Thought for Today

Psalm 92:1 A Song for the Sabbath Day.> It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; 2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, 3 to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. 4 For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.  

Those who read These Days know that this past week focused on Psalm 98. The devotionals began last Sunday with “1 O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory.” The writer found what I think of as ‘the music of the spheres’ in that psalm and its recognition of God’s glorious Creation. As I read those devotionals, I imagined a song titled, “Let there be!”

I was initially trained as an engineer. Where that author heard the music in Creation, in the rhythm of the seasons, the dependability of night and day, I instead am wont to see the system of Creation established by our Creator God. Rather than a song, I see a pattern, an immutable system. Night follows day (or day follows night – your choice), season follows season. The earth orbits around the sun, the earth’s axis of rotation maintains a consistent angle relative to the plain of the ecliptic. “Because Earth's rotational axis is not perpendicular to its orbital plane, Earth's equatorial plane is not coplanar with the ecliptic plane, but is inclined to it by an angle of about 23.4°, which is known as the obliquity of the ecliptic.” (en.wikipedia.org) Thus, we have the regularity of that rhythm of the seasons.

Who is correct, the author in These Days or me? Does Creation reflect music or science? Or, is this one of those wonderful questions where the answer is a resounding “YES!”? I love questions where the answer can be “All of the Above.”

Yesterday, I asked, “What makes us who we are? What defines each of us individually? Is the totality of who I am captured in my name, in my point of origin, in my lineage? Am I defined by my profession? Who am I?” I wonder that often. Greta probably does also, but that’s a different question for another day.

I love music. I listen to music while I work out. I love to sing the hymns during worship. But, I am not really ‘musical.’ In seminary, I learned to recognize the melody, the poetry and the ‘music’ of the book of Psalms. However, even I must admit to being somewhat ‘musically challenged.’ Despite money spent by my parents on music lessons, despite the best efforts of my music teachers, private and in school, I remain ‘musically challenged.’ I sometimes joke about how hard it is to be a minister and not be able to play a piano or a guitar.

Who is correct, the author in These Days or me? Does Creation reflect music or science? Is one correct and the other mistaken? Or, is this a case of perspective, of how each of us views the same thing. Perspective, “a particular attitude toward or way of regarding, a point of view” (Bing search) is often very personal. One’s way of regarding something is influenced, even determined by all of the things that make us individually who and what we are.

For me, the wide variety of different perspectives we can bring to solve problems and to understand Creation and our place in Creation is an integral part of God’s Creation and God’s plan. Some of us are analytical, some of us are poetic, some of us are musical. There are even some who are all three. And, just to make things more interesting and challenging, our perspectives grow, develop and sometimes even morph as we age. God has graced us all with many talents and gifts. Each of us is then shaped and guided to adulthood by the families and cultures of our birth.

I find all of this culminating in the family of faith within which we worship God. Our own family, our congregation, is blessed with several engineers and several talented musicians. Our music director is a talented musician. During our worship service the hymns we sing, the musical prelude, offertory and postlude all combine with and support the scriptures we read and the words of the sermon.

It's okay, it’s even appropriate when some of us see the worship service as a musical offering of praise to God . . . it’s okay, it’s even appropriate when others of us see the worship service as a systematic, organized offering of praise to God. It’s truly both in one single service.

All of us, artists, engineers, musicians and everything else are children of the same Creator God, each of us offering thanksgiving and praise together. Each of God’s children offering their God-given gifts and talents together. Now, if we could just do the same on the other six days of each week.

Stay safe, offer your own talents within your family of faith, trust God,

Pastor Ray