“There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole.
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.”
I spoke about Christian meditation in my last post. It seems that many have an assumption that meditation is a means to calm down, chill out, or get ready for bed. It is not that for me.
I have been practicing a Benedictine model of meditation, in which after a reading from Holy Scripture, I allow myself to be enveloped by whatever morsel of the Word sticks to me. For my sermon prep, the morsel from Isaiah 55:6-11 was “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon his name while he is near.” The Benedictines used the image of a cow chewing cud as the metaphor for this type of meditation. The Scripture would ruminate in your heart allowing you to release every bit of Spirit filled sustenance that it contained. Growing up around cows, that image makes sense to me. But if you didn’t grow up around cows, then perhaps you can hold the image and memory of eating a wonderful salted caramel. Your tongue massages the caramel, you keep it on you palette, and allow it to slowly dissolve so that you taste every molecule of that miraculous candy. That is what I have been doing with whatever it is that the Spirit speaks to me through.
This past week, sometime in our chapel here at General Theological Seminary, we sang the spiritual “There is a Balm in Gilead”, of which I have quoted the refrain above. This tune has been stuck in my head. I have been singing in the shower, while walking the dogs, and trying to find worthwhile renditions on the internet.
But just this morning, as I walked our dogs, and sang “There is a Balm”, I was struck by the first verse:
“Sometimes I get discouraged
And think my works in vain,
And then the Holy Spirit
Revives my soul again.”
My soul has been weary. I have been afraid, unsure, and questioning my evangelical efforts this Lent. Thanks be to God for the movement of the Holy Spirit manifested in the words, actions, and prayers of my friends and family.
I have been preparing a reading list for an old friend. The ember of faith has been stirred to a raging fire by the breath of God, and he is excited and interested in learning more. So he asked me to give him a little help.
Tears of joy where then, and are now, in my eyes as I think of him.
Another friend and I had a wonderful conversation about, well, about Jesus this morning. We talked about music that stirs our souls. We talked about how Christ is in all things, even if the image, or the sound, or the taste of something would make you think otherwise. Christ is there.
And so I offer you these two songs. (I am sorry if there are any advertisements, I do not support the items advertised)
Each of these songs speaks to me, and so I offer them to you.
“There is a Balm in Gilead” sung by Mahalia Jackson
“Jesus Gave Me Water” sung by Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers
In the Light of Christ,
seeking Christ in in all things, seen and unseen
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40 Days of Evangelism 