I wasn't one of the ones she "tagged," and I generally think "memes" are generally inane, but Liz over at Smithical posted this one, and I like it, so I'm jumping on the bandwagon.
Five Good Things
Silence This blessed commodity is very hard to come by these days. I don't mean total lack of sound so much as freedom from mechanical, manmade sounds and loud sounds in any form. As I sit here in my office, it is "quiet": Porter is reading, there is no music, television show, nor telephone conversation to hear. And yet I am still assailed by noise at significant volume: the chug of a hard drive, the whirr of a fan, the whine of a monitor. If I sit on our back porch early enough, I can avoid the noise of pool pumps, air conditioners, and power saws, but the birds, bugs, frogs, and squirrels don't quite drown out the roar of the highway two and a half miles away. Waiting at the doctor's office, driving down the road, eating at a restaurant, getting one's hair cut, grocery shopping—whatever we do, we are bombarded with sound. And when was the last time your church allowed any amount of time at all for silent prayer and meditation during a worship service? At one of ours, we designed a Maundy Thursday service that included a full minute of silence; it seemed an eternity, but was very powerful. Without silence, we will lose our ability to think deep thoughts.
Hugs In our sex-obsessed culture, we have forgotten the critical importance of non-sexual physical affection. Without it, infants "fail to thrive"—they die. As we grow, we learn to endure that deprivation, but we die inside. Only young children give their affection freely; perhaps that's why they are so beloved.
Books Our connection to the Great Conversation, to the past, to the wide world, to worlds of fantasy. How could we live without books? Whether a dusty genealogy tome in the library, a delightful novel with a comfortable chair and a cup of tea, or a children's book and a grandchild in my lap, I love books!
Water Was there ever such a wonderful element? Cold water, the best drink ever for a thirsty throat; cool water to swim in on a hot day; water for washing away the grit and grime of life; no wonder God endowed this symbol with such rich spiritual significance.
Making Music Together Music, itself, is a Good Thing, but the miracle of coming together and making music for the joy of it is a Very Great, Powerful, Healing Thing. With our professional music groups, our concerts, and our CD's, we have access to music of a variety and quality no other era could imagine. But we have almost lost what it means to make our own music, and that is tragic.
Beautiful. Last night I had at least three out of the five at a Bible study of mostly musicians. We sang rather complicated four part German songs before dining together (with water to drink) and it was so special to make a beautiful noise unto the Lord. I don't think about quality of music in church because I'm worshiping, but when when there's worship and good music together - ah! Oh to imagine the sounds we will make together for our God when all things are made new in Him!!!!
