i was given a lesson in the meaning of "praise ye the lord" this morning. there is a fallen tree about thirty-five yards into the holler beyond my small yard. i often sit on that log for mattins and vespers. this morning was unremarkable enough after i went back in for my sweater, cold, overcast, still.
but in benedicte, omnia opera, my regular saturday morning canticle to celebrate creation and sabbath, when i recited the lines,
"o ye winds of god, bless ye the lord:
praise him and magnify him forever,"
a wind began to rise out of the valley. and at the lines,
"o ye ice and snow, bless ye the lord:
praise him and magnify him forever,"
flakes of snow or frozen mist began to ride on that wind.
"praise the lord" is a common enough phrase. what does it mean? it means to do that for which i am created. it means, without ceasing to be grateful to christ jesus for being my saviour, that i pay careful obedience to christ jesus my lord. it means i follow the admonition of his holy mother at the wedding in cana, "whatsoever he saith unto you, do it." it means i must attend to the voice of his father omnipotent on mount tabor, "hear ye him."
to praise the lord means we must never forget that of which annie dillard reminds us in holy the firm, that "we are created."
jubilate deo. "it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves."
"o ye servants of the lord, bless ye the lord:
praise him, and magnify him for ever."
No comments:
Post a Comment