We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?
It appears our governor has struck another blow against sexism. She's proving that a woman can be just as capricious, opaque, and authoritarian as any man. Well done?
OK, that's enough politics for now.
It's
International Jazz Day, so get out on your front porch and play a riff or two on that instrument you bought yesterday from Joe's Music. No need to be shy or embarrassed about your abilities. Remember, improvisation can even be just getting back to what you meant to do after you make a mistake.
For no doubt completely unrelated reasons it's also
Crohn's and Colitis Day. I'm pretty sure
this isn't the official song of this day, but I'm equally sure it should be. At the very least it makes me smile. The other option for today's song would be
this one. Either way, enjoy!
Now, please let me shift gears for a moment.
Our church has been hosting a virtual 12-hour prayer chain the last several Saturdays. I've taken one of the 15-minute time slots each week, and have been amazed at how quickly that time passes, as well as how intense and moving this time of prayer has been.
As the weeks have gone by, I've found different ways to focus my prayers, from the list of church members needing prayer, to the hymns associated with the stained glass windows of our sanctuary, to the various creeds of the church found in the hymnal, to praying the Psalms.
That's where I was today, and I found myself on Psalm 50, and decided to stay there. It's a powerful, convicting, and comforting message, so allow me to share it here, and pray that it will bless you as it did me today.
Psalm 50 English Standard Version (ESV)
A Psalm of Asaph.
The Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
Our God comes; he does not keep silence;
before him is a devouring fire,
around him a mighty tempest.
He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
“Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge! Selah
“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and its fullness are mine.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and perform your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.
If you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
and you keep company with adulterers.
“You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother's son.
These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
“Mark this, then, you who forget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!”
Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
