Pavilions For The Sun

By Ken Woodley

The heavens declare the glory of God, Psalm 19 proclaims. And although they have no words or language and their voices are not heard, their sound has gone out into all lands, including your own.

An inaudible sound is so mystifying, to me, but so like the Holy Spirit. Unheard, but utterly articulate within us.

I imagine that heavenly sound seeking out every corner of the Earth to quell the dissonance that strives to drown out every melody ever sung in our hearts by God.

What amazing grace, and all of us are suddenly there.

We cup our hands to our ears as the dissonance slowly fades away.

The clashing noise of warring notes around us and within us, like sharp swords striking iron shields, is fading into the song of plowshares.

Soon, we cannot hear a thing except this new wordless chorus that covers the earth. A hallelujah chorus that turns dissonance inside out. A chorus that is the melody of pure love.

But how can that be? The dissonance proclaimed that it would rule  forever and then, just like that, it’s gone?

We are overcome by this new sensation of a world no longer shouting at us.

A world that is suddenly singing to us, instead.

And then, the sky, itself, seems to fall straight out of the heavenly melody.

Seems to fall from golden clouds of harmony to earth and take its place by our side.

Then the sky seems to touch our face.

We hear the sky speaking in tones of velvet thunder that ring softly, echoing with a strength of a million melodies that will not be denied.

And then there are words. The sky speaks them to us.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” we hear the sky say, “because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release of the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And we feel the sky reaching out as far as it can to caress our cheeks.

As if heaven, itself, is brushing our face with its lips.

Redeeming us, healing us, with a kiss.

But why would heaven ever want to kiss me?

The dissonance said that heaven never would.

“In the deep,” Psalm 19 explains, God “has set a pavilion for the sun, it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber.”

A pavilion for the sun whose light has come looking for us. For you and for me. Looking for us all. 

So intent on finding us that it “goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens,” Psalm 19 states, “and runs about to the end of it again.”

It all sounds like joy to the world but dissonance doesn’t give up that easily. It sneaks about like wolves around the edge of a sheepfold. 

There is no howling but there are moments when the dissonance slithers between the heavenly melody’s notes of harmony and sows cynical doubts in our hearts.

You’re not really taking all of that lovey-dovey, Spirit-is-upon-me, pie-in-the-sky stuff seriously are you? the dissonance demands.

Seriously, the dissonance continues, why would God ever truly care?

Why would the sky do anything more than remain far beyond your reach and God so far beyond the sky that even the sky has no clue how to get there.

The dissonance swears that God never would.

The dissonance swears that dissonance is the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Melodies and harmony? Those were ancient echoes you heard a moment ago, the dissonance assures us, and it was only the wind brushing against your cheek and touching your lips.

Maybe the dissonance is right, I tell myself. Why would God ever want to brush my face with a kiss of even the smallest caring show of affection?

But there it is again—a sudden harmony of such joyous wonder that it  sends dissonance scattering like dandelion seeds before the wind.

Dissonance, I now know for sure, wasn’t telling the truth at all. Not the whole truth. Not any of the truth. 

I see the same understanding in your eyes and the harmony wraps us up so entirely that it makes each of us feel that we’re the only thing the heavenly melody ever wanted for Christmas.

We are all silent and wondering as the sky rolls up the scroll, gives it back to the synagogue’s attendant and sits down.

Amazing grace fills up every corner of the room.

We see it within the gentle light shining from the sky’s eyes into ours.

We feel it in the healing touch of the sky’s voice upon our souls.

The sky speaking words that dissonance sought to shout out of existence:

“Today,” the sky tells us, singing with God’s voice, “this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

The sky stands now and we rise with it.

Together, we leave, following the sky into the deep and inside pavilions for the sun. 

The journey, however, isn’t toward some distant place beyond the reckoning of compass or computer. We follow the sky until we find our own reflections looking back at us in puddles of rain, or the mirror where we stand brushing our teeth.

A pavilion for the sun, the sky tells us in a voice that Peter, John, Thomas and Mary Magdalene would instantly recognize, is actually deep inside each of your souls.

Right where God put it. 

All of us are pavilions for the sun and we help heal the world with the light that shines through us.

                                           AMEN

By Ken Woodley

The heavens declare the glory of God, Psalm 19 proclaims. And although they have no words or language and their voices are not heard, their sound has gone out into all lands, including your own.

An inaudible sound is so mystifying, to me, but so like the Holy Spirit. Unheard, but utterly articulate within us.

I imagine that heavenly sound seeking out every corner of the Earth to quell the dissonance that strives to drown out every melody ever sung in our hearts by God.

What amazing grace, and all of us are suddenly there.

We cup our hands to our ears as the dissonance slowly fades away.
The clashing noise of warring notes around us and within us, like sharp swords striking iron shields, is fading into the song of plowshares.

Soon, we cannot hear a thing except this new wordless chorus that covers the earth. A hallelujah chorus that turns dissonance inside out. A chorus that is the melody of pure love.

But how can that be? The dissonance proclaimed that it would rule forever and then, just like that, it’s gone?

We are overcome by this new sensation of a world no longer shouting at us.
A world that is suddenly singing to us, instead.
And then, the sky, itself, seems to fall straight out of the heavenly melody.

Seems to fall from golden clouds of harmony to earth and take its place by our side.

Then the sky seems to touch our face.

We hear the sky speaking in tones of velvet thunder that ring softly, echoing with a strength of a million melodies that will not be denied.

And then there are words. The sky speaks them to us.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” we hear the sky say, “because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release of the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And we feel the sky reaching out as far as it can to caress our cheeks.
As if heaven, itself, is brushing our face with its lips.
Redeeming us, healing us, with a kiss.

But why would heaven ever want to kiss me?
The dissonance said that heaven never would.

“In the deep,” Psalm 19 explains, God “has set a pavilion for the sun, it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber.”
A pavilion for the sun whose light has come looking for us. For you and for me. Looking for us all.

So intent on finding us that it “goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens,” Psalm 19 states, “and runs about to the end of it again.”

It all sounds like joy to the world but dissonance doesn’t give up that easily. It sneaks about like wolves around the edge of a sheepfold.

There is no howling but there are moments when the dissonance slithers between the heavenly melody’s notes of harmony and sows cynical doubts in our hearts.

You’re not really taking all of that lovey-dovey, Spirit-is-upon-me, pie-in-the-sky stuff seriously are you? the dissonance demands.
Seriously, the dissonance continues, why would God ever truly care?

Why would the sky do anything more than remain far beyond your reach and God so far beyond the sky that even the sky has no clue how to get there.

The dissonance swears that God never would.
The dissonance swears that dissonance is the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Melodies and harmony? Those were ancient echoes you heard a moment ago, the dissonance assures us, and it was only the wind brushing against your cheek and touching your lips.

Maybe the dissonance is right, I tell myself. Why would God ever want to brush my face with a kiss of even the smallest caring show of affection?

But there it is again—a sudden harmony of such joyous wonder that it sends dissonance scattering like dandelion seeds before the wind.

Dissonance, I now know for sure, wasn’t telling the truth at all. Not the whole truth. Not any of the truth.

I see the same understanding in your eyes and the harmony wraps us up so entirely that it makes each of us feel that we’re the only thing the heavenly melody ever wanted for Christmas.

We are all silent and wondering as the sky rolls up the scroll, gives it back to the synagogue’s attendant and sits down.

Amazing grace fills up every corner of the room.

We see it within the gentle light shining from the sky’s eyes into ours.
We feel it in the healing touch of the sky’s voice upon our souls.

The sky speaking words that dissonance sought to shout out of existence:

“Today,” the sky tells us, singing with God’s voice, “this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

The sky stands now and we rise with it.

Together, we leave, following the sky into the deep and inside pavilions for the sun.

The journey, however, isn’t toward some distant place beyond the reckoning of compass or computer. We follow the sky until we find our own reflections looking back at us in puddles of rain, or the mirror where we stand brushing our teeth.

A pavilion for the sun, the sky tells us in a voice that Peter, John, Thomas and Mary Magdalene would instantly recognize, is actually deep inside each of your souls.

Right where God put it.

All of us are pavilions for the sun and we help heal the world with the light that shines through us.