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191. Called Up Out of the Darkness
05:08||Season 4, Ep. 191ScriptureGenesis 1:3 (NRSVUE)Then God said, "Let there be light";and there was light.RefrainI was called out of the darkness.QuoteDavid Bentley Hart, from You Are Gods"From eternity, God has brought forth spiritual creatures into existence in the only way that such creatures could be formed: by calling them to ascend out of the darkness of nonbeing into the infinite beauty of the divine nature. To exist as a spiritual creature is simply to have heard and, from the first instant, responded to this total vocation. Creation is already deification—is, in fact, theogony. For that eternal act—that summoning of all created natures out of the primordial darkness—is most certainly an entirely free and unmerited gift of being, imparted to those who were not and who in themselves had no claim to be; but it is also, and no less originally, the call that awakens the gods."
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190. It's All a Gift
05:08||Season 4, Ep. 190ScriptureJames 1:17 (NRSVUE)Every generous act of giving,with every perfect gift,is from above,coming down from the Father of lights.RefrainIt's all a gift.QuoteJulian of Norwich, from Revelations of Divine Love"And in this he showed me a little thing,the quantity of a hazelnut,lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed.And it was as round as a ball.I looked upon it with the eye of my understandingand thought, 'What may this be?'And it was answered generally thus:'It is all that is made.'I marveled how it might last,for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nothing for littleness.And I was answered in my understanding:It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it.And so have all things their beginningby the love of God."189. Look Toward Heaven and Count the Stars
05:08||Season 4, Ep. 189ScriptureGenesis 15:5 (NRSVUE)He brought him outside and said,"Look toward heaven and count the stars,if you are able to count them."Then he said to him,"So shall your descendants be."RefrainHope returns when I look up.QuoteJ.R.R. Tolkien, from The Return of the King"Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while.The beauty of it smote his heart,as he looked up out of the forsaken land,and hope returned to him.For like a shaft, clear and cold,the thought pierced himthat in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing:there was light and high beautyfor ever beyond its reach."188. Theology Is Best Pursued Outdoors
05:08||Season 4, Ep. 188ScripturePsalm 19:1 (NRSVUE)The heavens are telling the glory of God;and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.RefrainThe world will never starve for want of wonders, but only for want of wonder.QuoteWendell Berry, from The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays"The Bible is best read and understood outdoors,and the farther outdoors the better.Passages that within walls seem improbable or incredible,outdoors seem merely natural.This is because outdoors we are confronted everywhere with wonders;we see that the miraculous is not extraordinarybut the common mode of existence."187. Take and Read
05:05||Season 4, Ep. 187ScriptureRomans 13:13–14 (NRSVUE)Let us live honorably as in the day,not in reveling and drunkenness,not in debauchery and licentiousness,not in quarreling and jealousy.Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ,and make no provision for the fleshto gratify its desires.RefrainI want to spend my life knowing you.QuoteBrian Zahnd, from Unseen Existences"Lord, as much as I can mean anything,I mean this prayer in this moment:I want to spend the rest of my lifeseeking to know you as you are revealed in Christ. Amen."186. Under the Sun
05:05||Season 4, Ep. 186ScriptureDeuteronomy 6:4–5 (NRSVUE)Hear, O Israel:The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.You shall love the Lord your Godwith all your heartand with all your souland with all your might.RefrainEven here, the prayers hold.QuoteJürgen Moltmann"When we encounter insoluble problems and despair,we must rememberthat the Shema of Israeland the Lord's Prayerwere prayed in Auschwitz."185. You Will See Heaven Opened
05:05||Season 4, Ep. 185ScriptureJohn 1:50–51 (NIV)Jesus said,"You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree.You will see greater things than that."He then added,"Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open,and the angels of God ascending and descendingon the Son of Man."RefrainGod is nearer to me than my own soul.QuoteJulian of Norwich, from Revelations of Divine Love"God is nearer to us than our own soul,for he is ground in whom our soul stands,and he is the means that keepsthe substance and the sensuality togetherso that it shall never depart.For our soul sits in God, in true rest,and our soul stands in God in sure strength,and our soul is naturally rooted in God,in endless love."