Excuse Me, God; Are You Finished?

“Psalms are answering the God who has addressed us. God’s word precedes these words. These words don’t seek God, they respond to the God who seeks us. Presumptuous prayer speaks to God without first listening.”
----- Eugene H. Peterson
“Answering God:
The Psalms as Tools of Prayer”

Okay. I think I’ve got that part down. My problem is as soon as I think I hear God’s voice, I jump in: “YEAH, BUT…”
To use Garrison Keillor’s phrase: I am the master of the “yeahbuttal.”
"Yeah, but enough about You; Listen to my problems."
Sometimes I’m not praying, I’m just waiting to interrupt!

The Peaceable Kingdom

“And the lion and the calf will lie down together,
but the calf won’t get much sleep.”

------Woody Allen

If you can start the day without caffeine;
If you can get going without pep pills;
If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains;
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles;
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it;
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time;
If you can forgive a friend's lack of consideration;
If you can overlook it when those you love take it out on you when,
through no fault of your own, something goes wrong;
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment;
If you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct him;
If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend;
If you can face the world without lies and deceit;
If you can conquer tension without medical help;
If you can relax without liquor;
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs;
If you can honestly say that deep in your heart you have no prejudice
against creed or color, religion or politics; then, my friend, you are
almost as good as your dog."

Randall Thompson: Alleluia

(Coro Universitario UNET
Rubén Rivas, conductor)
Location: Church of Santa Maria del Pi, Barcelona, ES

At the risk of oversimplification, Eugene Peterson, in his soul-opening book, "Answering God", writes that the beautiful and terrifically human language of the psalms evolve from two elemental monosyllables we all learn early on as children: "Help" and "Thanks".
The Thompson Alleluia (or rather 54 Alleluias, according to one of my basses) is one I enjoy teaching to my choirs. It is an overwhelming song of "Thanks" to the Creator.

I danced before Him on the waters of His creation

"To say that I am a child of God is to say, before everything else, that I grow. That I begin. A child who doesn't grow becomes a monster. The idea "CHILD OF GOD" is therfore one of living, growth, becoming, possibility, risk, and joy in the negotiation of risk. In this God is pleased: that his child grows in wisdom and grace."----Thomas Merton

From the "Vita Voluptua" of St. Sybian

What is to be gained by refusing the Father's gifts? "A closed hand quickly becomes a fist; an open hand reaches to caress. "

The priests will tell you they have the Father's gifts locked up in their chapels and tabernacles, and they are the ones who choose to whom these gifts are given. But they lie!! Do you think grace can be contained and rationed? Only items that are rare and sparse can be doled out to those deemed worthy. My Father's gifts are overflowing and abundant and everywhere, like loaves and fishes feeding thousands, like wine from water bringing joy and elation to wedding guests for a month! Not only is the father's mercy and forgiveness abundant, but so is his joy and laughter. His laughter!! Have you not heard the sound of our Father's laugh? What have you been listening to?
He longs to sing and dance with us, to toast the beauty of his rainbows and flowers. And in moments of his own drunken glory he will fling stars across the sky and laugh -- yes, LAUGH ---- as we "ooh" and "aaah."

Why kneel in a dark, damp, gloomy church, wailing and moaning over "your sins?" Do you really believe the Father is there?

Look in the eyes of your beloved, the smiles of the children, the serenity of your elders, the passion of lovers. Tell me: where do you think the Father is to be found?
Scroll 5: 10 -16

Now on "THOM P. MILLER MUSIC"

"Rainbows" (1989) - for Vocals, flute, soprano, reed organ, and drum. ---featuring words by A. Rimbaud. One of my "greatest hits."