When the present is tense

I played kiss chasey with the Biblical references during the sermon this morning. So I'm in church and during the "worship" (music) I'm again in the high dry not feeling it, having difficulty meaning it point so I sit down during, (Hihohio its off to work we go) the God of Wonders song and find my mental parallel verse: Psalm 19. Which has at certain points meant a fair bit to me, (Aside from getting the distinct impression that I should go and read it). So I read Psalm 19 and read it again and again with not all of it sinking in as my mind was going at three million miles an hour. I leave it and more stuff proceeds more normally. Prophesy time someone mentions Psalm 23 with the focus on v.1. Beautifully strange as I was getting into it a bit last night in response to something written in a thread on gush, particularly, "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want." Which oddly enough is verse 1. Good thing to be thinking about pertaining to some of my thoughts earlier this week. Rob was preaching on joy and how we live life in transit. I chased up all the biblical references mentioned and ones that came to mind as he was talking. For a while I've had this 'live the present' philosophy although I generally do a fair bit of forgetting. Matt 6:25-34 is the 'do not worry' passage, and Mark 10:13-16 talks about the children coming to Jesus. I was watching a kid last night at Jess's party. He had a balloon and was entirely entranced by it. He found so much pleasure in his playing and I think I mentioned something to Jo or Clare about it being a pity that when you 'grow up' that feeling doesn't come so easily, if at all anymore. John 15:9-11 talks about joy being complete. A deeply satisfying life, we want that don't we? Remaining in God is a curious thing, we are always wanting and waiting and wanting and waiting. Thirsty Merc has this song Someday, Someday with the line: " Someday, someday I'll know that you love me" I don't think God's on about that. There aren't any someday's with God. He is constant. I'm a forward thinking person, a backward thinking person and seldom an 'in the now' thinking person. In the middle of the sermon I again get the push and shove to go read Psalm 19. I have it open and am underlining: "In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course." (v.4-5) A split second later it is being read out (with no prior warning) the precise verse a word after the one I was underlining. I did a massive double take and was slighly gobsmacked. A bit of a wake up and pay attention perhaps? It worked extremely well. I don't understand joy very well a lot of the time. I have complained before about my lack of enthusiasm about almost everything. The word enthusiasm strangely enough comes from, "In theos" or, "In God". Which is mildly scary when I look at my life in response to that. I'm not exactly sure why I got bait dangled in front of my face today and was encouraged to follow, the last part of church was far better than the start, I was encouraged as I haven't had God be that clear in a while, but I don't know really where it's all going.

"We too stand under the Cross, unable to do more than bear witness to the 'Now' of eternity which is ours, to the Day of Jesus Christ, which is no day, but the Day of Days, before and behind and above the days of our life." -Karl Barth: Epistle to the Romans, viii. 23-5.