Power
My all time favorite book of the Bible is Isaiah. I’ve written and taught about how the LORD gave that book to us twice. The first time to the prophet, 400 or 500 hundred years before the coming of the Messiah, with such vivid prophesies of His conception, life, and death that even a young Jewish scholar, debating a young Catholic girl, admitted that chapter 53 was written about Jesus. Of course, he wasn’t much of a scholar, not recognizing Isaiah when he heard it. He thought the verses were from the New Testament. And the young Catholic girl didn’t even know Jesus as her personal savior. So the debate doesn’t really count for much. I digress…
This wonderful book was given to us again, through the Dead Sea Scrolls, during the era of the first world wars. Confirmation for the skeptic. Encouragement for the concerned. A reminder to the complacent.
Hebrews 4:12 “The word of the God is alive and powerful…”
It is Isaiah that I am thinking of this morning as my husband and I prepare to drive to Albuquerque. We will come home the long way, through the mountains, to enjoy the autumn splendor. This little weekend trips are always time of retreat and worship. We listen to praise music, we enjoy the glory of nature and the quiet peace of each other’s company. We pray.
And it is Isaiah that I am thinking about. It is Isaiah 60:1 that I read before we leave.
Arise, Shine for thy light is come and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon the and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
I go there for reassurance and comfort. These are dark times. The news is full of darkness. My students are playing in the darkness. The stores are full of Halloween demons and such. It’s not Halloween that bothers me. In fact I’m not really “bothered” at all. But this weekend, these past few days, have been very powerful days in the “spirit world”. We had the Autumn Solstice, Islamic Ramadan, Jewish Rosh Hashanah. I know what the Pagans, Muslims, and Jews are doing. What are the Christians doing? Praying I hope.
In my little corner of the world, the community is preparing for the biggest Navajo Fair on the reservation.
It’s like any other state or county fair really. Rides and cotton candy and a parade. But there are a lot of Native American activities: pow wow, dance, pageants, venders. And there is a ceremony going on as I write. It last for about 10 days. There are medicine men and magic - songs for the sick - spirits being summoned. It is important and very secretive. They don’t tell the “outsiders” much. But it is real and it is happening. And it is just a part of the darkness.
For behold, great darkness shall cover the world.
There is a quote in my teacher planner. A secular quote.
“Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness to pull another hand into the light.” Norman B Rice.
I like that.
And there is a old song - which I have referred to many times on my blog. A song from the “March for Jesus” era . Shine Jesus Shine
Fill this Land with the Father’s glory.
Blaze Spirit Blaze, set our hearts on fire.
Flow, river flow, flood this nation with grace and mercy
Send forth thy Word, and let there be light.
amen
4 comments:
yes, i hope christians are praying. i hope they are praying for all of those lost souls, but more than praying i hope that they, we, are going out and actually being the hands and feet of Christ, not just praying about the things that need to be done. power of prayer is amazing and i've seen come miraculous things come from prayer, but we can help be that miracle to those that need clothes, to those that are hungry, to those that are suffering in some form or another. i loved your quotes at the end of your post. :)
You know for obvious reasons that I stand against part of the tenor of your post. I say that first so as not to have that be a negative reflection on the entirety by being how I end it.
I agree with you in part. I hope the Christians are praying. I hope, as Stephanie said, they are active. Provided they are active in the ways mentioned, as opposed to other useless activities such as the protestors of these various events you mention. (They weren't so active in this year's Pagan pride around here. I take that as a good sign.)
It is always a good thing for people to re-examine their faith and act upon it, even if instigated by a different belief system. If you fear my darkness and this inspires you toward your light, then I can only say this is a good thing.
I hope you enjoy your weekend trip. It is good to take the time to get away.
Just got home from Sante Fe, New Mexico. In the town square, the oldest town square in our country, there was an event called The Fall Gathering of Churches. Worship teams (some interesting dance teams to go with them) from 13 different churches, balloons, free Bibles, and the main gist of it was collecting food for the area food cupboards. There were pick up trucks parked all along the square, being fulled with food.
sounds like an eventful weekend. glad you made it back safely :)
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