We were discussing prayer the other night in our small group. The operative phrase that I kept hearing was “When our prayers are amiss” – with the idea that we don’t get answers from God when we don’t pray aright!
Of course my mind went off on a tangent.
Here’s my new phrase: “I would rather not have my prayers a-miss. I’m all for having them a-hit!”
Now to figure out how to secure that thought and action!
There is a Greek word that has always troubled me.
Or more rightly, the transliteration of the word.
Hagios. This is a word for a person. Not to mix this up with all sorts of slang, or politically correct or even totally made up words for a person. This is a word you might have heard two millenia ago.
Unfortunately the English language makes this word sound a little strange – almost derogatory.
What is a hag? Which is what you first hear when you speak the word. To most that is a dishevelled woman looking more like a witch than an upright society lady. The ending “ios” sort of gets lost.
Now for the good news? The word actually means “saint”.
Steve Mealey had a legacy. Music could be you! His teaching of band in the “middle of somewhere” was the inspiration of a premier of an exquisite piece of music.
As one of his students, Mr. Reece (the “proper” name for the current band teacher where Steve used to teach) said about the piece, that it was “commissioned for Big Band by Band Parents organizations and community members in Steve’s memory. Paul Suchan did a phenomenal job capturing Steve in this piece and transposed directly from recordings and videos of Steve. Vanessa Klassen did an absolutely incredible job performing the solo for this world premier!”
Thanks, Steve, for the great memories and the taste of music that continues to linger on. Thanks, Vanessa, for your own heartfelt expression through the instrument that Steve loved – the clarinet. And to the USask Jazz Ensemble and Greystone Singers, thanks for a concert that the “middle of somewhere” will remember for some time!
So, I’m chatting with some other pastors about the word “revival”. We all have varied experiences and understandings of the word. The most common seems to be the idea that, as a Christian, you turned your back on a very vibrant life with Jesus. At some point you realize that life has ebbed. You need to have that original life back again.
So we start with a word for life – VIVE. And we added the prefix – RE. REVIVAL.
But what of a society that is no longer Christian, or has lost the Christian undergirding? That’s us today!
What we need is VIVE. Jesus had said that he came to give life – abundantly give life. For those around us, many don’t need a revival, they need a rescue. They need to come into the life that they have not experienced before.
In other words, we need a VIVAL in our country.