July 13, 2010

7-13-10 Tuesday, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

Last night Audrey heard screaming in a room down the hall. Police eventually where involved, and the woman was cuffed and taken away. It was probably after 1:00 am when things got quiet again. My cell phone is malfunctioning, which is more disrupting than one might think. I have left the cell phone number and especially text messaging as the main way for folks to get in touch with me. I will need to either get it operational, or replace it in the next few days. Fortunately I downloaded all its data to this laptop at the beginning of this vacation.

I Chron 15:- 16:36

David uses the leaders among the priests and Levites to organize the transport of the ark to Jerusalem, after the failed attempt that resulted in the death of the young man who touched the ark on the wobbly wagon. David himself was wearing a priestly garment (15:27). As he worshipped before the Lord as the ark was processed into Jerusalem, his wife Michal, daughter of Saul, looked down from her window and was filled with contempt for David.

David gives to Asaph and his fellow Levites a song, recorded in 16:8 – 36. This feels very much like one of the Psalms. It attributes greatness to God alone, encourages the hearer to “search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek Him. Remember the wonders He has performed, his miracles and the rulings he has given. … Remember his covenant forever – the commitment he made to a thousand generations.”

Yes Lord, I remember. I thank you for the New Covenant, and for your calling upon my life. Guide me as I guide others to a deeper, closer walk with you, and encourage living that is obedient and fruitful.

My causal reading these days involves Thoreau’s Walden Pond. He advocates self-reliance, as did his mentor Emmerson. He mentions that he does not have the temperament to do good works to help others. His life is not ordered around serving God, but providing for his own needs. It seems that his writings resonate with American readers because of the mythology of how we view ourselves – carving out a homeland in the wilderness with just an axe and a musket. As I prepare to head to Kentucky for a few days in the woods, I too must consider how much of that mythology is subconscious, and how I must intentionally allow God’s word to shape my heart and soul, especially given the culture in which I live and in which I have been raised.