Murmuring

As I'm reading Robert Alter's translation of "The Book of Psalms", he translates verse 2 of chapter 1 interestingly:

"But the Lord's teaching is his desire, and His teaching he murmurs day and night."

For some reason, I'm used to that word having a negative connotation connected to complaining. However, the word he translated is the verb hagah which means to make a low muttering sound. I also found out that in Hebrew culture there is no silent reading. I haven't researched that, but it's so interesting to know that any reading for the Jew was always meant to be read and heard. We translate this word as "meditate", but in this case, it was an "outloud meditation".

I had some thoughts in response to this "murmuring".

First was this murmuring has substance. Not just a vague thought, but rather "the Lord's teaching". I love Richard Foster's contrast of eastern meditation with biblical meditation. In eastern meditation, there is an emptying of the mind, whereas in biblical meditation there is a feasting of the mind. A focusing. A centering. Would I learn to murmur truth, God's truth. Would that be the desire of my heart, and not just a discipline I force myself to do occasionally.

Secondly, this murmuring is not restricted to "sacred spaces" but rather is meant to permeate and infect every aspect of existence, day and night. To quote a later Psalm, "the earth is the Lord's and everything it." Would our lives too say the same. This murmuring helps anchor us to the truths that ground us. Being such a forgetful people, we need all the help we can get! Would we murmur in the morning as we rise, murmur in the shower, brushing our teeth, murmur at work, in crowds of people and while we are alone. There is no "inappropriate" time to murmur, for every situation can be seen and understood in the context of the gospel. Paul said it this way in his first letter to the church in Corinth, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." The difference most of the time is not the activity itself (although it can be), usually it's the motivation behind it. AW Tozer described it like this: "If you cannot worship the Lord in the midst of your responsibilities on Monday, it's not very likely that you were worshiping on Sunday either." That's heavy stuff.

Thirdly, I'm just reminded I need to memorize more Scripture. How are we to murmur if we don't have anything to murmur? Would my mind, heart, and lips overflow with the words I'm memorizing. This is a discipline I've consistently ignored for years. I need to start again with a couple simple goals. Maybe try to meet with a couple guys to do it.

Would I be a man who murmurs. Would we be a murmuring people.

Life On The Road

I hit the road yesterday.

It was an unplanned last minute solo road trip to Tulsa. I didn't even really expect this, but each mile I drove down the freeway, I could feel new life seeping into my lungs. With Oklahoma City in the rearview mirror, I recalled how much I enjoy traveling and experiencing new things. The point wasn't Tulsa. The point wasn't even to "get away". I think it was more just breaking the usual routine of my life and reminding myself there's a bigger world out there to enjoy. Life happens outside of my weekly schedule. As I drove in the mad heat singing along to Mat Kearney's new tunes on the radio, I was giddy and child-like. I felt free.

Pulling into Tulsa, I decided to head downtown to Topeca Coffee first (www.topecacoffee.com). I had never been here before, but a barista from Coffee Slingers had competed there a few months prior so I figured it would be a good stop. The environment was inviting and the employees were all amiable. I found out they own their own coffee farm in El Salvador and practice the "seed to cup" philosophy. I savored a vanilla latte and read for a couple hours, then headed over to a local organic cafe called Elote Cafe. Unfortunately they were closed, so I grabbed a bite to eat down on 15th Street at Full Moon Cafe. Hopefully next time I make it up there I can eat at Elote... I guess things downtown in Tulsa close pretty early, cause I was going to try to head to Double Shot Coffee before I left town as well, but found out it closes around 5pm.

After my late lunch, I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. Wasn't sure if I should head down to the Philbrook Museum of Art or head to a movie. I picked Star Trek. :) Star Trek was actually a fun watch and was glad I got to see it (finally). As I finished up the movie, I grabbed a quick coffee at Nordaggio's, snapped a couple photos of the massive praying hands on the ORU campus (I mean massive), and jumped on the 44W heading home.

A few post road trip thoughts:

1) Although I was only gone for 8 or 9 hours (including driving time), I realized I need to do those more often. It's funny how something that doesn't take that much time can be so refreshing and life-giving.
2) As I "explored" Tulsa, I realized I've almost completely stopped doing that in Oklahoma City because I've found "my spots". I need to remember that there is much to still be explored in the place I live. I spent a few minutes talking to one of the baristas at Topeca about good local spots. I should continue to do so in Oklahoma City. There is more discovery around the corner.
3) What are the things that fill your heart with hope and life and joy? Find ways of doing them, even if it is for short periods of time. You'll have much more to offer others in the process of feeling refueled.