{"id":2952,"date":"2023-09-04T10:54:18","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T14:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=2952"},"modified":"2023-09-04T10:55:49","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T14:55:49","slug":"good-and-beautiful-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2023\/09\/04\/good-and-beautiful-gifts\/","title":{"rendered":"Good and Beautiful Gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to this reflection as a podcast,<\/em> click here<\/a>
 
During a memorable episode of his long-running radio show, A Prairie Home Companion<\/em>, Garrison Keillor recounts a quarrel in his fictional hometown of Lake Wobegon, Minnesota.
 
It isn\u2019t a garden variety disagreement.  The local pastors have had a serious falling out.  The very souls entrusted with bringing peace, unity, and purity to the Body of Christ are finding it hard just to be in the same room. 
 
That\u2019s when each of them receives an invitation to a Sunday afternoon meal at the home of one of Lake Wobegon\u2019s homemakers.  At first, the atmosphere is chilly.  They can\u2019t lightly surrender their theological principles, after all.
 
But then the food is served. 
 
It\u2019s fried chicken.  And not just any fried chicken.  It\u2019s the kind of extraordinary fried chicken that generates a shared experience of deep happiness \u2013 the sort of sensory gladness that helps pastors climb down off their ecclesiastical high horses and rediscover each other\u2019s humanity.  The joy of the kingdom comes rushing back by means by golden, crisp drumsticks.    
 
The acid-tongued skeptic H.L. Mencken once said that puritanism may be defined as \u201cthe haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be having a good time.\u201d
 
We can only guess that Mencken never had the privilege of dining at a pot luck supper hosted by a congregation blessed with some serious cooks.  The Way of Jesus, it turns out, may be the most hedonistic \u2013 that is, the most pleasure-seeking and pleasure-enjoying \u2013 of all the world\u2019s religious movements.  That\u2019s because, at its very center, the spotlight shines on a good God who has showered humanity with the good gifts of summer warmth, family gatherings, watermelon, and approaching harvests.  Not to mention fried chicken. 
 
Over the centuries, however, a number of zealous Christians \u2013 eager to separate themselves from a world they imagine to be beyond repair or redemption \u2013 have made up their minds not to let the good times get out of hand.  They\u2019ve resolved not to drink, dance, feast, play cards, watch movies, or tap their feet to syncopated music. 
 
It\u2019s hard to align that perspective with the apostle Paul\u2019s words in I Timothy 4:4-5: \u201cFor everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.\u201d 
 
That doesn\u2019t mean anything goes.  Just as Paul ministered within the Mediterranean world of classic paganism, we live and move and have our being within the secular culture of the modern West.  Pleasure is not for its own sake, but for God\u2019s sake.  Note Paul\u2019s counsel in Philippians 4:8: \u201cFinally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable \u2013 if anything is excellent or praiseworthy \u2013 think about such things.\u201d
 
Despite those half dozen \u201cwhatevers,\u201d which seem to beckon us to open our lives to a whole host of beautiful things, a number of church traditions have resisted stained glass windows, square dancing, romance novels, and any movie that isn\u2019t centered on biblical characters or the historic exploits of Jesus\u2019 followers. 
 
It seems likely that those who advocate such restrictions have never heard what Martin Luther had to say about music.
 
During Luther\u2019s time \u2013 which was 500 years ago \u2013 it was widely agreed that music fell into two categories.  There was music that glorified God in the context of sacred worship.  And then there was everything else.  Purists believed that \u201ceverything else\u201d could never rise to the level of the church\u2019s holy chords and cadences. 
 
Luther, the German monk, earnestly disagreed.    
 
Music wasn\u2019t glorious simply because it was heard in a sanctuary, or merely because the lyrics sprang from Scripture.  According to Luther, all beautiful music was glorious.  Period.<\/em> 
 
Music historian Robert Greenberg notes that Luther attributed an almost supernatural power to notes and melodies.  Music could educate minds, stir hearts, and lift spirits, drawing people into a deeper experience of God\u2019s love.  \u201cI give, after theology, music the greatest educational importance and the highest honor.\u201d
 
He boldly declared, \u201cNext to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise,\u201d adding, \u201cAs long as we live, there is never enough singing.\u201d 
 
And then, as if to drive home the point in the strongest possible way, \u201cI have no use for cranks who despise music, because it is a gift of God.  Music drives away the Devil and makes people joyful.\u201d
 
The impact of this perspective cannot be overstated.  A new conviction began to take hold across Europe: Art of all kinds can be in God\u2019s service<\/em>. 
 
A painter\u2019s exquisite still life, a landscaper\u2019s carefully crafted garden, a ballet dancer\u2019s exuberant solo, and a child\u2019s first watercolor all point to God, the giver of all good gifts. 
 
On this national holiday \u2013 a word that owes its very origin to the church\u2019s \u201choly days\u201d \u2013 may you enjoy the common grace of good and beautiful gifts that reveal the character of a good and beautiful God: great food, great music, great conversation, and great laughter.
 
And, if you\u2019re truly blessed, some great fried chicken. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here During a memorable episode of his long-running radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor recounts a quarrel in his fictional hometown of Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. It isn\u2019t a garden variety disagreement.  The local pastors have had a serious falling out.  The very souls entrusted with bringing peace, unity, and purity to the… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[629,229,299],"class_list":["post-2952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-common-grace","tag-gifts","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2952"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2955,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2952\/revisions\/2955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}