Capacity to reason

The capacity to reason is usually taken as defining what human beings are and as distinguishing us from other things that are alive. If we understand reason as being disembodied, then our bodies are only incidental to what we are. If we understand reason as mechanical—the sort of thing a computer can do—then we will devalue human intelligence as computers get more efficient. If we understand rationality as the capacity to mirror the world external to human beings then we will devalue those aspects of the mind that can do infinitely more than that. If we understand reason as merely literal, we will devalue art.—George Lakoff, Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things, xvi

An Affirmation

139 An Affirmation

WE BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST THE LORD,
    Who was promised to the people of Israel,
    Who came in the flesh to dwell among us,
    Who announced the coming of the rule of God,
    Who gathered disciples and taught them,
    Who died on the cross to free us from sin,
    Who rose from the dead to give us life and hope,
    Who reigns in heaven at the right hand of God,
    Who comes to judge and bring justice to victory.

WE BELIEVE IN GOD HIS FATHER,
    Who raised Him from the dead,
    Who created and sustains the universe,
    Who acts to deliver His people in times of need,
    Who desires all men everywhere to be saved.

WE BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
    Who is the form of God present in the church,
    Who is the guarantee of our deliverance,
    Who leads us to find God’s will in the Word,
    Who guides us in discernment,
    Who impels us to act together.
                         — The Mennonite Hymnal, 1967
                         Hymns for the Family of God

True Religion

True religion is not discovered or conscripted by man. Christianity grows downward from heaven, not upward from the earth. It does not stand upon the earth. Its roots are in heaven, so that man has nothing to say here at all. True religion is revealed from above.—A.W. Tozer, Experiencing the Presence of God, 97

The Nicene Creed

138 The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
And of all things visible and invisible:
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God,
begotten of his Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God,
begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father,
by whom all things were made;
who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven,
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man,
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again
according to the scriptures,
and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father.
And he shall come again with glory
to judge both the quick and the dead;
whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceedeth from the Father [and the Son],*
who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,
who spake by the prophets.
And I believe one umiversal and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins.
And I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.

<idle musing>
* I bracketed out the "filioque" clause since the Orthodox Churches don't accept it. I believe it to be true, but the history of its inclusion is messy. In the interest of Christian unity, I think it should be excluded.
</idle musing>

Praise Ye the Triune God

136 Praise Ye the Triune God

1. Praise ye the Father, for his loving kindness,
   Tenderly cares he for his loving children;
   Praise him, ye angels, praise him in the heavens,
   Praise ye Jehovah!

2. Praise ye the Saviour, great is his compassion,
   Graciously cares he for his chosen people;
   Young men and maidens, ye old men and children,
   Praise ye the Saviour!

3. Praise ye the Spirit, Comforter of Israel,
   Sent of the Father and the Son to bless us;
   Praise ye the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
   Praise ye the Triune God!
                         Elizabeth Rundle Charles
                         Hymns for the Family of God

Thought for the day

When you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship.—Harry S. Truman

When We All Get to Heaven

123 When We All Get to Heaven

1 Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,
   Sing His mercy and His grace;
   In the mansions bright and blessed
   He'll prepare for us a place.

Refrain:
   When we all get to heaven,
   what a day of rejoicing that will be!
   When we all see Jesus,
   we'll sing and shout the victory!

2 While we walk the pilgrim pathway
   Clouds will overspread the sky;
   But when trav'ling days are over
   Not a shadow, not a sigh. [Refrain]

3 Let us then be true and faithful,
   Trusting, serving ev'ry day;
   Just one glimpse of Him in glory
   Will the toils of life repay. [Refrain]

4 Onward to the prize before us!
   Soon His beauty we'll behold;
   Soon the pearly gates will open–
   We shall tread the streets of gold. [Refrain]
                         E. E. Hewitt
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
Ok, theology: zero; maybe even negative. Well, there is some good theology in the first two lines. Enjoyment: 100. Yep, another rousing gospel tune that drives the blues away, which is what we need in these "interesting" days. So sing it unashamedly, but also sing some hymns with actual theological content : )
</idle musing>

A word for today

I was reading Ezekiel 22 in the Hebrew Bible yesterday. It sound strikingly similar to what is going on today in the United States:

22 The Lord’s word came to me: 2 You, human one, will you judge? Will you judge the bloody city? Then explain all her detestable practices to her. 3 Say, The Lord God proclaims: City, self-destructive blood-letter, self-defiling idol maker: 4 All the blood that you’ve shed is your punishment, and all the idols that you’ve made are your defilement. This is how you’ve shortened your days and hastened the end of your years! For this reason I’ve given you over to the ridicule of nations and the derision of every land. 5 Those from near and far will mock your infamous name and great chaos. 6 Look, Israel’s princes, every one of them, have joined forces to shed blood in you. 7 In you they treat father and mother with contempt. In you they oppress immigrants and deny the rights of orphans and widows. 8 You despise my holy things and degrade my sabbaths. 9 In you slanderers show up to shed blood. In you they eat on the mountains. In you they do obscene things. 10 In you a father’s nakedness is uncovered. In you menstruating women are violated. 11 Every man engages in detestable practices with his neighbor’s wife, every man defiles his daughter-in-law with obscene acts, and every man violates his sister, his own father’s daughter. 12 In you they take bribes to shed blood. You collect interest and fees, you profit by extorting your neighbor, and you neglect even me! This is what the Lord God says.

13 I now strike my hands over your ill-gotten gain and blood that’s been shed in you. 14 Will your strength and courage endure when I deal with you? I am the Lord: I speak, and I act! 15 I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you throughout the lands, and so I will remove your uncleanness from you. 16 When you are degraded[Heb. adds "in you"] like this in the sight of the nations, then you will know that I am the Lord.

17 The Lord’s word came to me: 18 Human one, the house of Israel has become a waste product for me. They are all copper, tin, iron, and lead. In the furnace, they’ve become the waste product of silver. 19 So this is what the Lord God says: Because you’ve all become a waste product, I’m now gathering you into the middle of Jerusalem. 20 Just as silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin are collected and placed in a furnace to fan the flames under them and melt them down, so in my anger and rage I will collect you, put you in, and melt you down. 21 I will gather you, fan the flames of my wrath under you, and melt you down in the middle of it. 22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted in it. You will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my rage on you.

23 The Lord’s word came to me: 24 Human one, say to her, You are an unclean land without rain on the day of reckoning. 25 The conspiracy of princes[LXX; Heb. prophets] in her is like a roaring lion ripping up prey. They’ve piled up wealth and precious goods and made many widows in her. 26 Her priests have done violence to my instructions and made my holy things impure. They have not clearly separated the holy from the ordinary, and they have not taught the difference between unclean and clean things. They’ve disregarded my sabbaths. So I’ve been degraded among them. 27 The officials in her are like wolves ripping up prey. They shed blood and destroy lives for unjust riches. 28 Her prophets have whitewashed everything for them, seeing false visions and making wrong predictions for them, saying, “This is what the Lord God says,” when the Lord hasn’t spoken. 29 The important people of the land have practiced extortion and have committed robbery. They’ve oppressed the poor and mistreated the immigrant. They’ve oppressed and denied justice. 30 I looked for anyone to repair the wall and stand in the gap for me on behalf of the land, so I wouldn’t have to destroy it. But I couldn’t find anyone. 31 So I’ve poured out my anger on them. With my furious fire I’ve finished them off. I’ve held them accountable. This is what the Lord God proclaims. (CEB)

He Hideth My Soul

120 He Hideth My Soul

1. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
   A wonderful Savior to me;
   He's hiding my soul in the cleft of the rock,
   Where rivers of pleasure I see.

Refrain:
   He's hiding my soul in the cleft of the rock
   That shadows a dry, thirsty land;
   He's hiding my life in the depths of his love
   And cov'ring me there with his hand,
   And cov'ring me there with his hand.

2. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord;
   He carries my burdens away,
   He's holding me up, and I shall not be moved;
   He's giving me strength day by day. [Refrain]

3. With numberless blessings each moment he crowns
   And fills with his fullness divine;
   I sing in my rapture, oh, glory to God
   For such a Redeemer is mine. [Refrain]

4. When clothed in his brightness, transported I rise
   To meet him in clouds of the sky,
   His perfect salvation, his wonderful love,
   I'll shout with the millions on high. [Refrain]
                         Fanny Crosby
                         Hymns for the Family of God

Wonderful Grace of Jesus

114 Wonderful Grace of Jesus

1 Wonderful grace of Jesus,
   greater than all my sin;
   how shall my tongue describe it,
   where shall its praise begin?
   Taking away my burden,
   setting my spirit free,
   for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

Refrain:
   Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
   deeper than the mighty rolling sea,
   higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain,
   all sufficient grace for even me;
   broader than the scope of my transgressions, sing it!
   greater far than all my sin and shame.
   O magnify the precious name of Jesus, praise his name!

2 Wonderful grace of Jesus,
   reaching to all the lost,
   by it I have been pardoned,
   saved to the uttermost.
   Chains have been torn asunder,
   giving me liberty,
   for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. [Refrain]

3 Wonderful grace of Jesus,
   reaching the most reviled,
   by its transforming power
   making me God’s dear child,
   purchasing peace and heaven
   for all eternity,
   for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. [Refrain]
                         Haldor Lillenas
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
I didn't grow up singing this song. But once I heard it, it became one of my favorite hymns. When I was at Asbury College (now University), during chapel it would frequently be sung. To hear it with over a thousand voices, many of whom could sing their parts, was truly marvelous.

One of the places we lived in Indiana had a slight hill on our walking course. We were in the habit of singing hymns as we walked, but we always made a point of NOT singing this one in the area of that hill. It just requires too much breath to sing properly when you are going up a hill!

By the way, take a minute or two to read the bio of the author. He lived quite a life.
</idle musing>

Now to the Lord a Noble Song

1 Now to the Lord a noble song!
   Awake, my soul, awake, my tongue,
   Hosanna to th’Eternal Name,
   And all His boundless love proclaim.

2 See where it shines in Jesus’ face,
   The brightest image of His grace;
   God, in the person of His Son,
   Has all His mightiest works outdone.

3 Grace! ‘tis a sweet, a charming theme;
   My thoughts rejoice at Jesus’ name!
   Ye angels, dwell upon the sound;
   Ye heav’ns, reflect it to the ground.

4 O may I reach the happy place,
   Where He unveils His lovely face;
   His beauties there may I behold,
   And sing His name to harps of gold.
                         Isaac Watts
                         In A.W. Tozer, Experiencing the Presence of God