Living in the Light of the Mountaintop

“If you can’t annoy somebody, there is little point in writing.” ― Kingsley Amis
(Goodreads)

Today’s word of the day, from Merriam-Webster, is withy, which means, “willow; a flexible slender twig or branch (as of osier); one whose pliable twigs are used for furniture and basketry.”

Today is Record Store Day. It seems that vinyl is making a serious comeback. I have been of the opinion, for many years, that vinyl sounds more “real” than digital. After all . . . life happens in analog.

It is Saturday. A day of rest, as well as getting things done that need to be done. Who knows what this day will hold? We may go to the new Indian restaurant that opened in the old Fogata’s location. They are having a grand opening buffet for $5.99 today. Christi is currently going out to Penney’s to return some things, as well as stopping by Best Buy to see about getting Stephanie’s laptop fixed. It seems that she has lost both of her “enter” buttons. It’s kind of hard to do anything without those.

I will be playing keys tomorrow, at our worship gathering. I’m pretty excited about being able to do this again. We also have our not-quite-regular PAT meeting after church, during which we will be discussing an audio book that most of us have listened to over the past week or so, called Living in Christ’s Presence. It’s an amazing book, and we will, no doubt be discussing it for a while.

On this date in 1943, the hallucinogenic effects of LSD were discovered by a Swiss chemist named Albert Hoffman. You can read the rest of the story at History.com .

Today’s birthdays include:

1867 – Wilbur Wright, American aviation pioneer
1889 – Charlie Chaplin, English actor/filmmaker
1918 – Spike Milligan, Irish comedian
1921 – Peter Ustinov, English actor
1922 – Kingsley Amis, English author (quoted above)
1924 – Henry Mancini, American composer
1927 – Edie Adams, American actress
1930 – Herbie Mann, American jazz flute player
1935 – Bobby Vinton, American singer
1939 – Dusty Springfield, English singer
1942 – Jim Lonborg, American baseball player
1947 – Gerry Rafferty, British musician/songwriter
1947 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player
1949 – Melody Patterson, American actress, F Troop
1952 – Bill Belichick, American football coach
1953 – Peter Garrett, Australian singer Midnight Oil
1954 – Ellen Barkin, American actress
1965 – Jon Cryer, american actor
1971 – Selena, American Tejano singer
1975 – Sean Maher, American actor, Firefly, Serenity

None of these really stand out to me, so I won’t post any video content. Peter Ustinov was, of course, one of the great, classic actors. Sean Maher was on one of my favorite TV shows, playing Simon Tam, River’s brother. But video clips of Joss Whedon stuff is terribly hard to come by on You Tube.

Marie Tussaud, Alexis de Tocqueville, Arthur Chevrolet, Edna Ferber, and Robert Urich are among notable deaths on this date.

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL

(From Praying With the Psalms)

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
Psalm 51:1-2

Contrasting Psalm 50, which calls out “brittle formalism and stuffy hypocrisy,” Psalm 51 brings us to the tenderness of “penitence and trust.”

“‘Just as I am, without one plea but that Thy blood was shed for me, and that Thou biddest me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I com. Just as I am, and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot, to Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come!’ (Charlotte Elliott, ‘Just As I Am’). Amen.”

(From My Utmost For His Highest)

“Can You Come Down?”

While you have the light, believe in the light.
John 12:36

We all have those mountaintop moments – moments when we feel “better than our best,” and we all wish that we could always be that way. However, this is not what we were meant to be. “Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to when we do not feel like it.” What does Chambers mean by that? We have to remember the feelings that were stirred when we were in that “high hour,” and not allow them to dissipate.

It doesn’t mean we can stay in that “high hour.” We cannot. But we can bring our “commonplace life up to the standard revealed in the high hour.” Whenever we have a moment like that, we should act immediately, and do something. If God shows us a great revelation in a prayer meeting, something we need to do, we need not say, “I’ll do it.” We simply need to do it! “Take yourself by the scruff of the neck and shake off your incarnate laziness.” We need to learn “to live in the grey day according to what we saw on the mount.” In other words, whatever it was that we received in the “high hour” needs to be the attitude in which we live in the normal drudgery of every day life.

Father, I pray that you would bring this to pass in me. I do have those “high hours,” but tend to forget them when I come down to the day-to-day world. Recently, I seem to have had an experience where that did not happen, and it was glorious! I was actually able to live in the normal days in the light of what was given me in the high hour. But even that has managed to dissipate, and I would pray that it continue on. Show me your truth. If I have found favor in your sight, show me your truth, that I may know you and find favor in your sight.

Come, Lord Jesus!

Grace and peace, friends.