Heights of Beauty

Psalm 48:1-2

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.

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What will we do there? - We'll get high
What will we touch there? - We'll touch the sky
But why the tears there? I'll tell you why
It's all too beautiful, It's all too beautiful
It's all too beautiful, It's all too beautiful

"Itchycoo Park" by The Small Faces

God bless the '60's, the decade gave us a definition of "high" that had nothing to do with physical elevation. This is just a part of what the Small Faces give us. While the drug reference is without equivocation, looking at it from a slightly different place will help out this devotion.

Instead of considering this from the end of a bong, imagine it instead from any state of altered consciousness. When we get there it will be so wonderful and so glorious that it will be impossible to stand. We won't be able to handle all of the beauty and joy at once. There will be too much glory to be able to tolerate. It's all too beautiful, our only choice will be to cry for joy in the vision of the high and mighty.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of God. Beautiful in elevation is the joy of all the earth. It's so wonderful that our only real expression of joy is to cry. The heights of God's beauty are beyond all we can ever hope or imagine.

In the presence of God, our place in creation will be different. We will be on the holy mountain of God in the joy of all the earth. We will be in the presence of God Almighty. The only true emotional response will be tears of joy.

What's even more glorious will be the one who will dry our tears.

The Way Home

2Corinthians 5:6-10

So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord--for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.

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All the places I've been and things I've seen
A million stories that made up a million shattered dreams
The faces of people I'll never see again
And I can't seem to find my way home

"Far From Home" by Five Finger Death Punch

The nation has been in foreign wars for over ten years now. It's way too easy to talk about the divisive politics attached to these wars, but one thing must be done. We must honor and respect the men and women who voluntarily put their lives on the line.

If people of this country learned one lesson from Vietnam it's that veterans were treated poorly upon their return and this must never happen again. Never should a returning soldier be treated shamefully by the people they have chosen to defend. Never.

The soldier sees the million shattered dreams and faces of people dead and injured. This not only shatters the dreams of the dead but of all those surviving. This makes the path home a difficult one for so many.

But we can be confident that in the grand scheme we walk not by the ways of the world. Our bodies are the temporary vessels that carry us here and now. We work to please God because we will be judged by God. God will judge us by how we treat those who defend us.

There are some who can't find their way home. It is up to us to shine the light of God so that the way be made clear. We don't shine it, but we reflect it. That is our vocation.

Thank You

Genesis 3:22-24 (NIV)

And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

1Corinthians 15:45-47 (NIV)

So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven.

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Stiff all in the collar
Fluffy in the face
Chit chat chatter tryin'
Stuffy in the place
Thank you for the party
But I could never stay
Many thangs is on my mind
Words in the way

I want to thank you
falettinme
Be mice elf
agin

Thank you
falettinme
Be mice elf
agin

Dance to the music
All nite long
Everyday people
Sing a simple song
Mama's so happy
Mama start to cry
Papa still singin'
You can make it if you try

Sly & the Family Stone: "Thank You (Fallenttinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"

Ah, the fall. The moment after Adam and Eve were deceived into sharing the fruit of the vine and falling from grace. The horror and the pity, I like what George Burns said in the 1980's movie "Oh, God." Adam and Eve were just teenagers, they didn't have the savvy to take on the serpent. Oh well.

Then again, God knew all along that something would happen to gum up the works with creation. If it wasn't one thing it would be another and this is it, the biggy, eating the fruit of the tree of Good and Evil so they would know as much as God. Whoops, that does qualify as the biggy.

But since God knew all along that something would happen, something would have to change, he sent his Son. He sent his Son as the second Adam, the Divine Reset Switch so that all creation would be reconciled to the Creator.

In the beginning we were all living in accord with the Lord, but that changed. In Christ, it changes back. In this we are to say one thing, thank you.

Lord our God, Thank You Fallenttinme Be Mice Elf Agin.