In the gold, the silver, and the
rare colors found in elaborate calligraphy in the artful and prayerful
Illuminations from the ancients, to the archaeological and scholarly
explorations of language and history in the context of its time, to one's own
mystical and personal relationship with the Bible ~ whether in a particular
book, a chapter, a verse ~ we, who engage with it, may find a light on our
path, a resonance within ourselves, and often, more questions than
answers.
There have been, are now, and will
be innumerable studies of the texts, resulting in many more interpretations,
much more knowledge, and fresh understanding and yet, with all the work of
highly educated researchers, linguists, and religious scholars, professors, and
world class preachers of varying denominations and cultures, Christian and
non-Christian alike, there is one tiny little word that no one, ever, anywhere
has completely defined: Selah.
Selah is found 71
times in the Psalms and 3 times in the book of Habakkuk. There are many
theories about it ~ it may be a musical direction, a liturgical pause, perhaps
it is meant to connect thoughts. It occurs at the end of some verses and most
often at the end of the psalm itself.
You won't find it at all in the
psalms section of the American Book of Common Prayer, or in the New Zealand
Prayer Book, or even in some Bible printings. But it is in most Bibles. And it
is a mystery. We simply don't have an absolute definition.
Does it really matter? We can use it
as a pause for reflection, to stop and listen to how a particular passage or
phrase reverberates within us. We can pass it by without any thought or action.
As a North Carolina United Methodist Minister, James Howell, says, "I find
myself fond of the fact that we don't really know. We never master the Bible,
and I suspect God chuckles a bit when we're befuddled. When we join that
angelic host for worship in heaven...then we'll get it and do the 'Selah' thing
ourselves."
Holy and Mystical Lord God of Heaven,
In this season of Eastertide, I want to find Your
Voice in the small words as well as the grand, in the quiet as well as the
thunder, in the commonplace as well as the extraordinary. As we continue to
explore all the facets of The Resurrection in its own time, I pause, reflect,
and wonder what it means to me in my own. May I remind myself to look for You
through your Word in every form, in every way, in every day and, to discover
many times over, in this and all seasons of my earthly life, the illumination
of them and for myself. And when the day moves too quickly with too many to
do's, help me to stop, listen, receive,
breathe in, hold, breathe out; then slowly in, hold, and
out again with: Ahhh, Selah! amen.
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