Podatus

Podatus

While Elvis, Beach Boys and Beatles were the craze of the music world, I was in seminary learning Gregorian Chant. My wife is amazed when I don't recognize music from the 60’ and 70’s. I keep telling people that during those years I was locked up in a religious institution and forbidden to listen to radio or TV. My music world was an all male choir singing medieval psalmody.

The seminary curriculum consisted of a steady diet of Aristotelian philosophy, Thomastic theology and Church history. If that didn't mess with your brain, we had a weekly gathering in the Aula Maxima for music lessons. Our text was the Liber Usualis, the official Gregorian Chant book that weighed about three pounds. Here we learned to sing music of the Middle Ages.

Gregorian chant is an acquired taste. Although beautiful in a haunting kind of way, it is a far cry from today’s music. Chant is almost always sung without instrumentation. The singers are usually male (female in a convent). The notation and rhythm are unique. The musical notes are exotic: podatus, podatus subpunctus, virga, climacus and quilisma to name a few.

By now you may be asking why I am writing about this stuff. Well, I am not sure except to say that of all my seminary training the words that stand out in my mind  are “podatus subpunctus.” You know how you get a tune in your head and can't get rid of it. Well, fifty years of this phrase imbedded in my brain is ready for release.

Whatever the music style, the Bible encourages us to sing unto the Lord: “ Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing to the Lord, all the world! Sing to the Lord and praise him! Proclaim everyday the good news that He has saved us.”

Alleluia!

Bills

Bills

Ever had more bills at the end of the month than money? I'm sure I am not the only one who found themselves in the red. Having raised a family on a pastor’s salary involved not only aggressive penny pinching but on occasional miracle or two. Mortgage payments, car payments, groceries, doctor and dentist bills are but a few in a long list of monthly bills. I am not complaining just observing the reality of the bills.

What brought this to mind was a little blurb I read on Facebook. Asking the question: “What’s you favorite childhood memory?” The response was: “Not paying bills.” I remembered that there was a time in my life when I didn't have to worry about those monthly payments. Financial responsibility must be a sign of maturity.

Some years ago I preached a sermon entitled “The Blessings of Debt.” Usually I don't get much feedback on my sermons. That Sunday I got a lot of feedback; most of it negative. I was told that being a Christian I had the responsibility to stay out of debt “owing no man.” Although I agree that debt is to be avoided, most people find themselves at one time or another in debt. The point of my teaching was to encourage debtors that God doesn't hold that against them and that He has some life lessons to teach while making the payments.

My father was a font of practical wisdom. As I matured, I found myself drawing from his wisdom. On one occasion I approached him for financial advice. The church I was pastoring was behind in paying my salary and there wasn't much left in my bank account. In addition to floating me a short-term loan, he said: “If you have money problems, you really don't have a problem. When there is blood on the floor that's when you have a problem.” Those were wise words that gave me a healthy perspective.

Here's what Jesus says about money worries: “What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. Steep your life in God reality, God initiative, God provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.”

Good advise. I haven't missed a meal yet!

Steadfast

Steadfast

The world I live in today is not the world of my youth. Technology has not only quickened the pace of change, it has redefined change itself. Lest I be criticized for being an old foggy who yearns for the past, let me reassure you that I relish almost all of what modern technology has created. The horizon of my creature comforts is greatly expanded.

The problem I am faced with is the realization of my addiction to change. I find myself less and less satisfied with what I have and an increasing craving for the new. Whether it is my hunger for a new cell phone, computer, TV, or truck, it's the new that's got me hooked. I think I need some old fashioned counseling.

Then I come across this word “steadfast.” I don’t hear it in everyday conversation. If fact the only place I find it is in the Bible. I looked it up in the dictionary. It means fixed firmly in place, immovable, not subject to change. This word comes from an old English word meaning “fixed fast.” What a contrast to the world of change I live in.

Whenever I find myself teetering between the infatuation with all the new stuff our world has to offer and the need for stability in my life, I am reminded of these words from the Bible: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas.”

Here’s a song we sing at church that keeps me grounded in the reality of the Father’s love. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning, new every morning. Great is your faithfulness O Lord. Great is your faithfulness.”

Amen!

Wind

Wind

I awoke to the windows rattling. Even without my hearing aids, I could hear the wind roaring and shaking everything it touched. Strong winds are not uncommon where I live. Blowing down the east slope of the Rockies and across the valley floor, there isn't much to stop this force of nature. One advantage of this wind is that it blew all the fallen leaves into the neighbor’s yard.

Later that day, I bundled up and took the dog for a walk. Leaning into the wind, it took all I had to stand upright and move forward. Having finished our stroll around the neighborhood, I was exhausted and the dog was elated. The energy it took to buck that wind was almost too much. I enjoy fresh air at a lower velocity.

There have been times in my life when I have felt strong winds of adversity. Life

can be unpredictable and in need of a firm foundation upon which to stand. We live in a time that shuns such a foundation, choosing to build upon the shifting sands of what seems right for today. When struggles come and the ground begins to move, the integrity of our choices is revealed.

I am reminded of the story Jesus told about two builders. One built on sand and the other on solid rock. When the storm came, only one house survived, the one built on solid rock. A good reminder of how we are to build our lives. When the winds of adversity come, our foundation will be tested.

A song we sing at church says it well: “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground in sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.”

As for the wind, it is God’s breath refreshing the earth. Bring it on!