How good and pleasant

This morning I do not have a particular song that goes with this scripture. Perhaps if someone knows of one they will let me know.

I have been thinking about working together in unity, and read Psalm 133 last night. It's full of imagery that makes me wonder.

"How good and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in unity.
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on Aaron's beard,
down upon the collar of his robes.
It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore."

What gets through to me here is that: a) It is good when brothers live together in unity! 2) It is like when the chief priest is blessed. Aaron became the head of the priestly order, and I assume that most of the time he would be the one doing the annointing, but in this case, it's Aaron himself getting blessed. When brothers live in unity, even the leaders get blessed, and that blessing inevitably overflows to others. 3) It is refreshing when brothers dwell together in unity. 4) Just as Mount Zion is already blessed, those who are blessed can still stand another blessing. Unity among brethren is just such an extra blessing.

Let me know if you know a song that goes with this Psalm, so I can sing it and keep the idea in my heart.

In any case, this is what I was thinking of today, because I have been pleased to see a bit of unity lately. I know the Lord is pleased by it, too.

Untame Lion

This post commemorates my first read of The Magician's Nephew, the sixth book in the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I would recommend it to anyone! It is my favorite of all of them so far (The Silver Chair comes in second). C.S. Lewis said that a good children's book will have something to say to the child that will still matter to him fifty years later. Perhaps what matters most is the character of Aslan, the huge, untame Lion who created and rules the kingdom of Narnia, which is in another dimension apart from this world. He is strong, but kind; He looks in the eyes of His subjects, sees into their souls, and says exactly what they need to hear to be encouraged, admonished, or comforted. He's a lot like the Aslan in the Disney movie that came out last year, except as you read the Chronicles you get to know Him more deeply. For me, the most magical thing about the Chronicles is that as I read about Aslan, I know it is a character in a fantasy story, but I love him more and more. I know He represents Christ, and I think to myself, He is so good. I could really follow Him.

That's what Michelle Tumes' song is about. I wish it were on the soundtrack of the Disney The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but it's probably too spiritual for that.

The song is ethereal sounding, like many of Michelle Tumes' songs, and it focuses on Aslan's power. Untame power can be kind of scary, and yet it can also give a person courage to follow through. Here are some of the beautiful words to Tumes' song.

I love an untame lion
He's calling me to come
My cold heart how it hesitates
I want to turn and run

His power is dangerous
His power is endless love

He's calling me
To a place where love's the only song
He's calling me
To a place where night will dance
With endless dawn dancing on and on and on.

Most of the lines of the song seem to refer to things characters in the books do. What is magical about this song, though, is that you don't have to have read the books to understand that God's power is both wild and loving, and that when He calls, it is a call to both security and adventure, away from the mundance of life. He's not a tame lion, but He is good.

- "Untame Lion" by Michelle Tumes, from her 1998 album Listen

Welcome to Delaware!

Listening to the self-titled Watermark album from 1998. I guess that was the year my husband and I started dating. Two years later we were married, and one year after that, we moved far away, because we felt like we should. There was a spiritual impulse to go, and a hope that we'd find something.

Now reflecting on the past six years of being here, I feel the same way again: like we are finding our way again, and finding God in our midst, finding that all we really have here and now is... Him.

Though I headed to what seemed like nowhere,
You told me you'd come,
You told me you'd meet me here,
And you were here to say
Welcome to Delaware!

Feels like we're in "Delaware" again, although we never really were in Delaware, and we're not really changing locations. We're changing our landscape in other ways, trusting that if it's what the Lord wanted, He will meet us and be all we need. Hooray!

"Welcome to Delaware," by Nathan and Christy Nockels.

Song of Deliverance

I saw a video at church on Sunday called "light." The whole thing was symbolic, and felt very noir because it was filmed in black and white with heavey shadow and the dialogue was general. Yet there were characters who seemed to have real-life relationships: a husband and wife, and the husband's friend. The wife announced that when she first heard the story, she didn't understand it, but then, she did. Apparently hearing the story made her want to leave the darkness, and walk through this door to a place filled with light. Beyond the door, the film was shot in color, which made a very nice, clear distinction. The husband thought she was crazy, but she knew she just had to go. The part I wanted to get to is that she kept telling him she was hearing this music. "Don't you hear it?" She kept asking. He didn't. He just thought she was crazy, until he heard it for himself.