I attend a bible study on Tuesday nights. It's a multi-year program and I'm just completing year 3. Each year lasts from September to mid-May and is quite intense.
It's kind of funny that I, the Obstreperous Heart, would attend this particular study as the organization can be suffocatingly rigid in its code of conduct. I try often to bite my tongue and am only sometimes successful; usually I can't stand the pain and just HAVE to let it flap anyway. I am probably viewed by some as hopelessly irreverent. (Just for the record, God does have a kick-butt sense of humor and I am doing my own research on humor in the bible; there is a ton.)
I attend a bible study on Tuesday nights. It's a multi-year program and I'm just completing year 3. Each year lasts from September to mid-May and is quite intense.
It's kind of funny that I, the Obstreperous Heart, would attend this particular study as the organization can be suffocatingly rigid in its code of conduct. I try often to bite my tongue and am only sometimes successful; usually I can't stand the pain and just HAVE to let it flap anyway. I am probably viewed by some as hopelessly irreverent. (Just for the record, God does have a kick-butt sense of humor and I am doing my own research on humor in the bible; there is a ton.)
As part of the opening assembly we sing hymns and, as is usual for me when singing old hymns, I caught myself rolling my eyes and struggling to keep singing without giggling too loudly. Don't get me wrong. Old hymns are beautiful. In fact, most of them speak from the most heartfelt and genuine experience of worship. Unfortunately, they were written in "King James" language and in this "New International" age, thou ought not count upon mine appreciation of 17th Century English.
A couple of weeks ago we sang "O, Thou Fount of Every Blessing." In one verse, it says "I'll raise my Ebenezer..." Okay, call me ignorant, but what on Earth is an Ebenezer and is it something a Christian should be raising in public? I turned to the woman next to me and asked "Pray tell, what is an Ebenezer?" She just smiled, shook her head and replied "I have no idea." So, I'm not the only one who's clueless.
Well, it turns out that an Ebenezer is translated from some Hebrew words that mean "stone of help." Samuel placed a large rock to mark a spot where God helped the Israelites win a battle against the Philistines. If you want to read all about it, it's in
1 Samuel 4-8. If you want to understand it, pick a version other than KJV.
We don't usually raise our Ebenezers in this house, unless they're filled with something cold and frothy, but as I reflect on my life and all it's pain and joy, I will certainly claim that God has been my stone of help. Amen.