November 19, 2013
Intonation
The communion meditation was given by an
old-time preacher with a deep, rich voice. I was struck by how he affectionately
caressed the Lord’s name every time he said ‘Jesus’. Similar to a singer
holding a note, the speaker held the ‘e’ in Jesus and his emphasis delivered an
unexpected depth to the Lord’s name. I tried to recall how I’ve said ‘mother’
and I realized that tone, inflection and intensity can all convey different types
of affection. More importantly it occurs to me that when I use the name
‘Jesus’, it’s often very matter of fact and lacking emotion. I’m wondering if
all of us should be giving the Lord’s name a little more vocal consideration. “Therefore
God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven
and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:9-11 NIV)
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----When I was a kid, I thought conglomerate was the coolest! It fascinated me how all those little rocks could be inside one rock. I did eventually figure it out. And by the time I was finished with High School, I had determined that my life focus was to be what I called a student of life. It would have paid me well to reflect then upon those conglomerates which fascinated me so much before.
-----I was in my mid-twenties when I realized how complex people and life are. I was in my mid forties when I committed the expression, “Nothing is monolithic, nothing is homogenous,” to my world-view. Everything is an assemblage of parts. And all those parts are assemblages of more parts yet. Et cetera. Et cetera. Et cetera. It is no wonder I have held so much admiration for the Greek Atomists.
-----I think everyone at least understands this principle. It exists right before our eyes. But I also think few pay it the same regard which life itself does. And that’s the opportunity giant deceit has taken to destroy agreeably sound, social principles for their being replaced with pragmatically useful gaming.
-----The coming of the lawless one will be, “…with all wicked deception for those who are to perish, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (II Thes 2:10). Indeed, if there were one thing monolithic about Christ, as consistence and whole as the substance of obsidian, it is the truth. But, indeed the truth can be parted down into it’s components as well. It is just that the components of truth fit together seamlessly, smoothly, and as coherently as that glassy substance of obsidian.
-----If I am right about whom it is that you’ve written, his sentiments and knowledge and world-view and beliefs fit together seamlessly not only with the comforting, beckoning tones of pronouncing “Jesus” you’ve described, but also coherently with reality as God created it and meant it to be.
-----That same intonation, though, and nothing meant to discredit him, can appear as a piece of obsidian within a chunk of conglomerate. For centuries the church has been ravished by the power-lust and proud shale and mudstone parts embedded in careless men knowing how to make a flake of obsidian within them look more than it is. Oh, for sure, don’t expect to watch their backsides burst into flames splashing into the lake of fire. Most of them are no different than you and me having our own more sedimentary parts of conglomerate. So also, we see many good intentioned folks paving political paths for the anti-Christ by refusing to acknowledge some of their conglomerates are beyond merely bad. Rather, thinking they are smarty pants, they pander to what has become horrendously evil processes in an off-track social-psychopathy reaching global dimensions.
-----It isn’t that we must disassemble people, taking everybody apart all the time. That happens too much for dividing and conquering. Rarely does it happen for understanding and uniting. For as much as we are all like conglomerate having good and bad mixed together, we should all work our pieces of truth into a more functional society regardless of our pieces of fallacy.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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