Dear Friends,
The following is a post from one of my favorite Catholic musicians, Audrey Assad. If you are not familiar with her, you are missing something. Before you read what she has to say, I thought you might be moved by this video, Love is Moving.
One Thing by Audrey Assad
One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. (Ps. 27:4, NIV)
I have never been very good at narrowing down a favorite verse or passage in Scripture but this is quickly becoming a front runner. I find it amusing, first of all, that the “one thing” the author seeks is actually quite a tall order—the tallest, in fact. Inside this beautiful prayer of desire lies unspoken prayers for healing and unwritten words of surrender. I could perhaps paraphrase it this way: “God, I only want one thing of You. I want You to take everything from me that would stand in the way of me actually seeing Your beauty. I want You to remove anything from my heart that blinds me. I want You to heal me completely. I want You to sanctify me wholly.”
Although gazing upon Jesus in complete, fully sanctified peace and rest will not happen entirely until we are in perfect union with Him in heaven, there are glimpses of it here: He peeks through the branches of the trees like the sun and casts a dappled light on the earthen floor, and we are delighted beyond words.
I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian background. I could go on for many paragraphs about the healing that has been necessary to make it possible for my heart to truly rest in God and contemplate Him in peace, but for now I shall just say this: I can tell you now, today, that Jesus is worth the seeking we do. He is the Word of God, clothed in the very flesh He fashioned, impassioned with the fire of life. And He is Love itself, and that Love is healing, it is heavenly, it is ours. Is it any wonder that Martin Janus penned these words to Bach’s gorgeous melody?
‘Jesu, joy of man’s desiring,
Holy wisdom, love most bright;
Drawn by Thee, our souls aspiring
Soar to uncreated light.
Word of God, our flesh that fashioned,
With the fire of life impassioned,
Striving still to truth unknown,
Soaring, dying round Thy throne.
Through the way where hope is guiding,
Hark, what peaceful music rings;
Where the flock, in Thee confiding,
Drink of joy from deathless springs.
Theirs is beauty’s fairest pleasure;
Theirs is wisdom’s holiest treasure.
Thou dost ever lead Thine own
In the love of joys unknown.’
In less than a month we have the opportunity to seek the face of God together—to encourage one another through prayer, song, and teaching to truly seek His face. I hope you will join us at OneThing 2015 for their first ever ‘Catholic track’. Please visit http://majorchange.org/onething to find out more details.
For more reflections, social media, and touring info for Audrey Assad, please visit http://www.audreyassad.com
