"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom."

I was just discussing with my roommate tonight how everyone near my age who I first meet seems older than me. Usually, they aren’t older than me and sometimes are even younger than me. I think it’s because I’ve been in school for so long that when I meet someone who actually has a professional career I automatically brand them as “old”. Many of these doctors, teachers, nurses and engineers are really close to my age; some are even younger than me. Does this make me OLD?! At the same time, I meet some people in college and I think, “Gee, they’re so YOUNG and immature!” I’m trying to dissect WHY I have this attitude. It probably stems from the fact that I just have a lot of respect for certain offices like that of pastor, teacher, and physician. I’ve always associated these vocations to be those of my elders not my peers. My mind is just having a hard time adjusting to the change. Have any of you experienced this?

What I'm Reading

Natalie at pursuethebeauty.com gave all of her readers a "Quest" to post pictures of books we're currently reading and books we plan on reading. My pictures are a little blurry because my "good" digital camera is currently out of commission and I'm using my ancient circa 2003 one.

Currently reading:


In the stack of books I'm currently reading is The Lutheran Study Bible which is the English Standard Version translation with amazing notes that make Law/Gospel connections throughout both the Old and New Testaments as well as quotes from the Church Fathers, scholarly notes, articles, maps, beautiful engravings, prayers and more. Don't confuse The Lutheran Study Bible with Lutheran Study Bible . The Lutheran Study Bible is published by Concordia Publishing House (CPH)and views scripture as inerrant while Lutheran Study Bible is published by Augsberg Fortress and has serious (heretical) problems with its notes.

I'm also reading The Lord Will Answer: A Daily Prayer Catechism ,also published by CPH, which features a part of Luther's Small Catechism each day along with a short devotional and prayer for each day.

The last book is Wing to Wing, Oar to Oar: Readings on Courting and Marrying . If you read this, don't expect your typical book on dating. This work is more like a college text--a collection of essays by authors ranging from Plato to C.S. Lewis. It's divided into chapters that address the meaning of love, our (society's) current view of "relationships" and how this view came to be, the blessings of marriage and more. I don't agree with all of the articles in the book but that's okay. I learn more and am better able to articulate my views when I'm not always nodding "amen" to everything.


Plan on reading:

The books I plan on reading: Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology (Neil Postman), The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School , How to Sell Anything (Joe Girard), and The Anonymous God: The Church Confronts Civil Religion and American Society . To be fair, I started reading the two Postman books about a year ago but put them down and have not read much of them since then. They are both excellent books, but other things have just taken precedence. I also plan on reading Natalie's book Quest for the High Places (Natalie Nyquist Ferrence), but I'm waiting for the expanded edition to come out before I buy it. Hopefully, I'll get to review a few of these books sooner or later!

From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee

This is a great old hymn written by Martin Luther. Reading it was just what I needed today. I hope it blesses you as well.

From depths of woe I cry to Thee, in trial and tribulation;
Bend down Thy gracious ear to me,
Lord, hear my supplication.
If Thou rememb'rest ev'ry sin,
Who then could heaven ever win or stand before Thy presence?

Thy love and grace alone avail to blot out my transgression;
The best and holiest deeds must fail to break sin's dread oppression.
Before Thee none can boasting stand,
But all must fear Thy strict demand
And live alone by mercy.

Therefore my hope is in the Lord and not in mine own merit;
It rests upon His faithful Word to them of contrite spirit
That He is merciful and just;
This is my comfort and my trust.
His help I wait with patience.

And though it tarry through the night and till the morning waken,
My heart shall never doubt His might nor count itself forsaken.
O Israel, trust in God your Lord.
Born of the Spirit and the Word,
Now wait for His appearing.

Though great our sins, yet greater still is God's abundant favor;
His hand of mercy never will abandon us, nor waver.
Our shepherd good and true is He,
Who will at last His Israel free
From all their sin and sorrow.

*This* is the day!

“I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.”
Psalm 118:21-26, English Standard Version (ESV)

Reading these verses together today kind of shocked me. I don’t know if any of you grew up singing the chorus “This is the Day”. It’s basically verse 24 sung over and over again with little echoes for each phrase. I’ve sung it all my life and knew it was a verse of scripture but never looked up the context. I used to think that it just meant, “This is the day that God created and I’m going to be happy in it because….well….God made it.” It seemed a little trite and almost meaningless. It’s been quoted perhaps millions of times on little embroidered pillows and framed art, so many times that I think people (at least me) have no idea to what the verse is really referring. Now, I look at it through this “lens”:

First of all, you should know that the Hebrew word for “save us” here is “Hosanna”. Remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem before His crucifixion? (See Matthew 21) What did the crowds shout as He rode his donkey through the streets? Hosanna! Save us!

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”
Ephesians 2: 19-21 (ESV)

When we see Jesus in these verses in the Psalm as the cornerstone, this all starts to make sense. “This day” referred to here is none other than… Easter! It follows that the “this” in, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes,” refers to the redemption of mankind through Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. Don’t even get me started on how people use this particular verse on wedding invitations and such! The “this” is much greater than any human love story: It’s God’s ultimate “love story”-- that He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die in our place.