wisdom

I doubt I will ever read Psalm 119 from beginning to end in one sitting. It’s the longest one, 176 verses in all. Each section begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in succession, rather like our singsong game of “A, B, C, D…” where we learned to expand and fill in with words like “A my name is Alice, my husband’s name is Al, we come from Alaska and we sell Artichokes.” (Next person) “B my name is Bertha…”  (Goodness! It’s been a long time since I thought of that! What a wonder that my mental rolodex flipped it out without hesitation!)

The Scriptural path through Psalm 119 is more serious business than our childhood game, of course. Commentary states that “[E]ach segment might be read as a separate voice from different individuals praying out of their various perspectives. It could also be understood as one individual experiencing all the various perspectives that one knows along the path of life.” This explanation rings true for my reflection this morning in reading the verses that are quoted in today’s lectionary. I thought of how much simpler it is (although not always so easy!) as I get older to recognize the hand of God in my experiences, difficult though they may be, and to accept things as growth points rather than failures. Here’s the gift that verses 65 to 68 gave me, with a postscript of verses 72 & 73 to bring the lesson to conclusion.

I know this path of yours as grace, your every act a teaching. And so I come to understand. In each hard word I learn discernment and know your mind. Before these deep afflictions it was I who turned aside and went astray, but now I’ve learned to follow hard your word and ways. So good are you, you bring forth good, instruct me in the pattern of this deeper wisdom…That I might learn to hear your inner word, your deep instruction; and listen to the voice that speaks like silver and like gold to me, as richest treasure. (Ancient Songs Sung Anew)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Never Give Up

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Acts of the Apostles, Bambelela, Gamaliel, God, hand of God, Marty Haugen, never give up, Sanhedrin, slow work, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust

Marty Haugen, one of my favorite composers of spiritual music, had a song on his CD, Turn My Heart, called Bambelela. Originally a South African spiritual hymn, Haugen’s arrangement was haunting – “got into the bones” – and called listeners to sing, sway or full-out dance. Bambelela means “Never give up.” Repeated over and over the message cannot be missed: “Never, never, never, never, never, oh…never, never give up.” (Bambe, bambe, bambe, bambe,bambe, oh…bambe, bambelela). Haugen throws in a couple of particulars along the way: “In times of trouble…when you’re in pain…” but for the rest it is 2:49 seconds of the repetition. One certainly cannot miss the message.

Today’s text from the Acts of the Apostles introduces Gamaliel, a respected teacher of the law in the Sanhedrin, who is remembered for a very wise piece of advice to his colleagues who were gathered to judge the Apostles present before them. He spoke of other religious movements that had come and gone and then said, “If this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” (ACTS 5:38-39) Good news for the Apostles and wise commentary for our lives as well.

I am reminded also by this example of the adage, “Trust in the slow work of God.” It’s easy to get discouraged if our pet projects don’t seem to be producing what we’ve desired as outcome. I doubt any of us has escaped such a situation in the totality of life. Never giving up and/or trusting in the slow work of God is not exactly at the heart of the 21st century culture in the United States of America.

Today I plan to look back to the times when I had to wait in order to see clearly the hand of God in my life. Perhaps this practice will strengthen my resolve to “hold on” for future outcomes, trusting that if I put each effort solidly in the hand of God, all will be correctly ordered in God’s time.