{"id":88415,"date":"2021-02-06T22:42:09","date_gmt":"2021-02-06T20:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=88415"},"modified":"2021-02-06T22:42:09","modified_gmt":"2021-02-06T20:42:09","slug":"paean-to-life-call-to-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/paean-to-life-call-to-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Paean To Life, Call To Action"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"88415","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33926,"related_cahpter":"671","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The psalmist had his work: to celebrate the world. We have our task too: to save it.\r\n\r\n","content":"

I wish I could have hung out with the author of Psalm 104.<\/span><\/p>\n

I would have loved being in his presence, reveling in his (dare we imagine the author was a she?) exuberance, his joy, his full-throated paean to Life.<\/span><\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t just that he seems so effortlessly exultant \u2013 though how wonderful if we could all be like that. It is, rather, that being exultant about Life \u2013 both natural and cultural – seems not to be enough for him. He needs in addition – to notice that he is noticing. He is calling himself to self-consciously acknowledge, even celebrate, not just Life but his own enthrallment with Life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The psalm, after all, could have begun: \u201cO LORD, my God, You are very great; You are clothed in glory and majesty.\u201d That would have been a perfectly fine opening.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it doesn\u2019t. The psalmist opens with a call to self, as if to say, be aware of your awareness of the brilliant normalcy of life and how you are able to revel in it.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is a great gift to live in this awesome world, the psalmist says. But even greater is the ability to realize, appreciate and celebrate the awesomeness of this world. Neither he, the psalm teaches, nor we, should ever take the world for granted.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If we ever did (and of course we did), we don\u2019t now. This past year of nature-run-amok has reminded us of how glorious, and fragile, normalcy is.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which might be why, despite the psalms exultation, we can see a dark cloud hovering over it. It emerges at verse 9\u00a0 \u201cYou set bounds the waters must not pass so that they never again cover the earth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Once, perhaps. But not now. The psalmist could no doubt imagine drought and floods, famine and disease. That is why he is so grateful for the earth\u2019s abundance.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the psalmist could not imagine that the very operating system of the world could be put in jeopardy, with the waters transgressing their bounds, permanently covering parts of the earth they were not meant to cover in our lifetimes. He could not imagine mountain tops being cut down and dumped into rivers; or forests being decimated, destroying habitat for thousands of creatures. He could not imagine a great extinction when Life itself is being challenged.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is a tragedy that we can not only imagine such a scene, but that we are experiencing it. Which is why this vision of such a normal, glorious, verdant, song-filled world remains doubly appealing. The exuberance of the psalmist reminds us of the refuge, goodness and comfort we find in nature, and of the vision we seek to renew. It is his words describing a world humming along, at peace with itself, that feeds our souls and drives us on to do the work at hand. The psalmist had his work: to celebrate the world. We have our task too: to save it.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":88416,"id":88416,"title":"ps104- save the world","filename":"ps104-save-the-world.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps104-save-the-world.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/paean-to-life-call-to-action\/ps104-save-the-world\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps104-save-the-world","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":88415,"date":"2021-02-06 20:41:54","modified":"2021-02-06 20:42:07","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps104-save-the-world-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps104-save-the-world-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps104-save-the-world-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps104-save-the-world-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps104-save-the-world.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps104-save-the-world.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps104-save-the-world-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps104-save-the-world-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Paean To Life, Call To Action","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"The psalmist had his work: to celebrate the world. 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