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Take Your Place in Line
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! In the Old Testament book of 1 Chronicles, chapter 16, just after the ark of the covenant was restored in Israel, King David gave to Asaph and his fellow musicians a song of thanks to the Lord. Maybe Asaph helped write the music, maybe the musicians simply performed what was given them by David, but in any case it’s a beautiful psalm of praise. Verse 34 says, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” This phrase, “Give thanks to…” is repeated over and over in the…
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What Worship is All About
James K. A. Smith’s book, You Are What You Love, offers a great description of what worship is all about… “While worship is entirely embodied, it is not only material; and though worship is wholly natural, it is not only natural. Christian worship is nothing less than an invitation to participate in the life of the Triune God. In short, the centrality of embodiment should not be understood as a naturalizing of worship that would deny the dynamic presence of the Spirit. To the contrary, the Spirit meets, nourishes, transforms, and empowers us through and in such material practices. The Church’s worship is a uniquely intense site of the Spirit’s…
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Beyond This
I ALWAYS KNEW IT WAS THERE. The trick was getting to it. I fell into a chasm to find it. Pressing ever deeper, darker. It was the only way I knew how to look. Gradually my eyes opened and I thought I glimpsed it. The smell, the look, the taste, the touch. It was close, but that wasn’t it. And still I wanted it more. I had to have it. Being alive meant searching for it. Mist sometimes covered my path and I would be lost for months. Most of that time I wasn’t even aware I had forgotten about it. The place, the money, the people made me forget.…
