Rise
Dr Iain Jamieson
July 24, 2020
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Isaiah 40: 9
Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
‘Here is your God!’
There is nothing wrong, nothing wrong at all with being happy! It feels great, endorphins are rushing, you feel on top of the world and the plan has come together. Too often I hear people in Scotland say things like “Don’t tempt fate” or “ Don’t big up yourself.” Now I get it, we are a northern country and most of the time it’s cold and rainy except for the days when it’s cold and rainy. This does not lend itself to an optimistic and/or pleasant disposition and it’s also an ever present reminder that although it may be sunshine today it’s going to be awful tomorrow because — well let’s be honest — it generally is.
But — let me say this again — there is NOTHING wrong with feeling happy and letting other people know that you are. Guess what? Happiness spreads itself around if you let it. So why not just do it?
I think God celebrates with us in the good times and they really are gifts. Don’t knock back a gift! They might not come often but sometimes the little happy things need to be really, truly experienced. Really “inhabited”. I grew up in the Church of Scotland where everyone wears black, specifically the minister and we have a penchant for old draughty buildings with an imposing disposition. Let’s be honest folks it doesn’t exactly scream unbridled joy and a lightness of being.
We weren’t made that way. We were made in the image of our creator who made our smiles so broad you can actually “hear” someone smiling. When together in a crowd we dance and sway and move as one. We raise our voices and sing. We naturally since the earliest of mankind’s walk on earth have made rocks and stones to communicate music and feeling. If you were to look at the best of humanity you can see dancing and singing.
There are hard, hard times for sure. Be sure though to celebrate the good times and when the mood takes you dance alone in the kitchen or sing at the top of your voice and appreciate how good it is — right then and right now.
PRAYER:
Lord let me appreciate the happy times
Let them sink to the depths of my soul and burn there like a flame
Give me more of your light, more of your love, so that there’s more of both in the world
Let that be our memories and let that be our view and make the dark times be short and few.
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