Hello and welcome to Tuesday! You've just clicked in on the blog that melds the finest of musical selections with the eternal message of hope. It's Tuesday and it's time for Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!
Welcome to today's entry into the Halloween editions of Tuesday's Musical Notes! That's right! Tuesday's Musical Notes is you your one-stop connection to the best songs for ANY seasonal day, even Halloween. And just in case you needed a little more reading for the day...it's gonna rain here on Halloween after all...
Have you ever found yourself dodging black cats? Have you ever not used the 13th step in a staircase? Ever broken a mirror and wondered if your spilled coffee was the beginning of seven really bad years? Maybe you've crossed your fingers in anticipation that your wish would come true? Made a wish on a star? Searched for a 4-leaf clover? Carried a rabbit's foot? If you have, consider yourself a part of the human race for we all believe in things we don't understand...
Stevland Hardaway Morris signed with the Tamla label of Motown records when he was 11. He recorded his first album, The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie, at age 12. His latest Motown studio offering came in the form of 2005's A Time to Love, making Stevie Wonder one of popular music's longest recording artists and one of Motown's most renown aficionados. After all Stevie Wonder is a musical genius!!! He has 25 Grammy Awards to his credit and joins Frank Sinatra as the only 3-time Album of the Year Grammy Award winner. His music has served as a musical backdrop for decades as this generation has lived out its history.
"Superstition" landed at the #1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 the week of January 27, 1973. It has become a signature song for Wonder and has been covered by the likes of The Jackson Five and Stevie Ray Vaughn. "Superstition" finds Stevie Wonder collaborating with Jeff Beck on the guitar, who would also later record the song for his trio's 1973 debut album Beck, Bogert, and Appice". Superstition" found its way to #74 on 2004's Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songs of All Time.
We all have actions that we do that are have been motivated by our belief system. Included in that belief system are the superstitions, such as the ones listed in the following article, that we have flirted with over the years. "10 Common Superstitions" - everydayhealth.com Any of those sound familiar? Have you ever known anyone who obsessed over these superstitions?
As we embark on the most superstitious night of the year (Happy Halloween!!!), one wonders where the foundation for all of these seemingly random ideas about rabbit's feet and broken mirrors are derived. But if you take just a moment and look in a Bible, yes that's right THE Bible, you can see very quickly where ideas regarding supernatural events and things we don't understand can be built into the fabric of humanity.
Israel's first King was Saul. He was the man chosen by God after Israel had decided they needed a King like all the other countries in their area. In this way, they rejected God's leadership and placed their allegiance on a man. Saul started out as a skilled leader, however, his disobedience to God's command for the destruction of the Amalekites caused God's disfavor with Saul. Saul's main spiritual advisor was the prophet, Samuel. You can find 2 books of the Old Testament that bear his name and tell his story. 1st Samuel - Christian Standard Bible/The Message paraphrase of the Bible/King James Version of the Bible parallel, 2nd Samuel - CSB/The Message/KJV
Later on, Saul would be faced in battle by the Philistines. At this point, Samuel had died and Saul took to seeking God on his own. Saul was greatly intimidated by the Philistine force and prayed for God to instruct him on the proper course of action. When God did not immediately reply, Saul took things into his own hands and decided to consult a medium, some Bible translations call this lady a witch. This is ironic due to the fact that Saul had abolished all forms of witchcraft and spiritism in the nation. Apparently, some of Saul's servants had kept track of a few of these folks and told Saul about the witch of Endor. (Sounds like something out of Star Wars right?) You can read the rest of the "ghost story" here: 1 Samuel 28 CSB/The Message/KJV
That situation didn't work out so well for Saul as his arrogance caused him to be blind to his sin of which he did not repent. Saul's rebellion was so bad and his heart so far away from God's will that he sought advice from those who God had said to never have an interaction. Leviticus 19:31 CSB/The Message/KJV, Leviticus 20:6 CSB/The Message/KJV Saul soon found his kingdom torn from his hand. He also saw the defeat of his troops, the death of his son Jonathan and ultimately his own demise as a result of his disobedience.
The Old Testament further records another interesting supernatural story that served as the inspiration for one of the opening lines from today's song: Daniel 5 CSB/The Message/KJV
There is also a scene from the New Testament that tells a much different tale of the "walking dead". It starts off with one of the most gruesome torture scenes ever to be recorded and then segues into an execution of the likes that causes your blood to run cold. The earth shakes, the dead are seen walking the streets, and darkness falls across the land, as the apex of history occurs right before unbelieving eyes. The Gospel of Jesus according to the disciple Matthew, chapter 27, verses 27-54 CSB/The Message/KJV, "What We Can Learn from the Spookiest Scene in the Bible?" by Brent Rinehart, October 19, 2018 crosswalk.com
Both in the Old and New Testament, you can read things that are difficult to understand. They might even be said to be the foundations for the superstitions that so many believe today. (Sadly, the Bible itself is considered a superstition by some) However, this book that features so many good Halloweeny type stories is also filled with incredible hope which stirs a supernatural faith. The Message paraphrase describes faith in this manner: "The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd. (emphasis mine)(Paul's letter to the Hebrews, chapter 11 CSB/The Message/KJV)
You see dear friend, faith in anything other than Jesus is very superstitious. Faith is the thing that causes our acceptance of those things we don't understand. For some, this faith is in the person at the center of the torture scene from the Gospels, Jesus. This faith believes that His power caused the earthquake, the darkness, and the dead to be seen in the city. This faith assures us that He is The Way, The Truth and The Life. In Jesus horrendous torture, His terrifying crucifixion, and His triumphant resurrection, we have a passageway that rids us of the problem of sin and takes us to restoration with God. Unlike Saul, we can choose to trust God and follow His leadership as we journey through our lives. We don't need seances, spiritists, soothsayers, or mediums because we have faith in the Creator of all things seen and unseen. We can have confidence that we are His as He transforms our lives into His likeness. Paul's letter to the Roman church, chapter 12, verses 1-2 CSB/The Message/KJV
Because of our faith in things not seen, or that we don't fully understand, God transforms us to be more like Jesus every day as we ask Him to fill us with Himself through Holy Spirit's power. This concept isn't easily understood apart from repenting of our disobedience. We then must believe that Jesus is The Way for restoration with God, The Truth that sets us free and The Life that saves us from death. And as that great theologian Forrest Gump said, "That's all I have to say about that."
Or as Little Stevie might put it...superstition, nothin' more to say, superstition aint the way...
Serving HIM by Serving You,
randy
No comments:
Post a Comment