My Favorite Things
It was a dark and stormy night…. OK, my English lit teacher told me never to start a novel that way, but she never mentioned sermons. So… It was a dark and stormy night. The lightning flashed. The thunder roared. The windows rattled. The children ran from their rooms, looking for a safe place to hide. A light was on. A door was open. So, they ran into the room, dove into the bed, and hid under the covers, shaking with fear. And then, they heard…
Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,
Brown paper packages tied up with strings,
These are a few of my favorite things.
Some of you might remember the scene from “The Sound of Music” when the children found refuge from the storm in Maria’s room. She sang to them… it is a musical, after all. And, during this song, she coaxed them out from under the blankets and, in the next few minutes, she taught them how to deal with their fear of the storm. How? By simply thinking of things in their life that brought them joy.
Is this another Pollyanna story… with a simplistic, fairy-tale ending? It is a Hollywood movie and I would have to say that on one level, yes, it’s pretty simplistic. The house is unharmed. The family is safe. And in the five minutes that it takes Julie Andrews to sing one song, all the children have forgotten their fear of thunderstorms.
But, on another level, I would say no. There is more to it than that. You see, what this story illustrates is the power of our minds to overcome our fears, if our minds are focused on the right things: Things that lift us up… instead of things that bring us down. Things that fill us with joy… rather than things that bring us sorrow. Things that give us hope… rather than things that bring despair.
Don’t we all have thoughts that bring us comfort? That put a smile on our faces? It might be as simple as the sound of a bird singing on a crisp, cool morning. It might be the sound of thunder… or the smell of rain. It might be the sound of laughter… the laughter of children… or of neighbors…or of friends. It might be a warm hug from a brother or sister… or the touch of your spouse’s hand. It could be the kaleidoscope of color in a beautiful sunset at the end of a long day. It could be the sound of music. Maybe, for some of you, it’s the tug of a fish on the line or, perhaps, the smell of dinner cooking…or coffee brewing. What thoughts bring you comfort? What thoughts bring you joy?
I spent some time this week thinking of the things that lift me up and bring me comfort … joy… or hope. For the most part, they are simple things, like the things I have already listed. Then, I spent some time thinking about my list and wondering why just the thought of these things brings a smile to my face. And there were two things that seemed to stand out. First, when I think of these things, I find myself in a place… or a time when everything seems to be right in my world. Things seem less complicated… peaceful… simple… safe.
And secondly, in these thoughts, I seem to find one of two things. First, There’s some part of nature: lakes… rivers… trees… sun… stars… animals… Or, if nature isn’t present, then I’m with other people: my mother… father… my sister… brothers… friends… those I love or those who are close to me.
Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes,
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes,
Silver white winters that melt into springs,
These are a few of my favorite things.
I thought about these things a lot this week. Why? Because, every so often, the world seems to be out of control. Life is moving at a manic pace and people are relying on alcohol and prescription drugs to keep their balance. Things that used to be predictable… like the weather… or gas prices… seem totally unpredictable now. There seems to be endless conflict and violence in countries around the world… and even in our own cities. Innocent people are dying… often brutally. There is a feeling of helplessness that comes with watching the news every night… and riding this emotional roller coaster of anger… disbelief… frustration… and even grief. Why do these things happen? How can we make sense of it? Who can we really believe? How will these things change our lives? What does the future hold?
And, for me, all of those questions were followed by a host of other questions: Who does know the answers? Who can make sense of it? Who can we trust? And who holds all of our futures in the palm of His hands? For me, and perhaps for you, too, the answers to all of these questions are the same. It’s exactly what the psalmist said: “The Lord is my refuge and my fortress. My God. I trust in him.”
You know, so often when we read this text, all we hear is, “The Lord is my refuge.” And, I agree, it is a powerful text and it does bring comfort. But there some other messages within this psalm that I also want us to think about today, because I believe the psalmist was doing more than just bringing us a word of comfort. I believe he was teaching us how to deal with our fears. He begins by telling us who will be the person most likely to say, “The Lord is my refuge and my fortress,” because the psalm opens with the words, “You who live in the shelter of the Most High, the shadow of the Almighty.” When you examine the definition of the Hebrew words, you can pick up some other nuances. One possibility is this: “the one who is sitting… who remains… who dwells in the secret place, the hiding place of the Most High.”
How many of you, when you were young, had a secret place… a hiding place, where you went to when you wanted to escape? It might have been under your bed, or in the attic or in the garage. Mine was in the crawl space under the porch. I had all my most precious things in that place. It was a place where no one could find me. I felt safe there. No one knew about that place except my very, very close friends… those I used to call my bestest friends.
There is a book that was written by Corrie Ten Boom about her experience as a Jew in Europe during the Second World War. It was called The Hiding Place. The hiding place that she talks about was the secret space where she was hidden by people who were sympathetic to the Jews. These people hid the Jews so that they could avoid Nazi persecution. Her hiding place… this secret place… was the only place where she, and so many other Jews like her, felt safe. With the risk of discovery and death so high, only the most intimate of friends knew about these hiding places. So, think for a moment about God’s secret place… the place where God hides his treasures. Where is it? What does it look like? How can we go there? Will God show us where this secret place is? Am I one of God’s bestest friends?
Our text also says that “… the one who dwells in the secret place of the Most High… stays or spends the night in the shadow of the Almighty.” Think about it. Have you ever tried to stand in someone else’s shadow? We used to play that game when I was young. We would go out in the sun and look for our shadows. Then, we would try to step inside another person’s shadow. Sometimes, late in the afternoon or early in the morning, when our shadows were large and long, it was easy to step inside the other person’s shadow. Other times, closer to noon, our shadows were small and we would have to get very close to each other to step inside the other person’s shadow. If it was our best friend, we’d get very close… even holding on to each other just so that we could both be inside our shadows.
So, what does it mean for us to live in the secret place of the Most High, or to stay in the shadow of the Almighty? I believe that the psalmist is telling us that we need to be close to God… as close as a friend… as close as the bestest of friends. Because it is those who are close to God… those who love God and trust in God… those have an intimate relationship with God… those are the ones who will be shown God’s secret place. Those are the ones who will be allowed to stay within God’s shadow.
The psalm goes on to say, “Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name.” In the Hebrew, it reads, “The one who loves, or clings to me with desire, I will save or deliver.” And, “I will give refuge to the one who knows my name.” And, the word “refuge” here is not just a shelter… it is “a high and inaccessible place.” Think of eagles and their nests. God will put us in a place where no one can touch us… where only God can go… in God’s secret place, where God’s treasures are… if we know God’s name.
But what does that mean? Well, in the ancient Near East, a person’s name was very important. It was believed that the knowledge of the name meant intimate knowledge of that person… knowledge like kinship. It’s a little like the difference between calling someone “Mr. Kuhns” and calling them “John.” Don’t we assume that there is an intimacy in the use of someone’s first name?
You see, I think, again, that the psalmist is giving us a picture of the depth of the relationship that we need to have with God. We need to love God, and to cling to God. We need to be so close that we know God’s name… a name which will only be given to us if we are in an intimate relationship with God… if we are the bestest of friends. It’s an “every minute of every day, every breath I take”-type of relationship. It is a walk with God that is so close that we are constantly in God’s shadow, even when the noonday sun is beating straight down. It is a friendship that is so strong that God shows us God’s secret hiding place… where we can go to be surrounded by God… and protected by God…because God is our most intimate friend.
So, does that mean that everything in life will be perfect because we are walking close to God? No. No, it doesn’t. Even in our earlier example from “The Sound of Music,” while the thunderstorm went on its way without creating any problems, the Von Trapp family did not escape the effects of the war that was raging in and around Austria. They eventually had to leave the country, traveling over the Alps in the dead of night. But, when they left, with only the clothes on their backs, they took one thing with them: the knowledge that God was there.
You see, the psalmist says: “You will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day, or the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that wastes at noonday.” The psalmist does not say that terror will not come in the night, or that arrows will not fly in the daytime, or that pestilence will not stalk in the darkness, or that destruction will not come at noonday – or that wars will not happen. What the psalmist does say, is that we do not need to fear these things. Because, “God will cause his pinions to cover you,” and “beneath his wings, you will find refuge." It is in the shelter of God’s secret place that we will feel safe, not because the world is a safe place, but because our God is a great God. So…
When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so bad.
When you think about it, it is a simple song, with simple words, and a simple tune, but it contains a great truth: that when we keep our minds focused upon the things that are important, the storms of life will not have the power to defeat us. What God has promised us is not that we will have perfect life. What God has promised us is that God will be with us. “The one who loves, or clings to me, I will save. I will give refuge to the one who knows my name. When that one calls to me, I will answer. When that one is in distress, I will deliver.”
There will always be troubles that confront us. But, in all the uncertainty of life, there is one thing that we can be sure of: Our God has promised to be with us in all of our times of trouble, if we will keep our minds focused upon God. Remember, “the one who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Almighty” that one will say: “My refuge and my fortress, My God, I trust in him.” Amen.