Dear Friends,
The book of Psalms contains one hundred and fifty poems which reflect
the feelings and emotions of their authors whose souls were moved by the
thoughts of God. Whatever our state of mind we find a psalm that fits our mood
and expresses our emotions. Many of them were written by David, of 'Once in
Royal David's City' fame. Often set to music, psalms were designed to express
the dynamics of real life experiences through worship.
If we dip into the Book of Psalms in the Bible, notice, occurring
fairly frequently, often more than once in a psalm, the word 'Selah'. You may
find it's tucked away at the side, but it's there. It's actually an instruction
for the musicians. It means 'stop and ponder' and it was understood that during
worship, when the word Selah appeared, there was to be a pause to allow
everyone time to stop and think about what had been sung.
At the end of June we had two very special services, then a party, as
we said our 'Goodbyes' to Glynis and Ron. Several people have asked me why, in
the Church of England, we have a time of vacancy, an interregnum, before
someone new comes to minister with us. Practicalities aside, the answer is that
it gives us a pause for 'Selah'; a time to stop and reflect. Inevitably, we look back and thank God for
all that has happened in our parishes over the years. You can look back a lot
further than I can! In the present, we have had the opportunity to take stock
of where we are and, more importantly,
we've had time and encouragement to look ahead, to dream with God for the
future. A few days ago I had a
conversation with someone; well, I was trying to, I suppose it worked, up to a
point. All the time we were talking the person I was chatting to was also doing
something with their mobile phone. I know they were listening to me and I got
appropriate answers to my questions, but a bit of me felt as though they
weren't really interested in what I had to say. (I'm sure they were, but were
just busy, but it didn't feel like that at the time.) It occurs to me that I
sometimes do that to God, I am trying to listen to him, but I'm a bit busy
doing other things at the same time. It's important that we do take time to
listen to God, to 'Selah' and give ourselves a chance to hear his voice in the
midst of our busy lives.
With
my love and prayers,
Pat.
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