Attending an outdoor summer concert by a traveling youth choir from overseas, I was impressed by several of their songs and wondered how it would be to practice the same music locally in our town's community choir. After all, to hear something is one sort of pleasure, but to commit to memory, or just to read from the printed page is another kind of pleasure.
Thinking of analogies that parallel this "hearing it versus performing it" distinction, several illustrations come to mind: (1) soccer mom cheers, but volunteer referee (om) is on the field of play and becomes instrumental to conducting the game, (2) browsing recipes online or in print or swapping them face to face may turn up new ideas or expand one's bucket list, but to actually track down the ingredients and follow the prescribed methods before finally serving the result is altogether a different experience, (3) looking at photo collections or viewing dozens of famous films may develop a taste for the fullest depth and meaning of the subjects presented, but to make one's own photo (influenced by champion exemplars or precedents) or producing one's own video requires different muscles. The illustrations could go on: read the libretto versus actually memorize the lines and blocking the stage movement, studying the whaling methods of premodern times versus using those same tools for the same purpose today –although bereft of the cultural system of reference points, master narratives and precedents, and distinctions from by-gone times.
When it comes to church service – both the outward praise and the inward searching, there is some learning during the sermon message, which may also occur at time of Bible study, small group book discussion, and the living message made in the lives of mentors, peers, and mentees. But all these things serve to build up one's stock of knowledge, sort of like attending a concert performance versus putting the rehearsal time so one can move from audience to the stage itself and join with others in actually producing results instead of just add to one's private store of knowledge.
So what will your answer be to the question about living the life that God prepares for you versus storing up knowledge, sharpening your curiosity, and tuning your ear to hear God's calling. Are you actually living or just preparing for a future life? No matter how many generations rise up and then pass away, still the actions necessary to live a full and useful life are worth doing afresh, again and again. It is in the living that so much of God's Will makes sense.
No comments:
Post a Comment