What's Your Soundtrack?

Last night as I was driving home from Wally-world with groceries (at ten o'clock at night), I was listening to the public radio program, "Echoes". The music playing was like background music. There really wasn't any meat to it and it seemed quite trivial. The pathetic thing is that as I was listening to it I thought, "if my life had a soundtrack, I believe this would be it." It was a gay little ditty, light and soothing. It would have made nice "hold" music.

I recently picked up a daily devotional by Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby based on the book Experiencing God. What I read this morning was about "vision". They discussed how vision drives the way we live. I've seen it; I know you've seen it. Vision statements everywhere, work, church, self directed goals. When we can visualize what we'd like to look like, we can set a course for achieving that goal.

The NIV states it this way: "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law".

And the Message says it like this: "If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed."

I know it best in the KJV: "Where there is no vision, the people perish, but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."

As I pondered this, I was also reading in Jeremiah 12. And God says to Jeremiah (who is complaining about why the bad guys always seem to win and he always gets in trouble when he does something bad), that if he's whipped by running with men, how on earth can he expect to run with horses? In other words, if you can't play with the big dogs, stay on the porch.

Life is tough. I have friends going through really awful, painful and scary things right now. I continue on in my life, getting caught up in the craziness of it all and it brings me down. What it may be is that perhaps we have all lost the vision of exactly who our God is. Because without that vision, we perish. It says so right there in the Bible. Without a clear vision of what God is doing and who He is, we see the chaos, the defeat, the bad guys winning and we feel hopeless. When is the last time I stopped and really tried to grasp who He is and what He's up to? And if I could only do that, wouldn't my outlook change? Wouldn't I be more likely to be able to run with the horses? Wouldn't the soundtrack be different?

When I went running today, I turned on my beastly red i-Pod (as my kids refer to it) to a little known group of artists called apt.core. They're not my usual fare for running, in fact, I believe this is the first time I've listened to this particular album. The first song was a very powerful piece called, "No Such Thing as Time". The only words are, "I AM the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the one who is, who was, and is to come. Almighty." The next piece simply quotes the first four verses of Psalm 19:

1 The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. 2 Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. 3 They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard.^[a] 4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.

God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.

Psalm 19:1-4 New Living Translation

I think it's time for a new soundtrack.

Training for the Long Run

About 2 years ago, my eldest son started taking an interest in running and went out for the middle school track team. One day, I talked him into going for a run with me. It was a little over 3 mile run; not bad for a beginner, but up the long hill at the end, he really started to lag behind. I ran the hill and then jogged back for him, encouraging him along the way.

Last Saturday, he and I went for another run. This time, we were doing my five mile route. He outpaced me from the very start and although I can run this course without much difficulty, somewhere near the middle, I just let him go. He'd turn around every now and then to see if he was supposed to go straight or take an upcoming turn and I'd signal him on- each time from further away. Eventually, I lost sight of him- he knew the way home.

Earlier that day, we were discussing the book of Daniel over danishes and sodas at a local coffee shop, while we waited for little sister to finish up her dance class. I wanted to impress him with my newly gained knowledge of the fulfillment of kingdom prophesies in the second chapter. I was blown away by the fact that Cyrus was mentioned by name 150 years before he came into being as the one who would set the Israelites free from their Babylonian captivity. (See Isaiah 45). He was unimpressed... he already knew all of that and even pointed out some other prophesies mentioned in Jeremiah about the same deal. He had learned all about this in his small group that meets on Sunday nights. We went on to discuss the pertinence of the book of Daniel for all of society today, especially for teens as they seek who they really are and what they really believe. We drew parallels between the 15 year old Daniel and his friends and himself, who will turn 15 in just a few days. I was amazed at his understanding and a little disappointed that I had never learned these truths at his young age.

How rewarding as a parent to watch him run so far ahead- even to out of sight. And how encouraging when I saw him jogging back up the road to finish the run beside me.

Rainprints

Today was the last day of 2005, a very difficult year for me. As I was running on the beach this morning, it started to rain. Not a sprinkle. Not a down pour. Not a drizzle or mist. A brief, very intentional rain, leaving clearly defined "rain prints" in the sand. A cold, cleansing rain.
Intentional, cold, and steady enough to wash away dust & pain
Brief enough to not wash away the memories or the distinct imprints of the drops
Imprints left as memories of past mistakes that have been washed, healed, cleansed by a faithful Father.
And the wind blew.