Remember 9/11

I heard the rushing, roaring sound
Of planes far too close to the ground
I heard awful, terror-struck cries
As people looked up at the skies.
I saw the planes so swiftly glide -
With the stately towers collide.
I saw the towers melt away,
Beneath the very light of day.
I saw the fierce flames leap up high
And heard thousands of voices cry
- then cease.


I see the tears on every face
Of one who lost a friend's embrace
I see a vengeful anger rise
In more than just one pair of eyes.
I see the orphans' sober gaze
Through the black smoke and filthy haze.
I see the husbands mourning wives
And families mourning loss of lives,
And all through out the city now,
I see sorrow on every brow
- sorrow.


I see the grey ashes and dust
And bent metal taken by rust.
I see the graveyard bare and sad
That once in life and joy was clad.
I see my close friends coughing hard,
Their lungs and limbs and bodies marred
By toxins in that deathly air.
Compassion was what brought them there,
To quench the hellish, fearful flame
And to rescue the hurt and lame
- rescue.


And all throughout the coming ages,
One thing rings out on history's pages:
Remember 9/11.



"Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard." (Isaiah 58:8)

Thoughtful post

If it is very hot outside, then there is no way I can think.
It is very hot outside.
Therefore, I can not think.

It's a syllogism, and in my dehydrated state, I can only hope it makes sense. The only drawback to a syllogism is that sometimes the premise is wrong:

If cats can fly, then I am a pickle.
Cats can fly.
Therefore, I am a pickle.

The above syllogism is logical, but the result is obviously incorrect. At least I hope it is, otherwise I am a green condiment.

Trusting God

Trusting God means that when every single plan I have made and every single hope I had comes crashing down around me, and every single fear comes alive; it is only because God has something greater, better, and more perfect in mind. And for me to protest against this is completely confusing. After all I am nothing, but He created the universe.

Salvation

It is hard work being a Christian. I have to pray, go to Church, love my neighbour, and in general, be a good person if I am ever to achieve eternal life. Right? Wrong.

How dreadfully easy it is to think that being a Christian consists of simply being a good person, and how ironic that, in trying to simplify things by ignoring the gospel and just "doing good," we have actually made things a great deal harder! We are attempting to accomplish that which no man has ever accomplished, For "as it is written, 'none is righteous, no not one'" (Romans 1:10).

Does good works save a man? Then no man is saved. Does going to church, reading the Bible, loving our neighbour, and so on and so on save a man? Then again, no man is saved. "For...'none is righteous, no not one.'"

What then? Have we no hope? Will we perish in a wretched state of always trying harder and never winning our goal? Or will we even blindly pursue the world, knowing that it is utterly hopeless to ever attain salvation? By no means! If Christians do exist, and good works do not make a Christian who he is, then something else does.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17, emphasis mine).

Therefore, it is faith in the gospel that makes man a Christian. It is believing that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became a substitute for us by living the good life that no one else could and dying the death everyone deserved thereby imputing or giving his righteousness to us if we believe. And this is what saves us.

"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God." (Romans 5:6-9).


This is the gospel; man is sinful, God is holy, and the only way of reconciliation - the only bridge between the two - is Jesus Christ.

Contemplations on Death, Part II

It seems several months since I posted the first part to this series, though in reality it has only been weeks. I had started working on this section a while ago, and stopped because I was having difficulty expressing my thoughts clearly while providing a strong logical foundation, and at the same time stay on topic and keep the post from running to a length of 50 paragraphs. Here I have returned to the problem at hand, at last, hopefully able to both hold my readers attention and other him a reasonable explanation of my beliefs and the reasons for them.

Unfortunately, due to the lengthy content of this post, I will have to gradually lead up to a conclusion, but leave the reader once more in suspense as I split up my series into further divisions. This post will look at the existence of the eternal, which I believe offers the only real reason for life, and will go no further.

First of all, there is something inside of everyone that accepts a definite right and a definite wrong. Some will dispute this fact, and might even claim that it is wrong of me to say so, because isn't that legalism? Isn't that forcing everyone to accept my sense of morals? Yet, their very claim is proving my point; they are accusing me of being wrong, but if there is no right or wrong, than I cannot possibly be in the wrong. They are making the assumption that legalism is a bad thing.

I recently read a section of The Octopus by Frank Norris. To be fair, I didn't read all that much, but I think I have the basic gist of the plot. In the story, humans are portrayed as helpless pawns in the hand of an unsympathetic Nature. Written by a notable naturalist, the story makes it clear that the only reason for life offered by the naturalist view is that of self-survival. There is no sense of right or wrong, but merely the work of trying to stay alive in spite of many forces working against you. Yet, the railroad owner, a particularly annoying and cruel man, dies a slow and painful death that the reader is forced to look upon as being just and fitting as a result for the man's actions. Here, too, there is an unspoken sense of what is right and wrong.

Where did this sense of right and wrong come from? If man can deny it so emphatically and yet unconciously support it, it must be a part of man that is so ingrained in him that it cannot be discarded. Is it really possible that even if a man could be assembled randomly by mud and slime in an evolutionary process, that he could also have an unspoken list of no-no's placed inside of him, making him guilty when he goes against it and commending him when he follows it? It seems highly inprobably to me. It points to something - or someone - eternal; something outside of man.

Moreover, a study of physics will reveal an even more baffling problem to those who deny the existence of the eternal. According to the laws of thermodynamics, matter can neither be created or destroyed. How then could the Big Bang happen without either matter or energy or both? There are two kinds of energy: potential energy and kinetic energy. If I were to set a ball on a shelf, that ball would hold potential energy, because it holds the capacity to fall or roll. If I were to push the ball off the shelf, my application of force would transform that potential energy into kinetic energy, a state of activity.

Now supposing that there was nothing - not even space. Absolutely nothing. Trying to picture nothing would leave one with the impression of an empty space or an empty darkness. But both of these are not nothings; they are, in fact, somethings. Respectively, they are "space" and "darkness." We can not fathom a state of nothingness, because it would have no conceivable quality - it has no color, no form (not even emptiness), no volume, no measurable quantity - it has nothing because it is nothing.

Very clearly, a nothing has no energy or matter. If it had the slightest trace of any of these things, it would instantly become a something, and we would immediately be confronted with the question, "where did that something come from?" Obviously, with no potential energy, and no force of kinetic energy to trigger the potential energy into more kinetic energy, which could very possibly turn into something similar to the concept of the Big Bang Theory, we would be left with an infinite nothingness. I say infinite, because nothing could break its state of nothingness at any time, but I am assuming that it is still holding to the rules of time. Nothing would be outside of time, because time is a something.

So how did we get from a state of Nothingness to a state of Somethingness? There is no possible way. The only way we could exist today is if something had always been - had always existed. Whether this something was a great store of energy that exploded into the universe, or else something else - I leave it to the reader to make his choice.

Contemplations on Death, Part I

"Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity."
~Ecclesiastes 1:2

The room was cold and still. On one side of the room was a casket, and in the casket lay a pale form, its familiar face expressionless with seeming-sleep. Who has said that a dead face appears peaceful - or even beautiful? They were wrong. The face of death is awful; pale and cold and spine-chilling so quickly become overused adjectives.

If I hadn't known the dead before - if I had never seen him alive and happy, with his eyes smiling at me - everything would have been easy. But I had. And often after this scene, I lay in bed wondering what the point of life was if it all ended in death.

I wasn't the only one who had wondered this, and I'm not the only one to write about it. Well-known authors such as Jack London often wrote about the futility of life. There was one author in particular that stood out to me - an ancient fellow from before the time of Christ. He wrote a book called Ecclesiastes.

"What does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens to the place where it rises....
All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun."
~Ecclesiastes 1:3-5, 8-9

This is only a part of chapter one. The book runs on in this manner for several chapters. If I had felt depressed before, I should surely feel depressed now, having read this. But there was a section of the book that suddenly jumped out at me, being so entirely different from the tone and mood of the rest of the book:

"What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man." ~Ecclesiastes 3:9-13 [emphasis mine]

If this is the answer, it seems to be an incomplete answer. It tells us what we should do, but not why we can do it. For instance, why should we be joyful and do good if we know that the inevitability of death hangs over us? And why should we take pleasure in our toil if we know that in the end our works are nothing? The paragraph concludes that "this is God's gift to man." But what does that mean?

Unfortunately this post is rather long already, and I have homework to do, so I'll have to leave you pondering these questions until I can come back and write part 2. Perhaps you already know the answers; it is always good to remind yourself of them. :)

Finding Our Identity in Christ

If there is one thing I have always wanted for as long as I could want anything, it was to be popular. If only I could do something truly great - be someone extremely awesome and cool - then surely I would be happy.

Unfortunately, we live in a culture that encourages the sentiment that there is an elite group of Someones, and if you can only become one of these Someones, you will be happy. The definition of a Someone is very vague; some people say you need money, others a good talent that you can use to gain a good following, and still others the ability to distinguish between gourmet and common food. No one knows what a real Someone looks like, but everyone wants to be a Someone.

What a wasteful pursuit!

That was my first mistake, thinking that being a Someone in the eyes of the world would be satisfying. As soon as I saw that this was, indeed, a mistake, I sat down to write this post. That was when I noticed my second mistake.

I intended on writing about how silly being a Someone looked when one contrasted it to the Christian view of being adopted sons of God. And indeed, being the son/daughter of the Maker of the universe is a very wonderful thing. But was that the end?

I had completely missed the point. I was ready to boast about my position, when, in fact, the last thing I should be doing is sticking out my chest with prideful confidence. I still had the worldly view of being a Someone - only I had transferred it elsewhere; I was still finding fulfilment in myself.

How could I boast that I was a child of the King when my very conversion could not have taken place without help from Him? Sin had so separated me from God that there was no way my heart could suddenly "chose" to follow Christ (2 Cor. 4:3-4, John 6:63). Christ had to first choose me, and begin a work in my heart before I would even attempt to give Him a second glance.

The only reason I can stand up today and testify as a witness for Christ is because Jesus gave his life for me - I was so evil that only the Son of God could save me. If that isn't humbling, I don't know what is.

And thus, we find our identity in the work of Jesus Christ, not in ourselves. We find our worth and our value not in our rank or status, or rather, those things that only serve to increase our pride; but in humility, knowing that there is no way we could save ourselves, and rejoicing in the fact that God loved us so much that He was willing to save us (John 3:16).

"26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
~ I Corinthians 1:26-31

Chasing Shadows

"17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ." Colossians 2:17

Picture a sunny room. In the center of the room is a beautiful vase - so beautiful and delicate that no one can resist gazing upon it and reaching out to touch its smooth surface. Stretching far behind this vase is a distorted shadow of it.

If you have ever seen a shadow (which I'm assuming you have), it only vaguely represents the object that casts the shadow. Sometimes a shadow is an extremely long version of the object, and sometimes it is an extremely short version. Either way, it is a distortion of the real object, and has no substance, being but an absence of light.

If, as this passage from Colossians seems to suggest, all things in this world are but shadows, and all substance is found in Christ, it is fruitless to pursue things of this world such as riches and fame, as they are but shadows that pass and change as the day goes by.

"6 Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!"
Psalm 39:6

Why then do we so often fall in love with the world? Why then do we seek fulfilment and joy in passing, changing, flighty shadows, when we have before us the true object, steady, unchanging and full of a beauty the shadow can never match?

The analogy we began with can be broken up as follows: the room is a day, the vase is Truth, and the shadows are the world. Everyday, we are faced with the choice of grasping the vase, or chasing shadows as they move throughout the day. What will you choose?

Walking on a treadmill

There is nothing more discouraging than a day that doesn't seem to get anywhere. I call these the "treadmill-days." I sit down to do school, and I can't seem to make a dent in my pile of homework; I wash the dishes and ten minutes later there's fifteen cups ready for washing; etc.

Today was one of those days. It made me contemplate a real treadmill, one on which one runs and runs to get seemingly no where. And then it hit me; it was only seemingly no where. The person on the treadmill may not be moved through space, but he is moved through time. And if he is diligent to continue on the treadmill day after day, his muscles will slowly become firm and strong.

Those treadmill-days may be wearying, but they are the tools that slowly shape us into the person God wants us to be. If the man on the treadmill said, "Forget this! I'm going to go watch TV!" he might be content for a month or so, but a year later, he might look at himself, and say, "I'm fat! If I only had stuck to that stupid treadmill, I could be lifting boulders by now!"

Am I giving up? Am I busy watching TV instead of persevering in the seeming monotone of life? Could I be lifting boulders right now? The thoughts assailed my mind like bullets from a gun. Then a scripture softly pushed them aside to make itself prevalent.

"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up...." (Galatians 6:9)

Happy Day 365 of 2008!

Tomorrow ends this year. The lovely numerals of 2008 will give way to the more important-looking, almost stern, ones of 2009. I think that considering this, it would be well to part with the old year and enter the new one on a more serious note than I have portrayed most often in my posts on this blog.
I hope to encourage you, dear reader, by reminding you as I so often have to remind myself, that

"as it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one...'" (ESV, Romans 3:10)

Why am I bringing this scripture to mind? How on earth will this bring us joy as we begin a new year?
Just wait; I am coming to that. I am bringing this scripture in as a mere beginning; an introduction, as it were, of an even more important message.
If none are righteous, than how can their deeds be righteous? And how can un-righteous deeds be perfect? They can't.
So for me, the perfectionist, the fact that I can't get everything done and everything done correctly, makes me quite discouraged. After all, what hope is there in this?
Hope comes into the picture when Christ does.... And hence the main point of this post:

"He [the Father] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
20 andthat through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister." (ESV, Colossians 1:13 - 23)

We are not righteous or perfect, but Christ is. And Christ will present us "holy and blameless and above reproach" before God.
And as a response to such great love as this, I am full of awe and motivated to do my best that I might "pay Him back" to the very small extent that I am able, in order to show Him my intense gratitude.
And that is how I want to start my new year.

Where then is thy hope?

“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.
Deliver me from all my transgressions."
Psalms 39:7-8a

"For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe."
1Timothy 4:10

"As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy."
1Timothy 6:17

We are the "rich in this present age." We have been blessed in America with many privileges other countries do not have. But have we set our hopes in these riches? With the economy's drop, many people panicked. Why? Because all of their hopes were placed in the money they lost.
I know that I have placed my hope in dozens of other things than Christ and the Gospel. I have been so wrapped up in election candidates, and worried till my hair has almost fallen out, yet what has it down for me?

"And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?" Matthew 6:27

Therefore, let me encourage thee; to place thy trust in Christ and in Him alone!
Note: quotations obtained from ESV Bible Online

"Why can I not feel joy? Because of trials? Because of sickness? Because of sin? Then I must confess this sin, and let it not separate me from God. Truly, 'nothing can separate us from the love of God.' Is there not great joy to be found in these words?
I behold the blessings that now surround me; yea, even in my trials. Oh, remind me of the great news that has come to me, that I hath been invited to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb!
If I find no joy in the this, if I can find no joy in the Gospel, than I will never find joy."

Thoughts...

Jesus is our...

Prophet: "Jesus answered them and said, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' Then the Jews said, 'It has taken 46 years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?' But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when His had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken." ~John 2:19-22

Priest: Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people." ~ Hebrews 2:17

and our

King: " 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth....' " ~Matthew28:18

Twue Wuve

This is a late post for Valentine's day. The reason I had not posted it yet was that the computer has been acting strangely. Anyways, The name of my post is "Twue Wuve" and you are probably wondering what I mean. (If you have ever watched the Princess Bride, then you would have encountered the part in which one of the main characters is being forced to marry an evil prince. The bishop comes out in solemn array and is formally motions them to rise. It is at this point that he begins to speak, and the "important"air about him is broken. He speaks with a lisp, and "twue wuve" is how he would have said "true love.") I mean precisely that; true love. I have experienced true love in only one way in all of my short life. It is simply this:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but shall have eternal life. ~John 3:16

For God so loved me that He sent His only Son to die for me. To take the punishment for my sin.
For God so loved you that He sent His only Son to die for you. To take the punishment for your sin.
This is true love; this is the greatest love you can ever imagine. This is so great a love that you can not even imagine it. Glory be unto God!

Psalm 28:1-9

To you I will cry, O LORD my Rock:
Do not be silent to me,
Lest, if you are silent to me,
I become like those who go down to the pit.
Hear the voice of my supplications
When I cry to You,
When I lift up my hands toward your holy sanctuary.

Do not take me away with the wicked
And with the workers of iniquity,
Who speak peace to their neighbors,
But evil is in their hearts.
Give them according to their deeds,
And according to the wickedness of their endeavors;
Give them according to the work of their hands;
Render to them what they deserve.
Because they do not regard the works of the LORD,
Nor the operation of His hands,
He shall destroy them
And not build them up.

Blessed be the LORD,
Because He has heard the voice of my supplications!
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusted in Him, an dI am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song I will praise Him.

The LORD is their strength,
And He is the saving refuge of His appointed.
Save Your people,
And bless Your inheritance;
Shepherd them also,
And bear them up forever.
(Psalm 28:1-9)

John 1:1-27

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but he was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives life to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born , not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying,
"This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.' "
And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son , who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. Now this is a testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him,
"Who are you?"
He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."
And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?"
He said, "I am not."
"Are you the Prophet?"
And he answered, "No."
Then they said to him, " Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?"
He said, "I am 'the voice of of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the LORD," ' as the prophet Isaiah said."
Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees, And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"
John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."
(John 1:1-27)

To be continued later.....

Psalm 100

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come into His presence with singing.
Know that the LORD, He is God.
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves,
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him,
And bless His name.
For the LORD is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures for all generations.
(Psalm 100)

Psalm 47:1-9

Oh, clap your hands all you peoples!
Shout to the God with the voice of triumph!
For the LORD Most High is awesome;
He is a great King over all the earth.
He will subdue the peoples under us,
And the nations under our feet.
He will choose our inheritance for us,
The excellence of Jacob whom He loves. (Selah)
God has gone up with a shout,
The LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
For God is the King of all the earth;
Sing praises with understanding.
God reigns over the nations;
God sits on His holy throne.
The princes of the people have gathered together,
The people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
He is greatly exalted.
(Psalm 47:1-9)

Psalm 24:1-10

Psalm 24:1-10

The earth is the Lord's and all it's fullness,
The world and those who dwell therein.
For He has founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the waters.
Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face
(Selah)
Lift up your heads O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up your everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory.
(Selah)