Ordinary Time

Pause

Perhaps one of the most scandalous truths in the Bible is that God desires relationship with us. We struggle to comprehend it. That an all powerful Creator would care about us as anything more than subservient subjects.

Yet Jesus told his disciples that he considered them friends! Not servants of some distant, all powerful Deity, demanding obedience and reverence. Or even employees working for a benevolent Boss. But friends. Confidants. Partners. Maybe even co-conspirators.

God delights in us so much that God desires our companionship. So lean in close and contemplate the wondrous and beautiful truth that you are a friend of Jesus.

Listen

Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth! Be happy! Rejoice out loud! Sing your praises! Sing your praises to the Lord with the lyre— with the lyre and the sound of music. With trumpets and a horn blast, shout triumphantly before the Lord, the king! Let the sea and everything in it roar; the world and all its inhabitants too. Let all the rivers clap their hands; let the mountains rejoice out loud altogether.

Psalm 98:4-8

Think

Choral music can be stirring and powerful. A choir typically sings in four parts: bass, tenor, alto, and soprano. Each voice occupies a different range from lowest to highest. And when they are combined, something rich and whole is the result.

Musical harmony is a wonderful metaphor for what it means to love and be loved by God. We are given our own unique “voice” by God. And even though the bass may sound different from the soprano, we can combine to make something even more beautiful than either of us could alone.

To love God is to sing with our own voice and be attentive to the other singers in order to hear how we can complement one another. Who needs your harmony? How can you share the voice that was given to you? Make a joyful noise!

Chad Senuta

Pray

God of harmony, thank you for making me who I am and giving me a unique voice. Make me proud of it and bold enough to share it. Teach me to temper it to the other voices in the choir so as not to draw attention to myself, but to better serve the Greater Song. Amen.

Go

May relationship with God fill you with the delight of the One who delights in you.

May friendship with Jesus teach you to love, as you have been loved.

And may the companionship of the Holy Spirit free you to live and to share that which has been freely given.