Opossum Screed: November 2020

We Need a Little Christmas

Throughout all of December, each of my daily devotional posts will include a Christmas song—nearly all of them sacred in nature. So today, I'm posting a secular preview that expresses what many of us are feeling during the 2020 pandemic:

We've grown a little leaner
Grown a little colder
Grown a little sadder
Grown a little older
We need a little music
Need a little laughter

Do not be silent, O God of my praise. For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. They beset me with words of hate, and attack me without cause. In return for my love they accuse me, even while I make prayer for them. So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

✙ Ps. 109:1-5

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I am moved today to meditate on an affirmation of faith used by Scotland's Iona Community:

We believe that God is present
in the darkness before dawn;
in the waiting and uncertainty
where fear and courage join hands,
conflict and caring link arms,
and the sun rises over barbed wire.
We believe in a with-us God
who sits down in our midst

Today we light the Advent candle of hope, and the message is about the difference between wishing and hoping. Music includes Bach's Savior of the Nations, Come (organ instrumental), a soloist singing O Come, O Come, Immanuel with guitar accompaniment, and a Christmas postlude on the lap harp. Here is the order found on the video at the bottom of the page:

00:00 Chimes
00:29 Prélude: Nun komm der Heiden Heiland
02:17 Welcome
02:57 Directions: How to Jazz Up Your Advent Wreath
04:52 Advent Wreath: Lighting of the Candle of Hope
06:15 Song: O Come, O Come, Immanuel
08:05 Scripture Reading: Lamentations 3.21-26

Hugo Distler in 1941 at the age of 32.

O grant us help against the foe, for human help is worthless.

✙ Ps. 108:12

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As I meditate on this verse this morning, I am led to think of Hugo Distler. Distler was a 25-year-old German musician when he joined the Nazi party in 1933—the same year Hitler came to power. Though his real commitment to the movement might be debated, it cannot be denied that because of his outward loyalty to the Third Reich, he was offered phenomenal career advancement throughout his short life.

One such opportunity came to him in 1938 when the German government commissioned Distler to write music glorifying the Anschluss (the union of Germany and Austria). The words paired with the tune he composed were, of course, celebratory and nationalistic in nature.

At the height of his fame as a musician and conductor, Distler took his own

For your love is higher than the heavens, and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

✙ Ps. 108:4 ✙

There are two principle Hebrew nouns at work here, and either of them might be translated differently than what's found in the NRSV. The first one, חֶסֶד, which is translated as love, might better be rendered as either kindness or faithfulness. Old translations often use mercy (such as by Matthew Henry below). With the second one, אֶמֶת, I feel the NRSV did an even poorer job. Instead of faithfulness, firmness or truth would've been a much better option (once again, see below).

Matthew Henry explained this verse this way, which, though a bit unscientific in its scope, certainly works for me:

We cannot see further than the heavens and clouds; whatever we see of God's mercy and truth there is still more to be seen... in the other world.

In other words, what we see of God's kindness and truth are but the tip of

Advent Confessions

In the *German Reformed liturgy of 1999, there's a section entitled †Opening Prayers with Confession of Sin. I have adapted the four Advent prayers under this section for use in my English-speaking setting, and here they are...

First Sunday of Advent
Lord Jesus Christ, the time of preparation has begun.

We look forward to your coming—

the outpouring of yourself on our behalf—

and yet we remain self-centered.

We hear your word and sing your praises,

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make melody. Awake, my soul! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn.✝︎ I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to you among the nations.

✙ Ps 108:1-3

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Older translations of this psalm render the second clause of verse 2 something like, I will awake early. Well, that's fine, I suppose. But the NRSV is a better representation of the Hebrew אָעִירָה שָּׁחַר, which actually means, I'll wake up the dawn. This reminds me of the Prayer of the Rooster in the wonderful book Prayers from the Ark*—

Do not forget, Lord,
it is I who make the sun rise.
I am your servant,
but, with the dignity of my calling
I need some glitter and ostentation.
Noblesse oblige...
All the same,

A Prayer and a Song

Here's a prayer and a song for Thanksgiving...

Dear Heavenly Father!
You give us each day our bread.
For this, we thank you
and to you we pray:
Give us what we need
to eat our bread in peace.

For your Son Jesus is the bread of life
come down from heaven,

who gave himself that we might live.
Feed our souls, we pray,
strengthen us with your word,
and send your Holy Spirit
to fill us with joy and fullness of life.
May the satisfied find hunger,

Gratitude-Giving

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.

✙ Psalm 107:31

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Gratitude means saying thank you, of course. But it is so much more. It can be a consistent attitude that permeates all of existence, transforming the life of the person who practices it. In her book, The How of Happiness, Sonja Lyobomirsky wrote,

Gratitude is many things to many people. It is wonder; it is appreciation; it is looking at the bright side of a setback; it is fathoming abundance; it is thanking someone in your life; it is thanking God; it is 'counting blessings.' It is savoring; it is not taking things for granted; it is coping; it is present-oriented. Gratitude is an antidote to negative emotions, a neutralizer of envy, avarice, hostility, worry,

Their courage melted away in their calamity; they reeled and staggered like drunkards, and were at their wits’ end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress; he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.

✙ Ps 107:26b-30

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The psalms give us hope. And in Psalm 107, we see God's constant love, over against human unfaithfulness. Now sometimes doubt is mistaken for unfaithfulness and vice versa. And being too sure of a matter of faith can lead to arrogance, or even the persecution of those who disagree. So, as the Rev. John Ames said in Marilynne Robinson's Gilead,

I'm not saying never doubt or question. The Lord gave you a mind so that you would make honest use of it. I'm saying you

For he satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry he fills with good things.

✙ Ps 107:9

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Today's devotion is adapted from Charles Spurgeon's November 20th entry in his devotional classic, Faith's Checkbook:

It's good to have longings—the more intense they are the better. God will satisfy soul-longings, however great and all-absorbing they may be. So let us greatly long, for God will greatly give. It can't be said that we're never in a right state of mind when we're contented with ourselves—when we're free from longing. Desires for more grace and groanings which cannot be uttered are growing pains: we should wish to feel them, because they show us that we are growing in the faith.

Of course, hunger is by no means a pleasant sensation. Yet Christ said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." Such persons shall not only have their hunger relieved with a little food, but "they shall be

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.

✙ Ps 107:1-2a

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Psalm 107 calls on the faithful to thank God, whose love is both constant and never-ending. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!" the psalmist wrote. But, in fact, the redeemed of the Lord are more likely to say, "So?"

Yesterday I talked about how God calls me from diaspora into the body of Christ, and this morning's psalm might be interpreted the same way. God's redeemed are brought together from all points of the compass to experience community—proof that God's constant love is eternal. And if the Holy One has made me whole, I should say so!

I like to think of myself as unique. Different, even. But in this I'm like everyone else. I am far too likely to respond to God's grace by saying, "So?

With hearts uplifted, let us now turn to God with gratitude.

We give you thanks, O God,
for all your gifts, so freely bestowed upon us:
For the beauty and wonder of your creation,
in earth and sky and sea;
For all that is gracious in our sisters and brothers,
revealing to us the image of your Son;
For the food on our table and clean water to drink;
For the roof over our heads,
and for family and friendship;
For minds to think, hearts to love, and hands to serve;

Today's message is about the Mayflower Pilgrims on the 400th Anniversary of their arrival in North America. Here's the order of worship found on the video at the bottom of the page:

00:00 Chimes
00:26 Prélude: We Gather Together
03:16 Welcome
03:59 Call to Worship
04:23 Opening Prayer
05:11 Lord's Prayer
05:44 Introduction to the Reading

Jews who don't live in Israel are often referred to as the diaspora, a term that actually goes all the way back to the time of the Babylonian Captivity. And so the verse of Psalm 106 that I'm led to think about this morning is very much a prayer of the diaspora. I am not Jewish, but I would imagine that when Jews hear the following words, it must be bittersweet to all who live far from the land their people calls home:

Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy Name and glory in your praise.

✙ Ps 106:47

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Though the term diaspora most often refers to the nation of Israel, many peoples throughout the centuries have also been in a similar situation and have even borrowed the term: Africans forced to undergo the Middle Passage, Romani, Italian and Irish immigrants, and today's refugees from Kurdistan, Syria, and Venezuela. To leave one's homeland is often an extreme measure, and when people find themselves abroad,

Praise the Lord! O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.

✙ Ps 106:1

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For today's devotion, I will meditate on the words of a song*:

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;
he chastens and hastens his will to make known;
the wicked oppressing now cease from distressing;
sing praises to his Name, he forgets not his own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;
so from the beginning the fight we were winning:

So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.

✙ Ps 105:43

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Left to my own devices, I tend to think joy is earned. This means, if I'm good, I deserve to be happy. If I'm bad, I blame myself for my misery. I have to be in control.

But Psalm 105 is a song of grace. It doesn't tell me how Israel delivered itself by its own strength, or gained its redemption by its own righteousness, thus earning the right to rejoice. Instead it sings of a God possessed of two things: love, and a plan. Like a compassionate parent, God did not wait for the chosen to earn their deliverance, but brought them through their difficulties step by step. And like a loving family, they emerged from their trials with joy and singing.

The story of Israel's exodus must be recounted again and again, because belief in such grace is not my default mindset. And it's the same with the

He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. He is mindful of his covenant forever, of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.” When they were few in number, of little account, and strangers in it, wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.” When he summoned famine against the land, and broke every staff of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were hurt with fetters, his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord kept testing him. The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his possessions, to instruct his officials at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom. Then Israel came to Egypt; Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham. And the Lord made his people very fruitful, and made them stronger than their foes, whose hearts he then turned to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants.

✙ Ps 105:7-25

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I usually consume the Book of Genesis as though it's a buffet, reading a bit from here and a bit from there. When I do this, I get the impression that it's just a bunch of random stories about some people my tradition calls the Patriarchs. So sometimes I need to read it all in one sitting in order to remind myself that from the creation of the world until Israel's sojourn in Egypt, through all the happiness and pain, the faithfulness and disobedience, God

Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually.

✙ Ps 105:4

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I used to think I had a good sense of direction. Now I know I actually don't. It's never bothered me, though, because every wrong turn takes me someplace I've never been before. Even so, I have to admit that I'm one of those men who refuse to stop and ask for directions. So I should probably take today's passage from the psalms to heart, because what I read in English as Seek the Lord is, in Hebrew דִּרְשׁוּ יְהוָה—which is more like, Inquire about Yahweh, or Ask after Yahweh. I'm even further removed from the true meaning when I read a modern English translation, because the Hebrew Bible's not telling me to do this all alone. It says, Hey y'all, ask after Yahweh! Archaic English would've rendered this as Seek ye...

So a verse I might want to think of as a great little personal mantra, is in reality a group activity. Seeking God, gaining strength from God, and recognizing God's presence are not being recommended to an individual

May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works—who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord!

✙ Ps 104:31-35

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The final verse of Psalm 104 seems to be a rather ugly intrusion into an otherwise pleasant song of praise. But I want to put it in the context of verse 31, in which the psalmist prays that God will rejoice in all the glorious works proclaimed in this psalm. And when I look back even further, I remember how this same psalmist placed human creatures in the context of all other creatures, each one in its proper place, praising God by fulfilling God's purpose.

And yet, I know that there are many human creatures that are not satisfied with what God has apportioned them, that seek to knowingly destroy

These all look to you to give them their food in due season; when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.

✙ Ps 104:27-30

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I'm told the universe is expanding, and that at some point in the far distant future it will begin to contract. I can't help but think of the breath of God giving life to all that is, and that breath then being withdrawn. Inhale. Exhale. I imagine that the cycle repeats over and over throughout an eternity of time: the breath of a benevolent, unsleeping God, birthing the stars around which worlds develop, fertile and life-giving—each cycle lasting untold millions of years. And yet this eternity is but the blink of an eye to its Creator, for time, too, is a creature of God—yet another side of God's providence.

This gives new meaning to the psalm which refers to part of God's creation

Today's message is a first-person biographical sketch of Jacob. This service also includes my first ever online baptism: May God bless Todd's walk with Christ and may he be filled with the Holy Spirit! Here's the order of worship for the video found below:

00:00 Chimes
00:22 Welcome
01:35 Call to Worship: Psalm 119.124-125
01:56 Opening Prayer
02:25 Scripture Reading: Genesis 32.24-31
03:38 Introduction to the Song

The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. In them the birds build their nests; the stork has its home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the coneys. You have made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. You make darkness, and it is night, when all the animals of the forest come creeping out. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they withdraw and lie down in their dens. People go out to their work and to their labor until the evening. O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

✙ Ps 104:16-24

It's interesting that the normal activity of human beings is placed here in a list of the normal activity of the rest of God's creation. The Bible seldom does that. We are usually placed over and above, and given more responsibility. But here we're found among, part of the whole—along with the birds, the goats, the rabbits, the lions, the sun, and the moon—amazed at what God

By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches. From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.

✙ Ps 104:12-15

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How can I read these words and believe in a stingy God, a God who would require abstinence of me, who would ask that I refuse the bounty of the earth in order to satisfy a small-minded divinity? God created a world that has enough to provide for all, and then some.

Yet on the flip side, the resources I waste would provide a seeming palace's supply of food and water and warmth to a person in need. And so, in good Calvinist fashion, I must find a way in my own life to enjoy what God has

You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken... You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.

✙ Ps 104:5, 9

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An ancient view of the cosmos is evident here. The earth is stationary and unshakable, while not only the moon, but also the sun and stars revolve around it. Just as the earth was fixed in space, so (ideally) was everything on it. God divided sea from dry land, and appointed the proper place for the waters with "a boundary that they may not pass." This form of stability was important to a people who had little understanding of the sciences of astronomy and geology. I can see why most people found it comforting—at least up through the Renaissance.

Among those who were most comforted by it was John Calvin, who died in 1564. He hated the idea of mixing things. In his book John Calvin: A Sixteenth-Century Portrait, William Bouwsma wrote:

You make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers.

✙ Ps 104:4

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I love reading Psalm 104:4 on Pentecost, because Acts 2 mentions both wind and flame as evidence of the Holy Spirit. But this verse is far less straightforward than it appears. For example, here's the way the Authorized (King James) Version renders it:

Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire.

First the easy part: The old version of the second half is much more accurate, as is the use of the relative pronoun who at the beginning. There's no and in the second half, so it's clear that flaming modifies fire; and the first word of the overall verse appears to make it a continuation of what comes before it, not a brand new sentence.

But what is the first part about—the one making the winds God's messengers? Why is the modern translation so different from the older one,

November 11 is called Veteran's Day in the United States. In the UK it's called Remembrance Day, and a song associated with it is I Vow to Thee, My Country. The words are a poem by Cecil Spring Rice, written sometime around 1910, which were later set to a tune which Gustav Holst adapted from his own composition, Jupiter (from The Planets).

I Vow to Thee, My Country is a song which first calls for loyalty to one's homeland, but ultimately to the Realm of God. It reminds me of two quotes, one from a Puritan divine named Thomas Manton: This is the first part and office of justice, to perform the debt we owe to our country, for public interests must be preferred before private.

And another more critical one from the 20th century preacher William Sloane

Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty, wrapped in light as with a garment. You stretch out the heavens like a tent, you set the beams of your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind.

✙ Ps 104:1-3

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The scriptures tell us to make no graven image of God, which means we're not to create statues of God or try to paint God's portrait. But the word pictures the psalms paint are sometimes overwhelmingly beautiful. Psalm 104 opens with the same words as the one before it. But whereas Psalm 103 goes on to talk about God's steadfast love and tenderness when dealing with people, Psalm 104 goes in a very different direction: first describing not God, but God's garments, God's dwelling, and God's transport.

Calvin said that, "although God is invisible, yet his glory is conspicuous enough." And I guess, in its own dry way, this sums up what I want to say. I cannot see God, but I can see the glory of God and the evidence of God's

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, obedient to his spoken word. Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will. Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul.

✙ Ps 103:19-22 ✙

Here we come full circle, and the blessing asked of me in Psalm 103:1 is put in its proper context. It's not just me, it's all beings seen and unseen, mortal and immortal, who are called upon to bless God. The ending of this psalm reminds me of the part of the Great Thanksgiving just before the Sanctus:

Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with the heavenly choirs and with all the faithful of every time and place, who forever sing to

As for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.

✙ Ps 103:15-18

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An indifferent or even hateful immortal being would be of little assurance to the helpless. But here we see human transience put in the context not of God's eternity, but of the constancy of God's love. I think it's especially touching that the psalmist here compares the human concept of loveliness with the true beauty that is an attribute of God.

I am, due to my human nature, shortsighted. I only think of myself and my

Today's message is a first-person sketch of Esau. There's a hymn to sing or meditate on, and it's called Help Us Accept Each Other. Here's the order of worship found on the video at the bottom of this post:

00:00 Chimes
00:30 Welcome
01:25 Call to Worship: Psalm 43.3
01:47 Opening Prayer

As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him. For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust.

✙ Ps 103:13-14

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The word compassion literally means suffering with. I have no idea what was going on in the psalmist's head when she or he wrote Psalm 103:13-14 over 3000 years ago, but as a Christian, I cannot help but be overwhelmed when I spare even a moment of thought for what I'm reading here. God suffers with God's children because God remembers that we're dust. Did the psalmist have any idea what that would come to mean?

The God of the universe whom I rightly fear, indeed suffers with me because God took on a body of dust, and wept and toiled and mourned and died for

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us.

✙ Ps 103:11-12

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The molten core of the earth and the far edge of the universe are indeed very far removed from one another. But there is a spot on the horizon where heaven and earth meet. Something similar can be said of east and west: The places where the sun rises and sets seem quite distant from each other. Yet I can see both dawn and sunset from my own yard. In the same way, there is a place where the perfection of God and my depravity meet: Calvary.

I thank you, Father, that at the center of all time and space, there stands an old rugged cross where you and your people meet in the arms of Jesus Christ, who taught me to pray: Our Father...

God's M.O.

The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.

✙ Ps 103:6-7

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I think the character of God is demonstrated not just in the here and now, and certainly not only in my hopes for the future, but as much as either of these, in God's dealings with my forebears. And so after Psalm 103 calls upon my soul to bless God for what God does for me, it moves quickly to God's justice for all the oppressed and then to a reminder that this vindication has been God's M.O. all the way back to the days of Moses.

It's so easy to overlook this or to take for granted that this is so. But in reality, this movement—from personal blessing to justice for all the oppressed to remembering God's mighty acts in the past—needs to be rehearsed on a

Crowned or Wrapped

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits—who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy...

✙ Ps 103:2-4

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Translation isn’t an exact science, and this is especially true when translating from an ancient language into a modern one for a bunch of reasons. One reason is that expressions used 3000 years ago would be very different from expressions used today. Another is that, in the case of Hebrew, there were no vowels to help with pronunciation, only consonants. And, of course, there was no punctuation.

But the biggest problem was that, just as in English, words might mean different things in different contexts. And one of those words is found in Psalm 103:4, which tells me that it’s the Lord, “who redeems your

Three times in Deuteronomy, I read these (or similar) words: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And then at the very beginning of Psalm 103, I read this:

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy Name.

✙ Ps 103:1

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Whether I'm thinking about loving God or blessing God, the scriptures demand that I not do it halfway. Regardless of how big my heart and soul are, or how much strength I've got, I'm to devote all of it to loving and serving God.

The New Testament, too, reminds me how important it is to give myself to God. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he quoted not one of the Ten Commandments, but the one from Deuteronomy (above). But he didn't stop there but said there was another one like it—

You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to favor it; the appointed time has come. For your servants hold its stones dear, and have pity on its dust.

✙ Ps 102:13-14

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Psalm 102:14 was referenced in a beautiful song* by a Uruguayan singer of Jewish descent named Jorge Drexler. And so I'll meditate on this song today (you'll need to watch the video for a few seconds to see what's up with the black screen)...

The lyrics in English...

My heart is stricken and withered like grass; I am too wasted to eat my bread. Because of my loud groaning my bones cling to my skin. I am like an owl of the wilderness, like a little owl of the waste places. I lie awake; I am like a lonely bird on the housetop. All day long my enemies taunt me; those who deride me use my name for a curse. For I eat ashes like bread, and mingle tears with my drink, because of your indignation and anger; for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside. My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass. But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; your Name endures to all generations.

✙ Ps 102:3-12

Yesterday, I was led by an Emerson quote to think about false claims of oppression: "Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted." Today I am led to think about real persecution. I am mindful of those who in ages past have been killed for their beliefs or herded into concentration camps because of their race. And I dare not ignore those in my own day who are being driven from their homes

For the moment daylight saving time ends, I found something I didn't know existed till now: Christian hip hop. So here's Lecrae singing Fall Back (with Trip Lee):

I know you might a seen on the TV
You hear on the radio and CD
But you can be deceived pretty easy
Believe me... you might wanna (fall back)

Lies in them songs lies on television
No telling what lies on the television
Learned sacrasm, sexism, racism
Learned to worship money cars
Learned to hate Christians
All the Christians in the movies so typical

Today we remember those who have died in the past year. Included in this video is a brief look at Raphael's Sistine Madonna, as well as a clip from the 1984 film Places in the Heart. The message is on the Great Cloud of Witnesses mentioned in Hebrews 12:1. Here is the order of the video found below:

00:00 Chimes
00:23 Prélude: Souls of the Righteous in the Hand of God
03:30 Welcome
04:35 Call to Worship: Revelation 7.12
04:50 Opening Prayer

The Vulgar Mistake

Ralph Waldo Emerson •
Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress. Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call.

✙ Ps 102:1-2
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This prayer was offered to God by a people threatened with obliteration. Calvin said that "no one could utter these words without profaning the Name of God, unless they were actuated by a sincere and earnest affection of heart." Yet it is common these days for Christians to claim to be oppressed by those who simply disagree with them, and claim affliction when they are but mildly inconvenienced. What nonsense! Ralph Waldo Emerson put it best in 1838 when he said, "Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted."

I should always pray to God, regardless of my circumstances. But I need not pretend to God that I am truly threatened when I know that I am but having a