It sits now in a prominent place on my desk. Just in front of the tissue roll that helps remove the ‘strain and stress’ from my far-too-frequent spillages of tea across my desk. Just behind the tangled web of cords that remind me of the ‘strain and stress’ in my life caused by technology. Just next to a picture of my other daughter (Alyssa) – and little Micah – who are coming to visit me in 15 days … now, how’s that for a ‘strain and stress’ reliever?
Sometimes we are led to believe that ‘joy’ and ‘happiness’ are somehow related to each other, maybe even synonyms. In reality, ‘happiness’ is a pathetic word, with its experience marked normally by something shallow and temporary. The experience is more thermometer (controlled by the environment) than it is thermostat (controlling the environment).
Far better, I think, to divorce joy from happiness and remarry it to peace. Because ‘peace is joy resting; joy is peace dancing’. This is where oneness lies – maybe even synonymity. These lyrics speak about the beauty of God’s peace and how God drops it like dew onto our lives – quietly, refreshingly, gently, daily – resting upon us in a way that takes away the strain and stress that comes with living. And when the experience is rich and full, take another look – it might just be joy as well.
This verse gained some profile in the Dunkirk scene in the movie Atonement. I’ll show it here, but it was far more impressive in the flow of the film where it took me so much by surprise:
There are many choral/organ performances of this hymn (Dear Lord and Father of Mankind) but here is a quirky version sung in an odd setting … and yet with its own power (this verse is at 2.48).
nice chatting
Paul
About Me
the art of unpacking
After a childhood in India, a theological training in the USA and a pastoral ministry in Southland (New Zealand), I spent twenty years in theological education in New Zealand — first at Laidlaw College and then at Carey Baptist College, where I served as principal. In 2009 I began working with Langham Partnership and since 2013 I have been the Programme Director (Langham Preaching). Through it all I've cherished the experience of the 'gracious hand of God upon me' and I've relished the opportunity to 'unpack', or exegete, all that I encounter in my walk through life with Jesus.
Recent Posts
It was my very first training seminar with Langham Preaching. April 2009. We were based at the OMF Guest House in Chiangmai, Thailand. As I wandered the property, I came across this striking quotation on one of the walls: So striking, in fact, that I stopped to take its photo! But is it really true?…
Ten years ago, Ode to Georgetown was my response to being surprised by grief when the only church I had ever pastored closed its doors. Last week brought the news that the theological college which I attended, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS), was to close most of its Chicagoland campus. I have been feeling a…
I am neither painter nor poet, musician nor actor. With Art and Music and Drama classes at school, I was present in body—but absent in spirit and skill. However, as a teacher, there has been the occasional flare of creativity in the crafting of assignments. One of my favourites is one of my first ones.…
John Stott was the first one to help me see the tension in Jesus’ teaching on salt and light. They are pictures for how his disciples are to live in society. Salt pulls them in, keeping them involved. Light holds them back, keeping them distinctive. Being light responds to ‘the danger of worldliness’, while being…
Thank you. I've now had the hymn rolling around in my head all day, and just now have put the words on my computer desktop to keep it there 🙂
love love love.
Thanks to both of you. Once you get these words resonating around inside, they are difficult to shift!
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LUCY from USA.