HOW DO THEY SPEAK IN HEAVEN?

I am struck with the fact that the language of heaven reflected in the Book of Revelation is the language of music. The angels sing around the throne. In some ways, we have always known this as it has shaped our worship. It is generally accepted that the psalms were originally sung prayers.

LOVING GOD WITH YOUR WHOLE SELF

Music has the particular quality of engaging body, mind, emotion, and spirit in ways that few other actions do. If someone begins to sing words of praise, they are offering love of God with all their “heart, soul, mind, and strength.” Particularly for those who have been trained to believe that we cannot sing, I think you will be surprised at the power of the music within you that has been denied over the years. This takes a little courage at first because of our cultural training, but I urge you to privately engage in this with gusto. Sure, this is easier for someone who is naturally a good singer than most of the rest of us, but if God is the audience, perhaps we can trust that the Spirit intercedes with tone corrective power to transform our offerings.

PRAYER IN THE CLOSET

Pull off in an area where you will not be heard by others and engage in singing your love for God. Depending on your musical tastes, it could be a variety of hymns, songs, etc. For a beginning, a couple come to mind: Great Is Thy Faithfulness or How Great Thou Art. Don’t worry about your skills, but try singing them out lustfully and note your own experience of offering this as love to God.

You can move from there to creating your own tunes for some of the psalms and see how that works. I suggest Psalm 8 as an interesting psalm with which to begin. Then you can move on to other psalms of praise. If the psalms are our school of prayer and music is one of the languages of heaven, then perhaps pouring your soul out in this fashion can be a way to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

TIME FOR GOD

While behavior that reflects the love, justice, and mercy of God towards our neighbor is a way of loving God, too often those actions are so entangled with the dynamics of human relations, that God, at best, becomes a distant observer. Add to that the guilt of our never being able to do enough, or our hunger for human approval or success, and it can even have a negative effect. That is not a reason to cease engaging in such activities but only that we also need to set aside some time on a regular basis to engage in loving God for God’s sake.

As we do so, we will discover that it also becomes a means of self-care. Because God knows us, “even before the word is on our tongue,” all our attempts at loving God are acceptable. Moreover, as we engage in loving God, we will experience a closeness to God that empowers our capacity to love our neighbors and our selves more thoroughly.

I am sure there are many others ways to engage in this practice. I would be interested in hearing about your experiences. You may contact me at steve@smccutchan.com.

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