Beyond Words

“Wait, a minute!  Did we not just do this yesterday?  Is this more of your ‘repetition’ motif?  If so, then let’s call it a day and move on.  I got the point yesterday.” Did you?  Really?  Oh, I don’t mean the point about repeatedly declaring, “it is well” as a means of keeping your balance in this unsteady and unpredictable world.  That’s an intellectually understandable point.   I mean the unspoken point, the one that speaks to a more emotional and spiritual need.  Perhaps

This is big, I mean, really big.  Like, don’t miss this part.  And don’t forget it.  It’s critically important (as redundant people would say).  Crucial.  Central to everything. What is so important?  Today’s lyric, of course.  And how do I know? Repetition.  I’ll say it again to prove how important it is.  Repetition.  And repetition is a method of teaching.  As this first verse ends, the hymn writer tells us what God has taught us to say.  And he uses repetition.  When you

So yesterday, I used a big word.  A “$10 word,” some old people might say.  “What was the word,” you ask? Counterpose.  It means, “to place in contrast.”  You’d be hard-pressed to find more contrasting thoughts than peace and sorrows.  Yet that seems to be our lot in life, living in seasons of peace alternating with seasons of sorrow, good times and bad times, abundance and need.  It was certainly Job’s lot. You remember Job?  Had it all.  Health, wealth and prosperity.  Then

This is a tough one.  I’m not sure why.  Bear with me as I work through the “why.”  And if you’re anything like me, you may need to do...