{"id":110674,"date":"2021-09-29T11:07:16","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T18:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/?p=110674"},"modified":"2021-10-25T13:11:41","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T20:11:41","slug":"praise-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/archives\/110674-praise-god","title":{"rendered":"Praise God"},"content":{"rendered":" \u00a0 \n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">photo taken by Carol at Windermere Ranch<!--\/raw--><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>The following contribution is a poem <em>But I Still Feel Like Crying <\/em>by Carol Chaffin, MSIA minister and Windermere resident.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">2021-08-21 <em>But I Still Feel Like Crying<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">To know God,<br \/>\nto see God,<br \/>\nto worship God,<br \/>\nto praise God \u2026,<br \/>\n[our] ultimate<br \/>\ndestiny,<br \/>\n[says J-R].<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">It&#8217;s not a<br \/>\n<strong>destination<\/strong><br \/>\nwhere you<br \/>\ndo it and<br \/>\nthen you stop.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">It&#8217;s a <strong>destiny<\/strong>,<br \/>\nmeaning<br \/>\na continual<br \/>\nongoing thing<br \/>\nof doing this<br \/>\nwithout reward<br \/>\nexcept finding<br \/>\nand worshipping<br \/>\nand seeing<br \/>\nand loving God<br \/>\nas God is God.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Everyone<br \/>\nis going to<br \/>\nfind that.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">You don&#8217;t want<br \/>\nto delay.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8211; John-Roger, Loving Each Day, 8\/23\/05,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/quotes\/show\/2436\">https:\/\/www.msia.org\/quotes\/show\/2436<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">As I<br \/>\ntake in<br \/>\nthese words,<br \/>\nI find myself<br \/>\ndrawing in a<br \/>\ndeep breath,<br \/>\nand sighing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I find myself<br \/>\nalmost<br \/>\nweeping.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I don\u2019t<br \/>\nknow why.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Maybe it\u2019s<br \/>\nthe depth<br \/>\nof what<br \/>\nthis is<br \/>\nfor me.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The <em>truth<\/em><br \/>\nI hear<br \/>\nin these<br \/>\nwords.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">And how they<br \/>\nresonate<br \/>\ninside me.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">That and a<br \/>\nprofound<br \/>\nsense of<br \/>\nlonging.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">It\u2019s much<br \/>\nthe same<br \/>\nfeeling<br \/>\nI\u2019ve been<br \/>\nhaving lately,<br \/>\nlistening to<br \/>\na song<br \/>\nby Leonard<br \/>\nCohen<br \/>\ncalled:<br \/>\n<em>You Want It<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Darker.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">A song<br \/>\nCohen wrote,<br \/>\na couple<br \/>\nof weeks<br \/>\nbefore<br \/>\nhe died.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cYou want it<br \/>\ndarker,\u201d<br \/>\nhe says<br \/>\nin the song.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Seemed to me,<br \/>\nhe was<br \/>\ntalking<br \/>\nto God.<br \/>\nOr maybe<br \/>\nit was<br \/>\nsome<br \/>\ndeep part<br \/>\nof himself.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">But doesn\u2019t<br \/>\n<em>that<\/em> describe<br \/>\nwhat\u2019s<br \/>\ngoing on<br \/>\nin the world<br \/>\nright now:<br \/>\n<em>You<\/em><br \/>\n<em>want it<\/em><br \/>\n<em>darker?<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This song<br \/>\nwas brought<br \/>\nto my<br \/>\nattention<br \/>\nby an<br \/>\nMSIA<br \/>\nminister,<br \/>\nafter only a<br \/>\nfew words<br \/>\nhad been<br \/>\nspoken<br \/>\nbetween us.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">He was asking<br \/>\nwhat had<br \/>\nbrought me<br \/>\nto where<br \/>\nI am<br \/>\n(choosing to<br \/>\nlive at<br \/>\nWindermere).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I answered:<br \/>\n\u201cFollowing<br \/>\nSpirit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">And he started<br \/>\ntalking about<br \/>\nthe Cohen song,<br \/>\nand especially<br \/>\nabout a<br \/>\nHebrew word<br \/>\nin the chorus:<br \/>\n<em>Hineni<\/em> (hee-NAY-nee),<br \/>\nmeaning:<br \/>\n\u201cHere I am.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">As in:<br \/>\n\u201cHere I am,<br \/>\nLord.<br \/>\nI\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I could see<br \/>\nhow deeply<br \/>\nthe song<br \/>\nmoved him.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">He told me<br \/>\nthat <em>Hineni<\/em><br \/>\nwas the word<br \/>\nAbraham<br \/>\nwas saying,<br \/>\nas he<br \/>\nwalked up<br \/>\nthe mountain<br \/>\nto sacrifice<br \/>\nhis beloved son,<br \/>\nIssac.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>Hineni.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Here I am,<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Lord.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I\u2019m ready.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>Hineni<\/em>,<br \/>\na word used<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>when God<br \/>\npersonally<br \/>\ncalls on<br \/>\nsomeone<br \/>\nin the Bible<br \/>\nto do<br \/>\nsomething<br \/>\ndifficult and<br \/>\nimportant.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/weekly-standard\/hineni\">https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/weekly-standard\/hineni<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>Like dying.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>Hineni.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Here I am,<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Lord.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I\u2019m ready.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Dying<br \/>\nto this world.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Or maybe<br \/>\njust joyfully,<br \/>\nwillingly,<br \/>\naccepting<br \/>\n<em>whatever<\/em><br \/>\nit is that<br \/>\nGod asks<br \/>\nof us,<br \/>\nno matter<br \/>\nhow challenging<br \/>\nthe task<br \/>\nmight be,<br \/>\nor how much<br \/>\nsadness we<br \/>\nfind ourselves<br \/>\nbearing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>Hineni.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Here I am,<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Lord.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I\u2019m ready.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Since<br \/>\nyesterday,<br \/>\nI\u2019ve been<br \/>\nsaying<br \/>\nthat word<br \/>\nto myself,<br \/>\nwhenever<br \/>\nI find<br \/>\nthat I\u2019m<br \/>\nfeeling<br \/>\nespecially<br \/>\nchallenged.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">And since<br \/>\nyesterday,<br \/>\nwhen<br \/>\nI\u2019m chanting<br \/>\nmy tone,<br \/>\nI\u2019ve also<br \/>\nstarted<br \/>\nsaying<br \/>\ninwardly<br \/>\nto myself:<br \/>\n<em>\u201cPraise God!\u201d<\/em><br \/>\nbetween and<br \/>\naround<br \/>\nthe names<br \/>\nof God,<br \/>\nas I chant<br \/>\nsilently<br \/>\nto myself.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I figured<br \/>\nthat might<br \/>\nhelp me<br \/>\nto navigate<br \/>\nthe depth<br \/>\nof these<br \/>\nfeelings.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>Praise God!<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">It seems<br \/>\nto be<br \/>\nhelping.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>Praise God<\/em><br \/>\nis what<br \/>\ncame forward<br \/>\nafter reading<br \/>\nmore words<br \/>\nfrom J-R:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Do you know<br \/>\nwhat the key<br \/>\nphrase is<br \/>\nin the Bible?<\/p>\n<p>Praise God.<\/p>\n<p>Do you know<br \/>\nwhat you do<br \/>\nwhen you<br \/>\npraise God?<\/p>\n<p>You lift<br \/>\nyourself up.<\/p>\n<p>Calling God<br \/>\ninto you<br \/>\nthrough your eyes<br \/>\nand your voice<br \/>\nbrings the<br \/>\nconvergence<br \/>\nof the Spirit.<\/p>\n<p>When you<br \/>\nare filled<br \/>\nwith the<br \/>\nHoly Spirit,<br \/>\nyour whole life<br \/>\ntakes on<br \/>\na different<br \/>\naspect,<br \/>\nand you must<br \/>\nbe prepared<br \/>\nfor the world<br \/>\nto start<br \/>\nrejecting and<br \/>\nridiculing you.<\/p>\n<p>This can be<br \/>\nyour family,<br \/>\nyour friends,<br \/>\nthe people<br \/>\nyou work with.<\/p>\n<p>But one day<br \/>\nthey are going<br \/>\nto come<br \/>\nto that place<br \/>\nthemselves,<br \/>\nand they<br \/>\nwill say,<\/p>\n<p>Thank you<br \/>\nfor holding<br \/>\nto what<br \/>\nyou knew.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you<br \/>\nfor standing<br \/>\nstrong<br \/>\nwhen the winds<br \/>\nand the<br \/>\ntempest blew.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you<br \/>\nfor disregarding<br \/>\nwhat others said<br \/>\nand following<br \/>\nwhat you knew<br \/>\nin your heart<br \/>\nto be true.<\/p>\n<p>Because<br \/>\nthere lies<br \/>\nthe way for<br \/>\nall of us<br \/>\nto overcome<br \/>\nthe uncertainties<br \/>\nand struggles<br \/>\nof life.<\/p>\n<p>There lies<br \/>\nthe path<br \/>\nof finding<br \/>\nthe certainty<br \/>\nof our own<br \/>\nbeingness,<br \/>\nand living<br \/>\nin that.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s what<br \/>\nI would wish<br \/>\nfor all of you.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; John-Roger, Loving Each Day, 04\/02\/06,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/quotes\/show\/2663\">https:\/\/www.msia.org\/quotes\/show\/2663<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>Hineni.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Here I am,<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Lord.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I\u2019m ready.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">And <em>praise God<\/em>,<br \/>\nas I face<br \/>\nthe struggles<br \/>\nand uncertainties<br \/>\nof my life.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>Praise<\/em><br \/>\n<em>God,<\/em><br \/>\nin and<br \/>\naround<br \/>\nthe names<br \/>\nof God,<br \/>\nI remind<br \/>\nmyself,<br \/>\nas I call<br \/>\nmyself<br \/>\nforward<br \/>\ninto the Light.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I wonder \u2026<br \/>\nDoes that<br \/>\nstill count<br \/>\nas chanting<br \/>\nmy tone,<br \/>\nJ-R?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The thought<br \/>\nof J-R<br \/>\nkeeping score<br \/>\nmakes me<br \/>\nlaugh.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Hunh.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">But I<br \/>\nstill feel<br \/>\nlike crying.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>Baruch Bashan<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Carol Chaffin<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4>Watch two beautiful Moments of Peace from Windermere<\/h4>\n<p><em>Ave Verum<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t<!-- Start of Brightcove Player -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div style=\"display: block; position: relative; min-width: 0px; max-width: 640px;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div style=\"padding-top: 56%; \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<video-js\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tid=\"6083181183001\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-video-id=\"6083181183001\" data-account=\"6057277728001\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-player=\"HWP2atHHW\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-usage=\"cms:WordPress:6.9.1:2.8.4:javascript\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-embed=\"default\" class=\"video-js\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-application-id=\"\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcontrols   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstyle=\"width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/video-js>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<script src=\"https:\/\/players.brightcove.net\/6057277728001\/HWP2atHHW_default\/index.min.js\"><\/script> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- End of Brightcove Player -->\n\t\t\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Celestial Melodies<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t<!-- Start of Brightcove Player -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div style=\"display: block; position: relative; min-width: 0px; max-width: 640px;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div style=\"padding-top: 56%; \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<video-js\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tid=\"6147560575001\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-video-id=\"6147560575001\" data-account=\"6057277728001\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-player=\"HWP2atHHW\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-usage=\"cms:WordPress:6.9.1:2.8.4:javascript\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-embed=\"default\" class=\"video-js\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-application-id=\"\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcontrols   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstyle=\"width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/video-js>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<script src=\"https:\/\/players.brightcove.net\/6057277728001\/HWP2atHHW_default\/index.min.js\"><\/script> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- End of Brightcove Player -->\n\t\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>photo taken by Carol at Windermere Ranch The following contribution is a poem But I Still Feel Like Crying by Carol Chaffin, MSIA minister and Windermere resident. 2021-08-21 But I Still Feel Like Crying To know God, to see God, to worship God, to praise God \u2026, [our] ultimate destiny, [says J-R]. It&#8217;s not a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":110678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}