Welcome to the first Tuesday in February!!! Don't forget that this February is unique in that we are in a leap year! That's right!!! 29 days of February in 2020!!! Welcome to an extra day of the year and welcome to Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!
Every four years the calendar adjusts to fit in one extra day. I'm not sure why it's called a leap year, it seems like it would be given the moniker of "supplementary" year as we are adding to the year and not leaping over a day. But further research shows that we do indeed leap over a day. The Oxford dictionary explains the origins of Leap Year like this:
"Late Middle English probably from the fact that feast days after February in such a year fell two days later than in the previous year, rather than one day later as in other years, and could be said to have ‘leaped’ a day."
So in reality, we do actually skip a day, thus we call it Leap Year. Today's point is that this is a different year, a unique year, a year that many will see more than their calendar experience...ch-ch-changes...
Some consider the single "Changes" as David Bowie's (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" (David Bowie and Bing Crosby) and Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Modern Love" (David Bowie)) North American debut even though he had released "The Man Who Sold the World" two years prior. "Changes" released on January 7, 1972 when some sweeping changes were occurring for Bowie, the world and more specifically the music industry as Disco and Heavy Metal were on the threshold of being introduced to the listening public. While "Changes" never hit the Top 40, it has been named #128 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. It is also one of 4 David Bowie Songs that are counted among The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll listing. "Changes" was the last song Bowie would perform live before retiring from touring in 2006.
The band that recorded "Changes" included David Bowie's standard musicians and veterans of his Spiders from Mars backing band. Mick Ronson (string arrangement, mellotron), Trevor Bolder (Bass Guitar), Rick Woodmansey (drums), added to Bowie who played the saxophone. "Changes" and its album Hunky Dory, however, included a session musician at the keyboard position who never became a member of Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The keyboardist on the track is none other than Rick Wakeman. He would later go on to record another song about change... (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Changes" (Yes)) with one of Tuesday's Musical Notes' favorite bands Yes.
As we've written many times before, change is inevitable. You don't have to wait for it for very long either. Sometimes you dig it, other times...not so much. In Genesis 32:24-32 New American Standard Bible/The Message paraphrase of the Bible/King James Version of the Bible parallel we see that massive changes are happening to Jacob. He has left a land he had lived in for 20 years on his way back to meet a brother who wanted to kill him for his deceit. His traveling companions are 2 wives, their maidservants, and all the children that come along with that, as well as a goodly amount of livestock and servants who assist in attending, said livestock. The biggest change was yet to come.
Our focal passage for the day is a familiar Bible story to many. It is a go-to story for Children's Bibles, Sunday School Curriculum, and Children's Churches. The wrestling with the "angel" part is the portion that seems to get the most attention (we don't really know which angel it was, supposition abounds depending on the theologian or commentary). I suppose it is the action sequence in the narrative that draws everyone's regard. But this isn't the MMA that we know today. This was hand-to-hand combat that Jacob was not anticipating. He did, however, hold his own, against an angel no less, so let's give him his props. When the wrestling match came to a draw, the angel through a sucker punch, well sucker touch, by dislocating Jacob's hip. Talk about your "agony of defeat" moment. Even with his injury, Jacob held on and wasn't about to rescind his hold until he got something out of the battle. Remember Jacob the schemer from previous Notes? Well, that schemer returns at this point of our story to get his due. I think he got more than expected.
Jacob soon finds out that you cannot encounter God and be the same. Not only did the heavenly being provide Jacob a blessing on his life, but he also changed his name. Jacob was now to be called Israel (God-wrestler). But as we go forward in Jacob's story, we also see a change in his personality. Very few times, if any, does he try to get the upper hand on anyone he encounters. His only goal seemingly from this point is to serve God and provide for his family. Jacob does not become perfect, but he does mellow out so to speak. He has a "turned myself to face me" moment and decides he just needs to be a different man.
I suspect that you won't be putting a chokehold on any angelic beings anytime soon. But the same God who changed Jacob waits to change you. You need only seek Him and ask for His blessing. You may think that you have turned to face the strange, and your new life could be significantly different. But for you to be complete, you must be restored to God. He may not change your name, but it is a guarantee that you will see ch-ch-changes in your life...similar to this: Paul's letter to the Church in Rome, Chapter 12 NASB/The Message/KJV
Oh look out all you rock'n rollers...
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving You,
randy
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