Have you ever commanded the day to break,
Assigned the dawn its place,
Job 38:12 NJPS
We continue to consider the words of the Creator from the whirlwind. Let the sounds go with you into the week (and beyond). ~dan
The whirlwind continues. The chimes swirl differently. What do you hear?
Infinite Majesty
Am l too independent to bow to you,
To admit to your sovereignty
Over my heart, over my entire life?
Am I too proud to acknowledge
Your ultimate powerfulness?
Am I too ignorant to recognize
Your authority in the cosmos?
Am I too blind to see your grandeur
Etched in the landscape of creation?
If so, shake loose my arrogance.
Today: I bow to Infinite Majesty.
Joyce Rupp. Fragments of Your Ancient Name: 365 Glimpses of the Divine for Daily Meditation (Kindle Locations 1087-1090). Kindle Edition.
Awaken me Lord
Awaken me, Lord, To your light, Open my eyes To your presence.
Awaken me, Lord, To your love, Open my heart To your indwelling.
Awaken me, Lord, To your life, Open my mind To your abiding.
Awaken me, Lord, To your purpose, Open my will To your guiding.
David Adam. Border Lands: The Best of David Adam’s Celtic Vision (p. 16). Kindle Edition.
God, the source and destiny of the cosmos
Author of creation: In wisdom you brought forth all that is, to participate in your divine being, and to change, adapt, and grow in freedom. You make holy the matter and energy of the universe that it may delight you and give you praise. We thank you for gathering all creation into your heart by the energy of your Spirit and bringing it through death to resurrection glory; through the One in whom all things have their being, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music of The Episcopal Church. “Liturgical Materials Honoring God in Creation and Various Rites and Prayers for Animals.” [2012 ‘Blue Book,’ p. 319]
I encourage you to read more about and more from Indian Country Today Media Network: Serving the Nations. Celebrating the People. ~dan
Hear what the Spirit is saying 
Oh my! What a rich addition to our discussion Sunday — and to our puzzling of God’s response to Job! These past two “Wind Chimes” have enriched my understanding. I have printed them to savor again and again. Thank you, Father Dan, for all — The Message translation, the David Adam prayer, the Joyce Rupp meditation. I am feeling very blessed this morning.
I admit that I’ve been uncomfortable with God’s response to Job after everything Job had been through. I wanted a God who would say to him (and to me) instead:
I have loved you with an everlasting love.
With loving kindness I have drawn you.
Jeremiah 31:3; or,
The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
Isaiah 42:3
How can we begin to get our heads around God’s majestic power as described in Job? I come closest to it when we take our Jeep deep into the wilderness and I behold the wild, fierce beauty of creation. But to be spoken to in a whirlwind? Yikes! I’ll take being quieted with His love or rejoiced over with singing any day.
My questions this week have been, 1) is my concept of God too small (as J.B. Phillips has so eloquently written), 2) have I, in my limited understanding, attempted to place Him (or myself) in “boxes” that I can understand? Or can it be — as I suspect — 3) that these are different facets of a God too big to ever begin to comprehend, and that it’s okay to think of Him as our loving Shepherd Guide, the One who raises us like an infant to His cheek, even as we also remember the fierce, magnificent, and all-powerful God of the burning bush and the whirlwind.
Yesterday I heard about an author friend, Ethel Herr, who is slipping into her heavenly Father’s arms after a long and difficult cancer journey.
I know Ethel because we are part of the same community of Christian authors. When I heard about the severity of her condition, I visited her website to send her a note. As I read the poem on her opening page I experienced one of those moments when the winds of the Spirit moved the wind chimes in my heart:
When we step out
of the tight legalistic boxes
with suffocating lids
that have all our lives
forbidden us to ask questions,
we watch, transfixed,
as those box walls collapse
flattened into shining dance floors.
God emerges,
the Dance Master,
eager to teach us
to hear His voice
and celebrate life
in the safety of His Almighty arms.
Come join me on my dance floors.
Let me take you by the hand
and coax you into
the steps that entice my feet
to glide
to bound
to leap
. . .
Let’s celebrate together!
~ Ethel Herr
I’m ready to dance, how about you?