Heart Singing

Today in church we sang this song.  Oh how my heart sings with it.

This afternoon I got to hear "Sister Sally" share her witness of Yeshua.  I haven't finished it yet but have heard about half so far.  My heart is also singing with some of the new things I learned, particularly how Jesus will speak to us in our learning language.

For example, if we are visual learners, we may learn through visions or dreams.  If we are auditory learners, we may learn through audible lessons.  People who are kinesthetic learners may learn through feeling and touch.  WOW!  What a rich insight!!!  I never considered this before.  Perhaps I ought to more intensely explore my own gifts and talents and expect that I may find Jesus waiting there for me.  I highly recommend giving her witness a listen.

From the song above, Even So Come, by Chris Tomlin:

All of creation

All of the earth

Make straight a highway

A path for the Lord

Jesus is coming soon

Call back the sinner

Wake up the saint

Let every nation shout of Your fame

Jesus is coming soon

Like a bride waiting for her groom

We'll be a Church ready for You

Every heart longing for our King

We sing

Even so come

Lord Jesus, come

Even so come

Lord Jesus, come

There will be justice

All will be new

Your name forever

Faithful and true

Jesus is coming soon

Like a bride waiting for her groom

We'll be a Church ready for You

Every heart longing for our King

We sing

Even so come

Lord Jesus, come

Even so come

Lord Jesus, come

So we wait

We wait for You

God, we wait

You're coming soon

So we wait

We wait for You

God, we wait

You're coming soon

LOVE!!!!!

A Moving Christmas Rendition

Dear Magdalene,

Today we showed up late for church.  Since it was the Sunday before Christmas, showing up late meant there were no empty seats, except for the front corner pew.  We made it in time to sit before the sacrament hymn ended, and all six of us squished in the small space.

The meeting was beautiful, as it always is for Christmas.  But I must report that my favorite part was the last two songs.  The full choir was in front of us.  There were two of the best piano players sitting at the piano (meaning two men with big, strong hands), an organist at the organ, three violinists and one bass violinist, all with instruments ready to go.  Sister Mecham (my fav) warned the congregation that once the song starts, "Get ready cause it's really gonna move."  The pianists began the introduction to the song, and then it began.  The large choir, the two pianists, one organist, three violinists, one bass violinist, and one large, packed congregation began singing Angels We Have Heard On High.  And it moved.

The we switched into Hark The Herald Angels Sing.  And it moved.

I don't think I've sat in a sacrament meeting so powerful.  Maybe I have, but it's been a very long time since such power has been sustained.  I think Daddy was moved from the get go, as was I.  I don't know how anybody sang, but it seemed everyone was.

Because we were in the front corner pew, we had the best seats in the house.  We got the fullness of sound from the strings, the bulk of volume from the choir, and the rest of the congregation coming from behind.  This is praise!  This is faith.  This is inspiration.  This is what a heavenly host might begin to sound like.  I envisioned that Christ could have appeared in the space between me and the choir on the podium, and none of us would have been surprised.

If that's what heavenly choirs sound like, I think I should much like to participate.  Definitely something worth sitting in the front left few for the rest of my time at church, if that's what it sounds like there.

Moving, indeed.

~Mom<3  

1 Nephi 1:8 - A Throne and Concourses

In my last post about 1 Nephi 1:7,  I wrote my thoughts on what Lehi was going through, as he had just barely experienced a remarkable situation of being overcome with the Spirit.  On to 1 Nephi 1:8:

And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a ^avision, even that he saw the ^bheavens open, and he thought he ^csaw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God.

This post has really taken me a long to muster.  Figuring out how to really analyze this one is really challenging.  What did Lehi really experience here?  He was carried away.  Is that literally?  Physically, or spiritually?

I've learned a lot in the last several months about spiritual separation - how when many people experience certain things, part of their spirit will recede to somewhere else in order for the part of the spirit which remains to be able to tolerate the experience and still allow the body to function.  For those who believe we have a spirit that is fluid, is it not hard to imagine and believe.  Some may think that's way out there, but for those who have experienced trauma and undergo serious emotional and spiritual work, they will attest to the possibility, and even truth of this idea.

So what happened to Lehi?  Was he spiritually carried away, or is it more literal, in a physical sense?  Just some questions to ponder.

He was carried away in a vision.  What did he see?  He saw the heavens open.  Wow!!!  What does that entail?  Is it like a curtain parts?  Like a new realm simply appears where he was carried away to?  Or was he carried to a heavenly space?

He thought he saw God.  Remarkable.

Sitting upon his throne.  A throne is a strong symbol of authority.  It denotes a position of power, respect, and justice.  It is also, for some, a "mercy seat".  I know the term mercy seat is a loaded term, so I won't get in to that, but a throne is a very symbolic image.  It denotes Kingship.

God was sitting.  Why sitting?  Why not standing?  To me, this sends a message of calm attentiveness.  What was He paying attention to?  How would it be, to have God's attention?  How would that make one feel, to know they were privy to this scene?  How would it feel to be Lehi, and get a glimpse of this throne with the Almighty God, sitting on it?

God was surrounded - not just in the company of, but surrounded... Have you ever been surrounded?  How does that feel?  Overwhelming?  Exciting?  I know I personally get overwhelmed when I'm surrounded by people, but God is capable of this.  And apparently rather than get flustered, as many mortals do, He did not.  For there were numberless concourses of angels.  Numberless?  Holy cow.

The angels were in the attitude of singing and praising their God.  Can you even imagine?  True singing!  Real praise, not just lip service!  What does it take, to truly sing and praise God?  Is it showy?  Is it all hands in the air?  Or is it all hands on the ground?  Perhaps both?  Perhaps neither?  Have we mortals ever really experienced what it feels like to really sing to and praise God?  What a wonderful thing for Lehi to witness.  It must have been a remarkable sight.

p.s. - Denver Snuffer's The Second Comforter has an extensive and deeply poignant view of this verse.  See the chapter titled Ceremony and Knowing God.  Well worth the read.