“Worship is not only expressive, it is also formative. It is not only how we express our devotion to God, it is also how the Spirit shapes and forms us to bear God’s image to the world. This is why the form of worship needs to be intentional: worship isn’t just something that we do; it does something to us. And this is why worship in a congregational setting is a communal practice of a congregation by which the Spirit grabs hold of us. How we worship shapes us, and how we worship collectively is an important way of learning to be the body of Christ.”

- James K.A. Smith (source)

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“The aim of Ash Wednesday worship is threefold: to meditate on our mortality, sinfulness, and need of a savior; to renew our commitment to daily repentance in the Lenten season and in all of life; and to remember with confidence and gratitude that Christ has conquered death and sin. Ash Wednesday worship, then, is filled with gospel truth. It is a witness to the power and beauty of our union with Christ and to the daily dying and rising with Christ that this entails.”

- The Worship Sourcebook

For some excellent meditative music for this season, I recommend the beautiful album Fragments of Grace by City Hymns (also available via Spotify).

Today I am especially appreciating the lyrics for How Long, O Lord (Track 8):

How long, O Lord, shall I complain like one that seeks his God in vain?
Canst thou thy face forever hide, and I still pray and be denied?

But I have trusted in thy grace, and shall again behold thy face

Shall I forever be forgot, as one whom thou regardest not?
Still shall my soul thy absence mourn, and still despair of thy return?

How long shall my poor troubled breast Be with these anxious thoughts oppressed? And Satan, my malicious foe,Rejoice to see me sunk so low?

Whate’er my fears or foes suggest, thou art my hope, my joy, my rest;
My heart shall feel thy love, and raise my cheerful voice to songs of praise.

But I have trusted in thy grace, and shall again behold thy face.

For more on Ash Wednesday, see last year’s post.

“The knowledge of Christ is profound and large; all other sciences are but shadows; this is a boundless, bottomless ocean. Though something of Christ be unfolded in one age, and something in another, yet eternity itself cannot fully unfold him. There be many excellent things in Christ, that the most eagle-eyed believer has not yet seen . . .

Take heed that you rest not satisfied with that knowledge of Christ you have attained, but grow on towards perfection. It is the sin, even of the best of saints, when they see how deep the knowledge of Christ lies, and what pains they must take to dig for it, to throw aside the shovel of duty, and cry, ‘Dig, we cannot.’

To your work, Christians, to your work; let not your candle go out: devote yourselves to this study, count all but dross in comparison of that excellency which is in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.”

- John Flavel, The Fountain of Life

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“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful till it became risky.”

- C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

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I think this is so beautiful, not to mention a rare example of autotune appropriately used. Thanks to my brother Steve for alerting me to this sweet jam.

“The ancients were afraid that if they went to the end of the earth they would fall off and be consumed by dragons. But once we understand that Christianity is true to what is there, true to the ultimate environment – the infinite, personal God who is really there – then our minds are freed. We can pursue any question and can be sure that we will not fall off the end of the earth.”

– Francis Schaeffer, Art and the Bible

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A great scholar has given a beautiful definition of waiting upon God: “To wait is not merely to remain impassive. It is to expect — to look for with patience, and also with submission. It is to long for, but not impatiently; to look for, but not to fret at the delay; to watch for, but not restlessly; to feel that if He does not come we will acquiesce, and yet to refuse to let the mind acquiesce in the feeling that He will not come.” . . .

Once more, one who lives in the spirit of prayer will spend much time in retired and intimate communion with God. It is by such a deliberate engagement of prayer that the fresh springs of devotion which flow through the day are fed. For, although communion with God is the life-energy of the renewed nature, our souls “cleave to the dust,” and devotion tends to grow formal — it becomes emptied of its spiritual content, and exhausts itself in outward acts. The Master reminds us of this grave peril, and informs us that the true defense against insincerity in our approach to God lies in the diligent exercise of private prayer . . .

In the days of the Commonwealth, one of the early Friends, “a servant of the Lord, but a stranger outwardly,” came into an assembly of serious people, who had met for worship. “And after some time he had waited on the Lord in spirit he had an opportunity to speak, all being silent; he said by way of exhortation, ‘Keep to the Lord’s watch.’ These words, being spake in the power of God, had its operation upon all or most of the meeting, so that they felt some great dread and fear upon their spirits. After a little time he spake again, saying, ‘What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch.’ Then he was silent again a little time, but the whole meeting, being sensible that this man was in some extraordinary spirit and power, were all musing what manner of teaching this should be, being such a voice that most of the hearers never heard before, that carried such great authority with it that they were all necessitated to be subject to the power.”

Soldier of Christ, you are in an enemy’s country; “Keep to the Lord’s watch.”

- David MacIntyre, The Hidden Life of Prayer

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“Naturally, we are inclined to be so mathematical and calculating that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We imagine that we have to reach some end, but that is not the nature of spiritual life. The nature of spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty, consequently we do not make our nests anywhere. Common sense says — “Well, supposing I were in that condition…”

We cannot suppose ourselves in any condition we have never been in. Certainty is the mark of the common-sense life: gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness, it should be rather an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. Immediately we abandon to God, and do the duty that lies nearest, He packs our life with surprises all the time. When we become advocates of a creed, something dies; we do not believe God, we only believe our belief about Him. Jesus said, “Except ye become as little children.” Spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, but uncertain of what He is going to do next. If we are only certain in our beliefs, we get dignified and severe and have the ban of finality about our views; but when we are rightly related to God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy.

“Believe also in Me,” said Jesus, not — “Believe certain things about Me.” Leave the whole thing to Him; it is gloriously uncertain how He will come in, but He will come. Remain loyal to Him.”

- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

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We’ve been snowed in for the last week here in Seattle. Our weather was so unusual that even BBC picked up on it. Now don’t go making fun of us (thanks David) for being weather wimps. LA’s already done that. Even if we do whine a lot when anything non-transparent falls from the sky, hey — we’ve got hills. Lots of hills. And this is definitely the most snow I’ve ever seen hit my hometown.

Anyways, thanks to the unexpected free time I finally had no excuse to not organize my music and try out my new recorder. I found this old favorite while sifting through one of my “music to be re-filed” piles: Quietude by Carlos Salzedo. Enjoy.

Quietude by rushyama

“Pleasures are shafts of glory as it strikes our sensibility . . . But aren’t there bad, unlawful pleasures? Certainly there are. But in calling them “bad pleasures” I take it we are using a kind of shorthand. We mean “pleasures snatched by unlawful acts.” It is the stealing of the apples that is bad, not the sweetness. The sweetness is still a beam from the glory . . .

I have tried since . . . to make every pleasure into a channel of adoration. I don’t mean simply by giving thanks for it. One must of course give thanks, but I meant something different . . . Gratitude exclaims, very properly, “How good of God to give me this.” Adoration says, “What must the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary coruscations are like this!” One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun . . .

If this is Hedonism, it is also a somewhat arduous discipline. But it is worth some labour.”

- C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm

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