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a post for thoughts and questions
a series of blurbs about things I’m thinking and/or questions I’m asking
10.20.2023
I’m deep into the book Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores by Diane Langberg. It’s one of those books where I have to restrain myself from underlining everything, which poses the question: if I underline everything, did I underline nothing? (question inspired by Sheldon Cooper in Young Sheldon)
A phrase Diane Langberg repeats throughout Suffering and the Heart of God is this: “A body that does not follow its head is a sick body.” How true. And because scripture calls the church a Body, Langberg’s statement applies as an entity. If, as a Body, we aren’t following our Head, we are a sick body, indeed.
For some reason, I can journal while I’m sitting outside my son’s piano lesson, but I can’t concentrate to read. In the whole scheme of things, the why probably doesn’t matter, but I’ve found it unexpectedly interesting. In this scenario – piano lesson noise in the background – why can I deal with words in one form, but not in another? Is it that writing engages not only my brain, but my hands as well? Is the physical element what helps me tune out the noise better? Is it because writing deals with making sense of my own thoughts, rather than someone else’s? I don’t know, but I’m curious...
I recently had lunch with a former co-worker turned friend. She’s older than me and currently in the season of caring for her elderly parents. Each time we get together, I find myself being so thankful for my intergenerational friendships…both older and younger. There’s just so much to learn from each other!
Psalm 74:12-17 reminds me of the end of Job where God speaks and tells about Himself through a series of questions…only in the psalm, it’s the answers: God is from old, God works salvation in the earth, God divided the sea, God broke sea monsters, God crushed Leviathan and made him food, God split open springs/brooks, God dried up flowing streams, God owns night and day, God established light/sun, God fixes all boundaries, God made summer and winter.
In light of this, what doesn’t God do? What can’t God do? That’s what I must ask, and I must answer “nothing.”
What are your thoughts?
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Those observations on Psalm 74 are incredibly rich - thank you so much!
I love this post of blurbs. Thanks for giving us a glimpse of how your mind works! (I particularly enjoyed point three and find it equally intriguing. I imagine all of your hypotheses are part of it.)