Connections

My husband Bill and I went to the Memphis Symphony grand finale concert last Saturday night. The orchestra performed the Mahler Ninth symphony, a powerful piece that lasted almost two hours without a break. Gustav Mahler had a gift of building up an intense powerful sound and then receding suddenly to almost a whisper, like running up to a cliff and pulling back at the last possible second. Unlike most symphonies which increase in intensity and volume at the very end, Mahler concludes this monumental piece with a transparent thread, tapering gradually until all instruments have stopped playing and the sound hangs profoundly in the air. Not a movement, not a breath, the entire auditorium enraptured by the silence. And finally the conductor lowered his hands, reluctantly letting go of the moment.

When we carve out time to read God’s Word, all too often it is slipped in between two immovable objects on one’s schedule. In our busy-ness, we read the words and miss the impact, because we don’t take the time to breathe it in. When you read God’s Word, hang out a minute. Listen up after you have finished, absorbing the moment, contemplating and dwelling on what you have just read. That is when the real connections are made. We are in such a rush that we miss that golden moment that I witnessed Saturday night, standing in awe of what we have just read, as Bryan Loritts says, “the very Words of God.”

Dwell awhile. Soak it in. Let it gel. Give His Word time to connect with every aspect of your day.

The eternal God is your dwelling place,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
Deuteronomy 33.27

Press on!