Todays Devotional
This Is MY Father’s World
Apr 15, 2019
Election Day 2016, in the United States came and went. Win, lose or draw, a seismic occurrence rent, split and re-ordered the political landscape as many in the western world have come to know it.
Polls? What polls? The questions of how did this happen? Why did this happen are echoing in newsrooms, boardrooms and bedrooms. Fear is steeping and the tea is white hot yet very black. The beverage is now way too strong to drink and apparently has been poured out without measure, mixture or mercy. Elitist politicians and undocumented immigrants walk in the same shadow of the marksman's target. Nothing is official yet but fear seems to be gripping a wide cross-section of American society.
Todays Devotional
This Is MY Father’s World
Election Day 2016, in the United States came and went. Win, lose or draw, a seismic occurrence rent, split and re-ordered the political landscape as many in the western world have come to know it.
Polls? What polls? The questions of how did this happen? Why did this happen are echoing in newsrooms, boardrooms and bedrooms. Fear is steeping and the tea is white hot yet very black. The beverage is now way too strong to drink and apparently has been poured out without measure, mixture or mercy. Elitist politicians and undocumented immigrants walk in the same shadow of the marksman's target. Nothing is official yet but fear seems to be gripping a wide cross-section of American society.
Shouts and whispers of "How did this happen?" echoing in newsrooms, boardrooms and bedrooms. Fear is steeping and the tea is white hot yet very black.
Now let me take your mind to another time and another place from a popular author's imagination. The world of Middle Earth. Middle WHAT??? Walk with me. You see, one of the most calming elements of the sound track of the Lord of the Rings is the repeating first seven notes of This is My Father’s World. Howard Shore lifted those notes directly from the hymn based on a poem by the New York clergyman, Maltbie Babcock, and laid them sweetly in the theme for The Shire. For those who haven’t seen any of the films (or read the books), The Shire in Lord of the Rings lore is the idyllic home of the story’s humble hero. The shy and lovable Frodo. The Shire represents everything the rest of the movie is not. A harsh, terrible, unforgiving and ruthless world. Quite similar to the recent US election campaign. Hearing those notes from the hymn sometimes at unpredictable moments, personally reminded me that despite all of what is going on…THIS . IS . MY . FATHER’S WORLD!
Shouts and whispers of "How did this happen?" echoing in newsrooms, boardrooms and bedrooms. Fear is steeping and the tea is white hot yet very black.
Now let me take your mind to another time and another place from a popular author's imagination. The world of Middle Earth. Middle WHAT??? Walk with me. You see, one of the most calming elements of the sound track of the Lord of the Rings is the repeating first seven notes of This is My Father’s World. Howard Shore lifted those notes directly from the hymn based on a poem by the New York clergyman, Maltbie Babcock, and laid them sweetly in the theme for The Shire. For those who haven’t seen any of the films (or read the books), The Shire in Lord of the Rings lore is the idyllic home of the story’s humble hero. The shy and lovable Frodo. The Shire represents everything the rest of the movie is not. A harsh, terrible, unforgiving and ruthless world. Quite similar to the recent US election campaign. Hearing those notes from the hymn sometimes at unpredictable moments, personally reminded me that despite all of what is going on…THIS . IS . MY . FATHER’S WORLD!
How do we trust and believe everything will be alright when all that we can perceive tells us the total opposite? We pray, we hope and remember that our souls were designed to be eternal and this “reality show” that we call life does not have endless seasons. God has a limit on the contract given to the enemy of His children. And those of us who keep faith in His promises though the mighty fall and the ruthless rise we will sing the original lines of the poem the hymn is based on:
"This is my Father's world. The battle is not done. Jesus who died shall be satisfied, and earth and heav'n be one."
Key Text
“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. Matthew 24: 9 - 13
Key Text
“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. Matthew 24: 9 - 13