Taste and see

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. ... O taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:1,7)

Words transport the soul to distant times and places. Combine them with melody, and they can carry you into a Love unlike any other.

Take these words, “taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” A cantor sang this chorus, his voice warm with faith, joy radiating from his face, as he stood near the casket of a man who blessed me without ever knowing me.

His life was so transparent to divine love that his face glowed with peace, even as cancer drained him of life. Looking at him, you knew all was well because of the Love who filled him.

Decades later, the sound of that song carries me to that moment so that it is no longer past, but a living sacrament of Christ’s love filling my heart in the present moment.

God‘s love and light still shine in this world. Darkness and hate, suffering and sorrow cannot obscure the beauty of faces and gentle graces that come to carry you into the heart of God and deliver you from every fear. Taste and see.

Pr. David L. Miller

The awakened heart

My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:1-2)

 

No law can compel us to love. Love is the molten flow rising warm within, filling the heart, revealing who we really are. It is the fulfillment of our nature.

For we are the love Christ is. This is our nature, our deepest truth, the brilliant spark, the dazzling diamond at the center of our souls.

 Made in the image of the One who is Love, love rises and floods the heart’s inmost chamber when awakened by a word, an image, a moment of beauty, a single breath of morning air … and most certainly by the beauty of Christ.

 Jesus blesses a child, touches a miserable soul begging for mercy or is moved to tears by a restless crowd hungry for something much more than bread. In these, the heart sees the Spirit of divine gentleness and love awakens within.

So gaze at him, savor beauty, be moved by suffering, linger over moments that awaken your heart. You will know the love you are and the Love who cherishes you, free at last to be gentle and fulfill the law of Christ.

Pr. David L. Miller

 

On and on

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters (v.1)

It’s a 10 mile hike around the loop trail at Waterfall Glen, time enough to hear your heart. Approaching the falls, you can also hear the heart of all humanity. Distant voices and laughter rise from the ravine, echoing among the oaks over the shush of flowing water.

There are always people here on summer days, wading or watching the stream as it runs from an unknown source to its destination in a far off sea. The flow is magnetic and mesmerizing, satisfying a mysterious something in the soul while carrying the heart to a place of peace.

The water just flows; we do nothing to make it happen. It goes where it wants to go. Try to stop it, and it finds a way around the obstacle. Put in your hand, and it caresses your flesh. And it continues, on and on, day and night, year after year, century after century.

A better symbol for the love flowing from God’s heart is hard to find. Maybe that is why people come here, thirsty for a love that has no end.

Pr. David L. Miller

Twice blessed

 

Remember the long way the Lord your God has led you (Deuteronomy 8:2)

Twice blessed

Little do we know what memories will appear in the length of a day. Today, it is Mrs. Moll, the pastor’s wife, long since gone to be with the Lord.

It’s nearly 60 years since I’ve seen her, except in my heart where she is as present as my fingers on these keys.

She stood at the head of the pews in our little church and taught us to sing, a gift for which I will be grateful all my days. Even now one of her songs comes back, hardly sophisticated or in a theology I fully endorse, but there it is, evoking a tear.

“Living for Jesus, a life that is true,” the song starts, and even now, after all the years and miles traveled, it reminds me what and whose I am. I belong to a Lord who loves me and whose Spirit pleads in my heart to never forget it.

Remember, the scripture says. Don’t forget all the ways the Lord in greatest love has claimed and blessed you along your journey. It’s a gracious command. The things you remember return and bless you again.

Pr. David L. Miller