2022. I find it increasingly interesting with each passing year, the amount of pondering (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Same Old Lang Syne" (Dan Fogelberg)) I have grown accustomed to doing. I find myself asking not just have I been a good husband, father, and friend, but how have I been a good husband, father, and friend? How can I replicate and maximize the good instances as well as eliminate and minimize the poor performances? And how can this year prove to be better on each of those relational fronts?
Seminal moments like high school graduation (40 years class of 1982!!! Go Bulldogs!!!), first and last days of college (Woo Pig Sooie!!!), our wedding day (I still do!), the birth of children (wow!), and now grandchildren (yikes!!!), all find their ways into the forefront of memories, each finding their cherished spot in the roles that I fulfill.
During these moments of ponderation, I often find myself with mixed emotions. You know what I mean...Smiling at the wonder of a new year, excited about opportunities that are just through the next door, yet trepidatious about the possibilities of the unexpected spectre...
Typically, awards don't come in spades for the movies about our favorite secret agent. But 2015's Spectre was a bit different in that "Writing's On The Wall" not only received the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, but it also followed in the footsteps of Adele's "Skyfall"
by winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
"Writing's On The Wall" went to #1 on the UK Singles Chart, surprisingly becoming the first James Bond theme song to do so. It peaked at #71 on Billboard's Hot 100 amidst mixed reviews from critics. The reviews were so noticeable, that they caused upticks in Shirley Bassey (singer with the most Bond themes) on Twitter.
Some controversy surrounds the theme of the twenty-fourth film in the Bond series and Daniel Craig's fourth outing. What the movie-going public may not realize is that for any of their favorite films, several songs are "screened" as a potential "opening credits" or "theme" for the film. One of the most notable comes in the form of the song by the band Radiohead, "Spectre", which was recorded as the eponymous theme for Craig's fourth Bond movie. "Spectre" - Radiohead Radiohead isn't the only band to have a song dismissed by EON and company. Several well-known acts have had songs rejected over the now 25 films in the Ian Fleming-based spy series. Artists like Johnny Cash, Alice Cooper, and Blondie have all contributed offerings to the longest-running franchise. (Tuesday's Musical Notes - Johnny Cash, Tuesday's Musical Notes - Alice Cooper, Tuesday's Musical Notes - Blondie we did the searching for you, just click and see other blogs by these artists)
"Top Ten Rejected Bond Themes" - Calvin Dyson youtube.com Interesting? Well, it is to those of us who frequent Notesland. After seeing some of these acts and hearing the songs they had for their particular 007 outings, some are really very good. But others it is easy to see that for them it was not to be. In some cases, they had to risk it all to find out...the writings on the wall...
Welcome back to Tuesday's Musical Notes' journey through the Bible. For a while now, I have been convicted that the incredible stories of the Bible aren't repeated enough. Even in the church, Biblical literacy, knowing the great stories that lead us up to Jesus, is fading into the past from whence they came. We started at the beginning (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Beginnings" (Chicago) - April 9, 2019), and have attempted in a Tuesday's Musical Notes style to bring you those stories.
Today, we are back at the prophet Daniel. Unlike so many of the other prophetical books in the Old Testament, Daniel seems to have some of the most awe-inspiring stories in all of the Biblical narrative.
In the fifth chapter, we find Daniel serving God under a new king, Belshazzar, a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar. (go check out the Notes of November 2021 for more on King Nebi, archives to the left, you know the drill). Belshazzar is throwing a party for 1000 of his nobles. That's some New Year's Eve bash!!! As he's imbibing, he realizes that there are gold and silver trinkets that he could be using to serve his guests and bring even more flattery to himself. The difficulty is that Belshazzar wants to praise the god of the objects of gold and silver AND even more importantly these objects had been dedicated to the One True God and were taken from the temple in Jerusalem when his father had sacked the city.
Before the party had reached a drunken stupor, the seemingly impossible happened. (A virgin isn't supposed to give birth either...The Gospel of Jesus according to Luke, the physician, Chapter 1, verses 26-38 NASB/AMP/KJV) A visible hand appeared and began carving in the plaster, physically writing on the wall. The reaction from the King? Needless to say, Belshazzar was shaken and stirred...
Imagine the force that would have needed to be exerted on this wall for legible writing to be done! To make matters even more interesting, the writing was in a language that those at the party and the king could not read or understand. So in a very King Nebi way, Belshazzar calls all the mystics, soothsayers, wise men, enchanters, and yes, Magi to attempt to interpret the writing on the wall.
But as happened with the previous dynasty, none of the Chaldean wise men could interpret the writing. This cause a great tumult among the witnesses of God's literal hand appearing. So much so that the Queen, who would not have been invited to the shindig as women were considered 2nd class citizens in 539 BC Babylon, heard the clamor and asked permission to see what was going on. One would imagine that her faculties weren't impaired by too much wine, so her clear head immediately went to past experiences where Nebuchadnezzar had inquired of Daniel for interpretation and advice.
Daniel would have been around 80 at this point. This in and of itself is miraculous as the life expectancy of the day would have been significantly lower, especially for captives of a conquered nation.
Daniel comes in and lays a little history on Belshazzar about King Nebi. It seems that Daniel is prepping Belshazzar for the inevitable as he relays how Nebuchadnezzar's pride and arrogance brought him down to the lowest depths.
Then Daniel reads the inscription. "Menē, Menē, Tekē
The meaning? "God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. You have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. Your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians." This sounds very familiar...Final Scene from the Columbia Pictures release - A Knight's Tale (2001)
Even with the interpretation Belshazzar upholds his commitment and gives Daniel all of the accouterments that he had promised to the one who interpreted the newly formed wall decoration. Based on what we know is coming, I'm not sure that I'd want to be third in that kingdom...
Belshazzar dies that night. And you guessed it. The Medes and Persians split up the spoils.
Ever since then the phrase "writing's on the wall" has meant an impending bad patch. With that in mind, we think something bears repeating. Belshazzar dies that night. His plans, his pride, his party, were all brought to a screeching halt by the finality of mortality that every person in the world, except the 2 Bible characters Enoch and Elijah, have and will face.
Have you been here before? Facing a new year with anticipation or maybe dread? Did you find yourself a couple of months into the year last year with your face to the floor? You've spent a lifetime running, and because of your pride and refusal always seem to get away. Is there something this year, however, that makes you want to stay?
Right now, Holy Spirit, God that can dwell in you, is drawing you. He wants to restore His relationship with you and remove the pride that is keeping you from Him. He loves you and as Jesus, God in physical form, He died a most horrific death to be a sacrifice for that restoration. Do you want to feel love run through your blood and every other sinew of your being? He is waiting for you to be still and know that He is God. He is waiting for you to cry out to Him as the Redeemer and Restorer of your life in this world and the next. 2 Corinthians 6:2-4 NASB/AMP/KJV
Maybe it's time for you to risk it all. Because just like Belshazzar, we aren't guaranteed the next breath. And...the writing's on the wall.
'Til Tuesday
Loving HIM by Loving You,
randy
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment