Majesty
I sat in church this morning, a church that's still somewhat new to me, and started thinking about and feeling how beautiful and glorious God is and how I've made him out to be this everyday, average Joe kind of guy who I occasionally ignore for weeks at a time, who I've filed away as someone to catch up with every so often when I find time in my schedule for him.
Church was half-empty this morning (or half-full. I seemed to be more focused on the empty spaces than the full ones today), which I was oddly thankful for. I shouldn't be; I should desire for every seat in that church to be filled to the point that the church is overflowing with God's praises at every service. But since I'm a former Saturday night church-goer and am used to a smaller congregation because of that, I like the smallness and community I feel when the church services aren't filled with hundreds of people at a time. Maybe that means I'm cut out for a smaller church, but I seem to be digressing. College Park and I are still in the very beginning phase of our relationship; we haven't had our DTR conversation yet ("define the relationship"). It feels like home on some days, and on others it feels like a stranger with different customs and traditions than I'm used to, speaking in the same language as me, but with a different dialect than I'm used to. I was thankful for a friend there this morning-- one of Scott's good friends, Dane, who I guess I should stop calling Scott's friend as he has very much become one of my own since I've moved up here. Scott's friends are all becoming my friends, which is something I appreciate and value very much. But I digress again.
We were singing worship songs at the beginning of the service when I started feeling shaky. Almost like that feeling when you've not eaten anything for hours and maybe have too much caffeine in your body, but it wasn't that. The empty seats around me gave me permission to close my eyes and slip away in worship; I started focusing on the words I was singing and the God I was praising with them, and I was overwhelmed with His majesty.
I opened my eyes, and they started flashing pictures of God's creation-- oceans, lakes, mountains, breathtaking sunsets-- I was mesmerized. I think that when we grow up hearing "God talk" in church, we can become numb to what the words mean. I don't mean "God talk" as in hearing from God, but the church lingo that we hear every Sunday, maybe in small group or Sunday school class, in books we read or televangelists on TV. And sometimes, I'm guilty of becoming numb to God's majesty. Today was a day of reclaiming it and focusing on how lovely He really is.
It fits well with my hope for the new year to come-- with present as my word for the year (see this post if you're confused by that), what better time than now to take a time-out from all of the church mumbo jumbo talk that I've become numb to in order to really focus on the majesty and divinity of the Lord? Sometimes it's taking a step away from religiosity that provides the most clarity about who Jesus really is. Just to be clear-- I am not saying that "church talk" is a bad thing. I'm saying that for myself, I get caught up in the language sometimes (it's the English-loving nut in me) and forget to look past verbage (Google says this isn't a word. I'm making it one) and punctuation to feel what the words really mean. And what they mean is that God is the beginning and the end, ruler over all of the heavens and all of the Earth, lover and redeemer of our souls, the infinite being who spoke everything into existence. What the words mean is that, if I believe those things, the things the words are saying, my life will look radically different this year; I will dwell in the presence of the King, and be present as I praise Him for His majesty and glory.
I hope your last few days of December and 2013 are lovely ones, and that you find time to reflect on the past year with space in your heart for what you want to be different in the coming one.
Lots of love, grace, & peace,
C.
"Bless the Lord, O my soul! O, Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty." -Psalm 104:1
Church was half-empty this morning (or half-full. I seemed to be more focused on the empty spaces than the full ones today), which I was oddly thankful for. I shouldn't be; I should desire for every seat in that church to be filled to the point that the church is overflowing with God's praises at every service. But since I'm a former Saturday night church-goer and am used to a smaller congregation because of that, I like the smallness and community I feel when the church services aren't filled with hundreds of people at a time. Maybe that means I'm cut out for a smaller church, but I seem to be digressing. College Park and I are still in the very beginning phase of our relationship; we haven't had our DTR conversation yet ("define the relationship"). It feels like home on some days, and on others it feels like a stranger with different customs and traditions than I'm used to, speaking in the same language as me, but with a different dialect than I'm used to. I was thankful for a friend there this morning-- one of Scott's good friends, Dane, who I guess I should stop calling Scott's friend as he has very much become one of my own since I've moved up here. Scott's friends are all becoming my friends, which is something I appreciate and value very much. But I digress again.
We were singing worship songs at the beginning of the service when I started feeling shaky. Almost like that feeling when you've not eaten anything for hours and maybe have too much caffeine in your body, but it wasn't that. The empty seats around me gave me permission to close my eyes and slip away in worship; I started focusing on the words I was singing and the God I was praising with them, and I was overwhelmed with His majesty.
I opened my eyes, and they started flashing pictures of God's creation-- oceans, lakes, mountains, breathtaking sunsets-- I was mesmerized. I think that when we grow up hearing "God talk" in church, we can become numb to what the words mean. I don't mean "God talk" as in hearing from God, but the church lingo that we hear every Sunday, maybe in small group or Sunday school class, in books we read or televangelists on TV. And sometimes, I'm guilty of becoming numb to God's majesty. Today was a day of reclaiming it and focusing on how lovely He really is.
It fits well with my hope for the new year to come-- with present as my word for the year (see this post if you're confused by that), what better time than now to take a time-out from all of the church mumbo jumbo talk that I've become numb to in order to really focus on the majesty and divinity of the Lord? Sometimes it's taking a step away from religiosity that provides the most clarity about who Jesus really is. Just to be clear-- I am not saying that "church talk" is a bad thing. I'm saying that for myself, I get caught up in the language sometimes (it's the English-loving nut in me) and forget to look past verbage (Google says this isn't a word. I'm making it one) and punctuation to feel what the words really mean. And what they mean is that God is the beginning and the end, ruler over all of the heavens and all of the Earth, lover and redeemer of our souls, the infinite being who spoke everything into existence. What the words mean is that, if I believe those things, the things the words are saying, my life will look radically different this year; I will dwell in the presence of the King, and be present as I praise Him for His majesty and glory.
I hope your last few days of December and 2013 are lovely ones, and that you find time to reflect on the past year with space in your heart for what you want to be different in the coming one.
Lots of love, grace, & peace,
C.
"Bless the Lord, O my soul! O, Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty." -Psalm 104:1
Comments
Post a Comment