Reference To Prayer: (Whitney Houston, Madonna)

Hello Grafted In Reader,

Today is Friday, October 25, 2024 in my corner of blog-land. This post may appeal to those of you who observe a reflective time known as Sabbath, or quiet rest and contemplation during some hours between Friday and Sunday evening.

In the '90s, pop singers Madonna and Whitney Houston make a brief reference to prayer in two songs by each, respectively.

- Whitney prays about someone she has feelings of love for and desire for connection.

- Madonna says a prayer in the midnight hour for her love interest.

This blog, in its original purpose, was to inform us about the influence of Judaism with regard to Christian practice. Prayer is one of those practices within both faiths.

Here is a simple explanation offered by the website: bible.com.

TEFILLAH: Which means PRAYER

How often do we use prayer as nothing more than an emergency call or a cold call to God?

Too often we only pray when we need or want something from God - which is understandable considering the English word "pray" means to "ask or beg". But the Hebrew word for prayer - tefillah - means to "self evaluate”. So to the Jews of the Bible, prayer was not a time when they asked God for things … it was a time when they examined themselves. They would use prayer as a way to compare their actions, behavior and attitude against God’s holiness.

Could this idea change your prayers today?

Note: Whitney and Madonna in some ways reflect the Hebraic understanding of prayer in the two songs by each mentioned.

They entreat, request, ask, even beg God for intervention.

I encourage you to ponder this word during your quiet time.

Comments welcomed, and thanks for our visit today.

Mellow Rock,

David C. Russell, Author

 

Someday Soon (acoustic song, Suzie Boggus)

Hello Grafted In Reader,

Today is October 22, 2024 in my corner of blog-land.

The title of this post is from a song originally recorded about fifty years ago, "Someday Soon".  People had stomach aches and other gut issues back then, too. One could view evening network news here in the U.S., and a thirty-minute news program would most certainly have an ad for stomach relief or headache relief.

Where I am going with this is a caption below from a recent Mayo Clinic newsletter.

Next time you go for your annual checkup, ask the person giving the checkup if they know about organnoids?

Growing mini-organs to find new treatments

3D mini intestines grown in a dish, known as "organoids," provide a unique platform for studying the human gut.

On the reading front, I just began a novel by Andrew Grealey from 1986, "Angels Of September". He was a Roman Catholic, fiction author, and would weave aspects of his faith and or theology into his novels. It's an entertaining read, slow start but pace picks up after the first couple chapters.

Until next visit, may the presence of Adonai (the Lord) be with us always.

Mellow Rock

David C. Russell, Author

Visit: https://www.spillwords.com/author/davidcrussellhttps://www.spillwords.com/author/davidcrussell

for free samples of several stories.

 

Closer To You (Song, Brandi Carlile)

Hello Grafted In Reader,

Today is Friday, October 4, 2024 in my corner of blog-land. 

Earlier today, my memories were somewhat enlivened from the decade of the 1990s. I read a reflection from the "New Life Devotions Archive" that was written during this decade, and I will share below.

I think it has some valid, uplifting, considerations for that four-letter word we know as "love".

I found this online, so credit goes to the writers and entity that posted this topic.

Secure Love

We admitted that we were powerless over our dependencies and that our lives had become unmanageable.

lrd-secure-love

The search for love and permanent security in relationships is deep within all of us. Even though we may be in a relationship where we are loved, we may deeply fear the loss of that love. This is especially true if we’ve been abandoned in the past or had our love betrayed.

The Song of Solomon is a love poem dedicated to the girl Solomon loved. He describes a nightmare she had: “I opened to my lover, but he was gone! My heart sank. I searched for him but could not find him anywhere. . . . Make this promise, O women of Jerusalem—If you find my lover, tell him I am weak with love” (Song of Solomon 5:6, 8). The fear of separation darkened the girl’s joy at being deeply loved. At the end of the poem she says, “Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as enduring as the grave” (Song of Solomon 8:6).

We are all haunted by a deep need for a “permanent betrothal,” a secure love that won’t escape us. When we lose a close and intimate relationship, we become lovesick. We feel powerless over the forces driving us in search of permanent and true love. No matter how much a person loves us, our needs seem deeper. Perfect love that never leaves can only be found in the one who is Love. When we are powerless over the forces of love or over our own obsessions, we need to look to God to satisfy our deepest longings so that fear and dissatisfaction don’t become a trap.

God can—and will—satisfy our deepest longings.

Taken from The Life Recovery Devotional copyright © 1991 by Stephen Arterburn and David Stoop. 

In 1991, I was recovering from a five-year relationship that ended by mutual agreement. It took a few months to come out from the fog of that experience. Life did go on for me!

Love is a powerful emotion as we read. Do you think indifference and or dissatisfaction if allowed to fester, can become equal in power or felt force?

Perhaps our steps if turned over to our Higher Power, whom I believe to be Yehoveh, Messiah Yeshua, will be put in order and that includes our innermost passions.

Something to consider for sure, and enjoy the song title for which this post is derived on your favorite music channel.

Feel free to drop a comment. A couple of you have done so in the recent past, and it was a boost to my spirits!

Until next visit: be well and may you do well.

Mellow Rock

David C. Russell, Author