The Sylvr Pen

O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk of all his wondrous works (Psalm 105:1-2).

It caught my eye as I looked out the window. So tiny, and yet the light shining on it made it instantly capture my attention. I’d never seen this phenomenon before: one single snowflake pressed against the outer thermopane like a flower carefully pressed in an album–and not melting!

Delicate, intricate filigree. Perfect symmetry. Like the third snowflake on this page in form, yet unique.  It left me nearly breathless. I ran to get my camera, but the crystal was too small to capture in a normal photo. I would have run to get my husband, too, but he was deeply involved in brainwork, and I thought I could wait a moment, then summon him to see it. But, now looking closely, I saw less detail than a few minutes before. Aw, it was melting! Another minute and it was gone.

Such exquisite design in such a tiny thing of such fleeting existence, even smaller and more transient than I and my life!  It awes me to think how the brilliance of God extends to minuteness far beyond things so small we barely notice them, to things we can see only with electron microscopes! As I said a few posts ago, considering His hand in the microscopic helps me to realize His involvement in my concerns better than seeing His hand in the huge.

What makes a deed mighty anyway? The physical size of the things involved? Isn’t microsurgery mightier than surgery easily performed on larger scale? Which rates higher in value: a chunky afghan knitted fast on jumbo needles or a “wedding ring shawl,” delicately hand-knit with yarn so fine the whole finished product can pull right through a wedding ring? What most amazes me about God, even more than the vastness of His cosmos, is His involvement in the little events and issues of my seemingly insignificant life.

Wondrous works, all, both big and small! Just this miniscule marvel gave me so much blessing!

Tis the season to make merry–or to pretend merriness. A lot of the latter happens. The season that’s supposed to impart great mirth too often abounds with earthly stresses and heartaches that do anything but that.

Methinks following the directives of Psalm 105:1-5 will do way more to encourage a joyful spirit than all the parties and paper-wrapped presents and cute Christmas cards about friends and family combined. For one thing, its to-do list starts right off with giving thanks, and a lot of us have personally seen the positive effect a gratitude-aimed attitude can make on our psyches in almost any situation. Then the passage tells us to call on the name of the LORD. So, with gratitude to Him and the inviting of His active presence, we’re off to an excellent start toward joy. (See yesterday’s post for more on these two “mandates.”)

Now let’s see what further directions this good Psalm gives us:

(More) Really Important Stuff to do Right Now for the Holidays

#3 – Make known His deeds among the peoples.

There’s no better time for this than Christmas. No matter how much people point out a connection between the season’s “merry-making” activities and ancient pagan or just earthly, non-Christian traditions, the word “Christmas” does contain the word “Christ,” and people still can’t get away from the old Christmas carols (of which I seem to hear more on secular radio stations than on the nearest Christian network!) Crèches still pop up here and there, stores sell figurines of angel messengers, and even the most ignorant US citizen knows there’s some connection between Christmas and a special baby in a manger.

But Psalm 105:2’s instruction goes beyond setting out a crèche or saying “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays.” It tells us to make known God’s deeds.

How shall we go about this? Just an inscription in a note or Christmas card or a Family newsletter, about God’s grace at work in the past year or in our lives in general or just such a word interspersed in conversations will do it. The important thing is that we don’t forget the Blesser amid all the blessings we’ve received from Him, don’t forget what great things He has done for us, or forget to tell others about them.

#4 – Sing to Him; sing psalms to Him.

As we drive around on errands, bake our cookies, clean our homes, let’s do this. Singing our way through such activities isn’t multi-tasking! It’s the whistle-while-you-work principle, which moves work along more smoothly. Let’s sing carols with our children when we tuck them into bed at night, or initiate carol sing-alongs at parties. Even when people around us need silence, we can make melody in our hearts (Ephesians 5:19).

But note the direction of the singing Psalm 105 mentions: to Him–not just to each other or to whomever we’re serenading in a program or caroling session–but to God. What a wonder and privilege, that we tiny beings can sing to the Creator of the whole Universe—even with crackly, croaky voices, or even by silent song in our hearts–and it blesses Him!

Let’s have fun with this. Let’s give thanks! Let’s call on God’s name! Let’s tell what great things He’s done! And let’s make melody in our hearts and voices. Let’s enjoy a truly merry Christmastime!

I know. The last thing you think you need right now is another list of to-do’s. But this one has already lifted me out of a weary and bogged down (blogged down?) state probably better than will the Christmas party I’m looking forward to attending tomorrow. So I’ll share these mandates anyhow, and if you give them some thought and action, you might also find your Merry-merry Index rising.

This “Command List” jumped out at me first thing today from Psalm 105:1-5. To keep this post from getting  too long, let’s focus on just the first two today and the rest in future posts. (However, if you want, you can hover your cursor over the reference within this paragraph and get a preview of all ten.)

Really Important Stuff to do Right Now for the Holidays

#1- Oh, give thanks to the LORD!

There’s that gratitude attitude resurfacing again, as primary. And note: not just gratitude, but gratitude expressed to the LORD God.

What wonderful personal benefit I already gained by 7 AM from doing that…

Yesterday I was dragging. Overloaded lately, I’d neglected my daily gratitude listing. But getting back to it this morning, wow! I got on such a roll, I had to call myself to a screeching halt at number eleven! Gratitude can snowball that way.

It also turned specific negative thinking  upside down when my husband and I shared a moment over coffee and reconsidered a potential trigger for gloom and resentment as a possibility for greater celebration instead.

The men’s Bible study group my husband leads at a nearby prison won’t get their usual refreshments this year! Not allowed! A frowny face seems appropriate, but it did occur to us both that with food distractions removed the group might enjoy a greater celebration of Christ’s birth, and I am praying in that direction. The early church had no Christmas cookies and jingle bells, and some of them were locked in prisons, too, but sang for joy that surpassed today’s usual holiday mirth. The joy’s not in the trappings, but in the Lord, and the Lord is often more visible without the trappings!

So let’s give thanks to God throughout these days. Gratitude attitude again gets top priority, in Psalm 105.

#2- “Call upon His name.”

At this busy time we tend to brush this one off unless we run out of our own steam and get overwhelmed—and then what we call on is His emergency aid.

Calling upon His name goes beyond that. It’s more akin to what Francis Chan writes about in Forgotten God. It’s calling on His person to be fully present and actively involved within us, guiding, working, soothing, etc., as we walk according to His directing. It’s living the First Beatitude, not forgetting how desperately we need Him, how destitute we are within.

Recently I used a clock’s bonging of hours and half-hours to remind me of  my desperate need for God’s Spirit to work within me all the time—good device to use again.

These fist two directives alone hold huge potential for true merriness. I intend to invest in them today, and hope you do, too, because already in the doing, I’ve risen way, way above where I was yesterday.

Whether it makes us mirthful or not, shouldn’t these “mini-commands” especially predominate our thoughts and words at this time of remembering Christ’s incarnation? Whether we’re happy or suffering, God deserves more of our thanks and our looking to Him for both our inward and outward supply than we could do in a lifetime.

When Christ was born in Bethlehem, all those years ago, a lot of people heard about it, and some displayed emotional responses  (positive or negative) to what they heard. But a privileged few knew in a deeper, life-changing way: the shepherds and the magi, Zacharias the priest, Simeon and Anna, Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, and John the Baptist (even as a pre-born baby).

What made the difference? All those in the last group had something in common: heavenly help.

We too need more than just hearing or reading about Christ, or even witnessing a mighty miracle, even if these things give us an emotional rush. We need heavenly help for the full impact of truth to ring through clearly to our souls, to open our new spiritual “eyes” to see the kingdom of God, to transform our lives.

Before He left this earth as the resurrected Savior, Christ promised to send His Holy Spirit, Who would–among other things–teach His disciples all the truth they needed (John 14:25-26). Before that, He told seeking Nicodemus that without the action of God’s Spirit giving new “birth” from above, he couldn’t begin to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3-8). Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 2:12-16  concurs, saying the natural human cannot discern spiritual truths; only people who have God’s Spirit within them to aid them. And in the book of Acts, when groups of people responded positively to the gospel, we see time after time the involvement not only of the word of God and of humans sharing it, but also of the Holy Spirit.

As we reflect on the Father and the Son this Christmas, let’s not forget about the all-important Holy Spirit and our continual need of Him. We need Him to see the truth of Christ and be born from above in the first place, to discern error, and to live and walk according to God’s ways.

An excellent and helpful book dealing with this topic is Francis Chan’s Forgotten God. Great reading for the coming cold winter evenings! I highly recommend not just reading it, but carefully reflecting on and applying what it says.

But whether we read that book or not, let us not forget the “Forgotten God” (the Holy Spirit). Let’s not neglect seeking Him in our daily lives. As Jesus taught in Luke 11:9-13 and Paul in Ephesians 5:18, let us keep on asking and seeking for the Spirit’s guidance, control, and power in our lives.

As I sang “Away in a Manger” along with the children in church today, I thought of how songs like that often conjure up mental pictures of creches inhabited by Precious Moments type figurines and Christmas cards decorated with cute and cuddly animals. All so soft and sweet. And yet, in reality, powerful stuff was going on there in Bethlehem–of cosmic proportions. The manger scene actually sat at the center of a spiritual war zone. I once composed the following poem to express this concept. Here’s what was essentially going on at that period of history, beginning then and running through the next three and a half decades, to stretch from there into eternity:

Light Fight

Shadows and light

fight.

A star

spears the dark,

sparks insight.

The sages, confounded, profoundly are struck,

take up the low cloak of the pilgrim, and go.

Bursting the silent backdrop of night,

armies of light

assault  the deep darkness.

In starry-eyed trembling,  the lowly

look up,

fall down!

It resounds:

wealth welling up in a choked sob of wonder.

…..

The linen,

The lampstand,

The darkness,

The tomb,

all filled with the Presence that fills up

the expanse:

Cloth-wrapped and laid in

A manger,

A grave.

Twilight…

nighttime…

dawning…

new day!

Light come down to dusky arrest,

J’shua fit the battle,

and the darkness is dead.