Take up and read!

Take up and read!

As the New Year begins I once again pick up my Bible and start reading from page one through to the end. I don’t know how many years I’ve done this now. I do recall a point in my life where I was prompted to do it. Within the same week I heard two sermons from different preachers and read an article all centred on the theme tolle lege. It’s a Latin phrase previously unknown to me. It means “take up and read.”

‘We are his work, and not our own’

‘We are his work, and not our own’

Whether you read these words before Christmas or not, in the church year we’re still in the Christmas season; it straddles the Old Year and the New, ending on January 6, the feast of the Epiphany.

The Niagara Psalter

The Niagara Psalter

Ever since I was a young man I have been obsessed with the biblical Psalms. Perhaps it has something to do with sharing my name with the archetypal Israelite king to whom many of the Psalms are attributed. Or it may be that my love of music predisposed me to a book whose contents were expected to be sung from ancient times.

‘They also serve who only stand and wait’
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‘They also serve who only stand and wait’

I find the actions of the Israelite girl and these servants instructive. Socially they are the next thing to slaves. Morally and spiritually they are people of integrity, and God uses them all out of proportion to their human-presumed importance to enact the outcome he desires.

Genesis is true
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Genesis is true

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

Almost everything about this parable is a lie.

To renew creation
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To renew creation

There is an ancient tradition tying Psalm 104 together with the celebration of Pentecost, the day the church celebrates the sending of the Holy Spirit.