Friday, April 10, 2009

Of Precepts and Stones.

In the beginning...not in Genesis this time but Luke, as I have decided to read over this New Testament book of the Bible.
I was going to write specifically about the "three songs" written in the opening pages of Luke. The first song is Mary's Song
"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of this servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me--holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers."


Then, I read something in the Globe and Mail newspaper that caught my attention and I thought, "how fitting".
The title of the article is:
"The Bible is no longer considered part of the conversation"
And, since reading it the first time I find myself going back to the article in order to read the various, growing comments.
The statements are written by people of various background, belief or unbelief in some cases.
One comment reads, "let's keep the Bible as a nice myth"
Another comment talks about,"a society loosely based on Bible precepts"
The article ends with a statement, "overall Bible literacy is on the decline worldwide"
I continue to read the comments.

Zechariah's Song

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come and redeemed his people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us-
to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace."


And finally angels:
"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."


What I see at work here is a knowledge of history, a recognition of the future and praise for both.
In case we ever get to a point in this world where the Bible actually is,
"no longer part of the conversation"...then I have this to say:
"I tell you, he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

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