klsiegel320 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
klsiegel320) wrote2003-03-24 04:12 pm
klsiegel320) wrote2003-03-24 04:12 pm
Purpose-Driven Life, Ch. 8: Planned for God's Pleasure
Point to Ponder: I was planned for God's pleasure.
Verse to Remember: The Lord takes pleasure in his people. --Psalm 149:4a (TEV)
Question to Consider: What common task could I start doing as if I were doing it directly for Jesus?
Another very Celtic chapter. I love the author's comments on how some people categorize things like music. The terminology is clearly from a different denomination (i.e., "first we sang a hymn, then a praise and worship song"), but the sentiment is very familiar.
I admit, I fall into this. I tend to think of worship as liturgy, or liturgy as worship, forgetting that every act done in consciousness of the presence of the Divine is worship.
Thich Naht Hahn talks about this in one of his books, about washing the dishes tenderly as though one were washing the baby Buddha (or for Christians, the baby Jesus) - about cherishing the things we're given in sheer gratitude for their existence and for God's presence.
Benedict also talks about this, when he says that the vessels of the kitchen should be given the same reverence as the vessels of the altar. Taking care of the things of our common life is itself an act of worship.
I think I can answer this question in one word: dishes! I have a loathing for the washing of dishes which is difficult to explain, describe - or overcome. We have theories...but theories do not get the dishes done. Perhaps doing them as if they were Jesus' dishes...? Couldn't hurt.
Verse to Remember: The Lord takes pleasure in his people. --Psalm 149:4a (TEV)
Question to Consider: What common task could I start doing as if I were doing it directly for Jesus?
Another very Celtic chapter. I love the author's comments on how some people categorize things like music. The terminology is clearly from a different denomination (i.e., "first we sang a hymn, then a praise and worship song"), but the sentiment is very familiar.
I admit, I fall into this. I tend to think of worship as liturgy, or liturgy as worship, forgetting that every act done in consciousness of the presence of the Divine is worship.
Thich Naht Hahn talks about this in one of his books, about washing the dishes tenderly as though one were washing the baby Buddha (or for Christians, the baby Jesus) - about cherishing the things we're given in sheer gratitude for their existence and for God's presence.
Benedict also talks about this, when he says that the vessels of the kitchen should be given the same reverence as the vessels of the altar. Taking care of the things of our common life is itself an act of worship.
I think I can answer this question in one word: dishes! I have a loathing for the washing of dishes which is difficult to explain, describe - or overcome. We have theories...but theories do not get the dishes done. Perhaps doing them as if they were Jesus' dishes...? Couldn't hurt.
living life to the fullest...
despite the fact that I'm not a Chrstian as you know.... I think this is an interesting statement...
I think this goes to the Buddhist and Tao idea of living life to it's absolute fullest to show your gratitude for being given this life....
Life is wasted if you cower in fear in your home, or don't try to do things that you never would have considered rather than wondering what you're missing out on...
Along these lines- we've been given the ability to feel pleasure and pain.. without pain the pleasure wouldn't seem as intense... and there shoudln't be any shame in feeling EITHER of these sensations as they are part and parcel of living life....
(I hate doing dishes as well (this is why I gratefully have a dishwasher!!! *yay* and STILL I procrastinate on that *heheheheh*)
BTW...
On the first half of that paragraph: too true. It goes beyond what style of music, too; it goes to liturgical style, to what holy hardware is or is not used, what gestures are or are not made, what words are or are not spoken.
And I'm just as guilty as anyone; I freely admit to being a liturgy junkie. I love the rhythm and flow of well-done high church liturgy (candles, incense, robes, bells, hymns, organ, trumpets...you get the idea). I also love older, more classical music, and tend to turn my nose up at more contemporary stuff (some deservedly so, but some not).
However, the author is dead wrong when he says there's no biblical style!!! We have ample descriptions of worship services of varying kinds - just look in I and II Kings and in I and II Chronicles for examples! Granted, we don't have a service leaflet from the dedication of Solomon's Temple, but we have very nearly the equivalent in the detailed description of the robes, the instruments, the forming of the processions...we also have clues in the "stage directions" and even in the style of some of the psalms.
For example, Psalm 124 opens "If the Lord had not been on our side, let Israel now say:" -- it seems pretty clear this is an invitation to join in the recitation! There are other examples.
Finally: there are musical notes in the Bible. We just don't see them because we usually read the Bible in a translation into our vernacular, whatever it happens to be. And most of our vernacular languages are not tonal; that is, the meanings are not partially or completely derived from the tone of the spoken word.
Hebrew, however...Hebrew is different. And in written Hebrew, there are at least some indications of musicality. The language itself isn't music, per se. And - of course - there are no vowels per se.
But there are "notations" added to the letters to give us a clue what vowel sound comes between the consonants that are shown, and there were certain associations of musical tone with those as well. The Hebrews who wrote it down knew what they meant; we are not quite so clued-in.
Hence the confusion over exactly how to spell or say "Yahweh," resulting in the name Jehovah, for example. We simply do not know for certain what that word is that usually is translated into English as "I AM." We make guesses based on our knowledge of ancient language. We postulate. But we do not know. (Which, by the way, is why this passage may also be translated "I will be who I will be.")
So in a sense, I guess, the author is right: there is no biblical style that we can now approximate. But that isn't the same at all as saying we have no clue what these folks did for worship. It's still okay to worship however we worship; no one style lasts forever, and no one style fits absolutely everybody. That's the beauty of being human, of being able to appreciate diversity.
Re: BTW... & more on Chapter 7
Some churches deal with the music issue by holding multiple services. The church I grew up in has a traditional service with hymns and a contemporary service with "praise songs". Some hymns do nothing for me, others move me to the point of tears. Same with classical music and contemporary stuff. The lyrics and/or music to some praise songs are so repetitive and bland it's hard not to fall asleep while singing them. IMHO, I think the churches who move just to contemporary music and never sing the traditional responses and hymns are throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
More on Chapter 7:
Love this verse: "The heavens declare the glory of God," or as I am more familiar with it in Haydn, "The heavens are telling the glory of God." :-)
"None of us have given God the full glory he deserves from our lives. This is the worst sin and the biggest mistake we can make." (55) Am I dreaming, or isn't there a place in the Bible where it talks about no one sin being worse than another?
And my first answer, from my journal, to "Where in my daily routine can I become more aware of God's glory? -- wherever possible! :-)
Am really enjoying the Mark Salzman audio book I mentioned elsewhere. The character of the nun, Sister John of the Cross, is so humble and is always seeking God -- a good role model.
Re: BTW... & more on Chapter 7
I will say, though, that it sometimes goes the other way. A friend of mine once accompanied me to a Tenebrae service during Holy Week. The customary 'service of the word' part of the service is replaced by the readings of the Tenebrae service, then the peace is exchanged and the Eucharist follows. She "disagreed with" the Eucharistic prayer - primarily because the post-communion prayer seemed to her to indicate that merely receiving communion made us members of the body of Christ - and so she simply sat down to show that she was in disagreement with the prayer (the rest of us were standing) during the entirety of communion, holding herself out of communion with us, even though we were perfectly willing to welcome her.
Re: "the heavens are telling": of course, if you're talking Haydn, really it should be "Die Himmel erzäählen die Ehre Gottes." (Sorry...got German on the brain right now.)
Tenebrae references for amusement:
Catholic Encyclopedia description and definition (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14506a.htm) - which gives a very dry and rather ancient description of the origins of the service
Ken Collins page (http://www.kencollins.com/question-39.htm) - which gives a description of the contemporary practice, along with a link to directions for conducting the service.
Re: BTW... & more on Chapter 7
Praise God for dishwashers!
So the common task I could start doing as if for God would be all things clothes-related: sorting, washing, hanging, ironing, putting away. I love having a washer and dryer but find I still sometimes procrastinate about doing the laundry.
I had never heard of the Vietnamese Buddhist whom you mentioned -- did you encounter him through the contemplative prayer workshop at Holy Cross? I did a quick search to find out who he was. Sounds as if he's one of the century's great pacifists; found it interesting that Martin Luther King had nominated Hahn for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Re: Praise God for dishwashers!
Re: Thich Naht Hahn: I'd heard the name before the insight meditation retreat, and I'd seen books of his in the bookstore at Holy Cross (and other places). He's got a very cool, calm writing style: he makes it all sound so easy, probably because he's such a meditative and centered person.