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Saturday, 27 June 2009

Tip 151: Commanding your spirit aloud














I had the pleasure of listening to the Haydn & Mendelssohn Bicentenary Choral Concert in Tokyo presented by the British Embassy Choir and Orchestra. That was a luxury as babies are not allowed at concert and I am away from the helpful hands of family members. It was a pity that I missed all the musicals while in London. Hopefully, when the children are big enough to enjoy it, we can go together as family one day. The concert presented Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's Wie der Hirsch schreit (Psalm 42) among others. Through Mendelssohn's music, I could feel the loud commanding of David (of the bible) to his soul, to put his trust in God in Psalm 42:5. How very true that in all the melancholy, there needs to be the firm command and instruction to our soul to focus on 1 thing. Stop dwelling on the wrong thought and emotion. Instead, focus on God and trust Him. For through God, all praises and joy burst flow. Through God, salvation and help is present. At times, there needs to be a time to retreat into a solitary place to gain perspective. At other times, a mere habit of rebuking one's spirit to focus on the right thing.















David yearns for the days when he had the highest spiritual experience and God was using Him greatly to lead others on something important to God. He felt special and important then. He felt God was so close to him then. Success can sometimes be a double edged sword to make you wish for the best things in life that you had, but which you may not always get. Often times, God does not work on man's schedule and wants, but through His timing. When we do see the big picture later, we would understand why we should have been patient. Yet, before that time comes, melancholy could sip into the spirit. That's when a loud command to focus on the right thing is necessary. I look back and recall so many such melancholy at play. It could drag for long periods. The downcast spirit inside me makes me feel that I have done something wrong, such that I could not achieve the same greatness and same experience I had with God previously. Yet, the only thing I needed to do was just be content and trust in God for His timing. Rather, the downcast spirit many times would lead you to be impatient, and drift away on self pity which leads to possibilities of doing wrong things and giving up on God. Hence, before that happens, one needs to command aloud the spirit to trust in God.



























Isn't this so true? Anyone have no periods of melancholy? Guys have it less as they head for arcade or computer games to focus not on heart matters, but I think that's just temporal.














(Photos show St Eustache church, Forum Les Halles, Gare Du Nord and Pl Des Victoires, Paris)

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