Episode 07: Psalm 147:12-20

Translation: New English Translation (NET Bible)

3 Questions:
What word, phrase or image strikes you in this text?
Toward what is God calling you in this text?
For what steadfast blessing do you praise the Lord?

Additional texts:
Jeremiah 31:7-14
Sirach 24:1-12
Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-21
Ephesians 1:3-14
John 1:1-18

Transcript

00:01.47
Nathan Pile
Good day, good day, good day. As we jump into tending here, as we approach the end of 2024 and into the beginning of 2025, this a podcast will drop just before the new year. And um so in preparations, Kevin, happy new year.

00:29.07
Kevin Shock
Thank you, Nathan. Happy New Year to you.

00:31.66
Nathan Pile
Yeah, yeah.

00:33.04
Kevin Shock
ah says This is going to drop right before New Year's Eve, isn't it?

00:33.15
Nathan Pile
Um, it is, it is going to drop just before New Year's Eve. So, um, but, um, we're, uh, it is a good day to be together and to chat a little bit and visit, um, today's passage Kevin and I are going to look at is from Psalm, uh, one 47.

00:53.93
Nathan Pile
And we're going to look at verses 12 through 20. And Kevin and I are going to read from the new English translation, the NET Bible. You can follow along with ah whatever Bible you have handy or you could go to Bible gateway and follow along with this translation if you like ah The three questions this week what word phrase or image strikes you in this text? um Toward what is God calling you in this text and for What steadfast blessing do you praise the Lord?

01:28.42
Nathan Pile
Hmm, that's a nice that's a nice end of the year question ah Yeah,

01:34.18
Kevin Shock
That is a nice end of the year question. I wasn't even thinking about that, but yeah and yeah, there you go.

01:37.92
Nathan Pile
but ah well look at that the Holy Spirit put them together then so

01:44.39
Kevin Shock
All right. Here's some information about Kevin and Nathan, your hosts. We are men married to women in financially stable households, white in our late forties college and seminary educated.

01:56.53
Kevin Shock
We work in the Lutheran church and we're born and raised in Western Pennsylvania. All of this affects how we read scripture and discuss it, but none of this makes us better able to read and discuss scripture than anyone else. We believe that the wisdom of scripture is the whole community's compiled interpretation for life with God and one another. So we want to know what you hear and think from your life experience and your engagement with scripture.

02:22.38
Kevin Shock
So this is, again, Psalm 147 verses 12 through 20 from the New English Translation, the Net Bible. Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem. Praise your God, O Zion, for he makes the bars of your gates strong. He blesses your children within you. He brings peace to your territory. He abundantly provides for you the best grain.

02:47.58
Kevin Shock
He sends his command through the earth swiftly. His order reaches its destination. He sends the snow that is white like wool. He spreads the frost that is white like ashes. He throws his hailstones and crumbs like crumbs. Who can withstand the cold wind he sends? Then he orders it all to melt. He breathes on it and the water flows. He proclaims his word to Jacob, his statutes and regulations to Israel.

03:15.33
Kevin Shock
He has not done so with any other nation. They are not aware of his regulations. Praise the Lord. If you are meeting with a group, you can pause the podcast now and ah ask each other the questions on your own. Nathan, what word, phrase, or image strikes you in this text?

03:38.65
Nathan Pile
ah To be honest, it was the idea that there was snow and frost happening. I don't know why that stuck out to me this time, but ah because I'm thinking about ah the David and I'm thinking about Israel, like do they get snow there?

03:56.82
Kevin Shock
but I don't know. I mean, honestly, there must be some record of snow somewhere in a place where the where the authors of the Psalms wrote these things.

04:09.44
Nathan Pile
I guess, maybe up on the mountains or something like that, but it was, ah yeah, I was just kind of, ah Frost, I guess, makes sense to me, but the idea that he sends snow that is white like wool, um there's frost, you know, I get frost.

04:12.42
Kevin Shock
No, I think, yeah.

04:26.55
Nathan Pile
He throws hailstones like crumbs.

04:33.00
Nathan Pile
So it was just the idea of, When I saw, it when i when as as you read, snow, and I was like, does it snow there? But it would have to up in the upper elevations. They wouldn't write about it if it doesn't occur. But it did kind of distract me in a little bit in in that, you know, that it's talking, this passage is talking a lot about what God does. And so this idea that there would be snow there. now

05:05.92
Nathan Pile
maybe it was considered to be a little bit more magical or amazing that it snowed. Maybe not, I don't know, because it happened every year. like It's getting to feel that way here in Pennsylvania now.

05:16.92
Nathan Pile
We did already have two really big snowstorms here at camp.

05:21.83
Kevin Shock
Mm hmm.

05:22.40
Nathan Pile
We've already had probably over 20 inches of snow and it's just the end of December here. so

05:32.92
Nathan Pile
But Yeah. Uh, like we don't, you know, when I was a kid, boy, you like snow came and snow never left.

05:43.96
Kevin Shock
Yeah, yeah.

05:43.98
Nathan Pile
Like it was always here. Um, but that is not, not the case anymore. Like, like I said, it would snow 20 inches, but you know, it's just rain for the last three days here.

05:56.40
Nathan Pile
And so all of the snow has melted that we had on the ground. So it's not like. that it comes and goes and comes and goes. It's climate change that has, that are changing climate, I should say, that is occurring here in Pennsylvania, even in the mountains. But there's a piece of this that is, that's still miraculous. like It was amazing to me, like we had a fire ban and then it snowed and there was no longer a fire ban.

06:33.29
Nathan Pile
You know, there's something about snow that saturates the ground in such a way that it's not like, if it would have just rained a little bit, the the fire band would still have been in place.

06:38.13
Kevin Shock
Mm hmm.

06:44.43
Kevin Shock
Right.

06:44.53
Nathan Pile
But it was like, it snowed, again, 20 inches and in two weeks.

06:45.03
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

06:49.73
Nathan Pile
but And just the snow on the ground was enough four every like for for the fire band to go away.

07:00.91
Kevin Shock
Mm hmm.

07:03.00
Nathan Pile
So there's something miraculous about that in, I think, in in in our natural world that that, again, there's something magical about snow, makes everything white. And ah like we just had breakfast for for Santa here at Sequanota. And so we had, you know, upwards of 180 people here. and and And it was beautiful because it was snow was on the ground, you know, snow was on the ground.

07:30.55
Kevin Shock
Mm hmm.

07:31.27
Nathan Pile
And so it's just kind of a little magical magical winter wonderland as people were coming to see St.

07:33.03
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

07:38.97
Nathan Pile
Nicholas on for the day and get their picture with St. Nicholas and make some crafts and and eat some food with family. So yeah, it was a kind of a unique piece, but snow brings magic.

07:51.32
Nathan Pile
And so I'm thinking about how we encounter snow today

07:59.59
Nathan Pile
And what it has meant for us, you know, all of a sudden our water table was returned and with three days of rain. Now our water table is like ridiculous. I can see puddles everywhere.

08:11.03
Nathan Pile
We were dry, but that is not the case anymore.

08:11.48
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

08:13.40
Nathan Pile
After 20 inches of snow melting and. three days of rain, we got puddles everywhere. So all of a sudden, the natural world has taken care of itself and reversed what was pretty arid conditions, dry conditions for us, so.

08:30.56
Kevin Shock
Yeah, we usually have to put straw out in our backyard in the spring to keep the dogs from tearing up the yard when it gets really

08:34.57
Nathan Pile
Mm.

08:37.67
Nathan Pile
Really muddy.

08:38.22
Kevin Shock
Sopping wet and we already have had straw out there for a few weeks now.

08:41.01
Nathan Pile
Mm. Mm.

08:43.85
Kevin Shock
um Mostly because our yard got all torn up because it was so dry at the end of the summer into the fall and just from the dogs running around.

08:50.93
Nathan Pile
Oh, yeah. Yeah.

08:53.24
Kevin Shock
And then because there wasn't a lot of grass growing in there, it was dirt. Then when we got all this rain and snow, it just turned to mud.

08:58.29
Nathan Pile
yeah

09:01.09
Kevin Shock
So, yeah. It's, a yeah, it's it's saturated. where and And just these past few days, i've um our sump pump keeps running down in the basement.

09:12.57
Nathan Pile
Hmm, to move water.

09:12.87
Kevin Shock
So wait yeah, we're um we're pretty saturated here right now.

09:18.51
Nathan Pile
So what word or phrase struck out to you?

09:18.73
Kevin Shock
But yeah, it was kind of the it it was the, it was the snow talk, but it was it was what comes ah after that.

09:31.25
Kevin Shock
um then Then he orders it all to melt. He breathes on it and the water flows. I i just like that image. I like that image of God's breath um making water flow. Flowing water is living water and living water is what gives life to the creation. So there's, I don't know, there's just that ah that image of God breathing and giving life to creation.

10:06.89
Kevin Shock
There's ah there's a sense when, I'm sure that ah the internet does say that snow happens in Israel um and even in Jerusalem district in the high elevations, but uncommonly so.

10:16.75
Nathan Pile
Hmm. Hmm.

10:22.53
Kevin Shock
And there's a sense wherever it snows that that if the snow sticks around that that land, that creation that part of creation is kind of in hibernation mode.

10:34.31
Nathan Pile
Hmm.

10:34.34
Kevin Shock
um And so there's, ah at least for me, that's the image that I get. And then here it is, God god sends the wind, God breathes on it, it melts and the water flows.

10:46.96
Kevin Shock
um So that to me is this kind of related to all of this, he abundantly provides for you the best grain. ah you know there's this some Just these images of of growth and provision and life in this

11:07.06
Nathan Pile
yeah Well, and you're you're highlighting that image of,

11:14.10
Nathan Pile
of the breath on the snow, it makes me think of being a kid and like you scoop up ah a handful of that snow and you kind of breathe on it and watch it kind of melt right before your eyes. You know, that idea of, of again,

11:30.11
Nathan Pile
I don't do it as an adult. Maybe I'm not. I guess I consider it to be playful because I can remember doing it as a kid. And so kind of being fascinated by how are our our simple breath can turn that white stuff very quickly into water.

11:48.23
Nathan Pile
And and in in return, then soak our gloves so that your hands are cold. but ah But that you picking up on that image

11:53.18
Kevin Shock
right

11:57.17
Nathan Pile
um and talking about it kind of brought that image of childhood back of of kind of the wonder of of taking this cold thing and turning it into water with my own breath is kind of a cool thing. So, yeah.

12:12.40
Kevin Shock
It'll take a long time if you try to breathe on all the snow and melt it though.

12:15.92
Nathan Pile
Yeah, yeah, that would be, I would be, that be you'd be pretty exhausted to do it at all amounts, you know.

12:21.91
Kevin Shock
God does it and it all melts and the water flows. Yep.

12:27.46
Nathan Pile
the the the amazing um the amazing work of God.

12:33.89
Kevin Shock
Yep.

12:35.42
Nathan Pile
All right, you ready to do this a second time?

12:39.10
Kevin Shock
Absolutely.

12:46.43
Nathan Pile
Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem. Praise your God, O Zion, for he makes the bars of your gates strong. He blesses your children within you. He brings peace to your territory. He abundantly provides for you the best grain. He sends his command through the earth. Swiftly his order reaches its destination. He sends the snow that is white like wool. He spreads the frost that is white like ashes. He throws his hailstorms, his hailstones like crumbs.

13:25.30
Nathan Pile
Who can withstand the cold wind he sends? He then orders it all to melt and he brea- breathes on it and the water flows. He proclaims his word to Jacob, his statutes and regulations to Israel. He has not done so with any other nation. They are not aware of his regulations. Praise the Lord.

13:55.40
Nathan Pile
toward what is God calling you in this text, Kevin?

14:01.20
Kevin Shock
um

14:04.18
Kevin Shock
I think ah I think there's a sense here of of counting blessings, of being aware of blessings.

14:16.67
Kevin Shock
ah

14:20.57
Kevin Shock
There is a sense for me of steadfastness in God's activity for the people. um There's also a sense here, of course, this is but so these are the Psalms, so um God is at this point pretty pretty focused on giving blessing to Israel, to to the nation, to the descendants of Abraham, ah so that they can show a blessing to others.

14:58.92
Kevin Shock
um

14:59.15
Nathan Pile
Mmm.

15:01.20
Kevin Shock
And, uh, there's, you know, God has not done so with any other nation. They're not aware of his regulations, his word, his law. Um, but, but they will be, if, if Israel is, is mindful of the blessings that God has given, if Israel, uh, walks in the way of the Lord, um, if God's people accomplish God's will, then other nations will know.

15:29.20
Kevin Shock
the word, the regulations, and we'll know the blessings as well. um

15:36.86
Kevin Shock
Yeah, so I think that there is, this is calling me toward an awareness of God's ongoing providing. I mean, there's also here a seasonal sense of, you know,

15:54.77
Kevin Shock
thing Things are good, things get cold, the earth rests for a while, and then it wakes up again because this is what this is how God does it. this is This is the way that God provides provision for the people, provides all that they need. So yeah, being mindful of being mindful of blessing.

16:16.82
Kevin Shock
um and And beyond, I guess, just the

16:24.04
Kevin Shock
beyond just and external you know being thankful for external circumstances, but being thankful for God's presence among in all things. um Yeah, that's that's what I'd rather say. It's calling me to be aware of God's presence in all things.

16:42.39
Kevin Shock
um

16:46.15
Nathan Pile
I like how you worked your way to that answer.

16:47.64
Kevin Shock
Yeah, I worked my way there. I worked Well, I think i think that um I think being mindful of blessings just can send the message of, oh, I'm grateful for the things I have.

16:48.86
Nathan Pile
Yeah, you got there.

16:59.07
Kevin Shock
And and then you get into the hairy territory of, well, what about the people who don't have the things that you have? um and And so I don't want it to I don't want my answer to come across as like,

17:13.11
Kevin Shock
just like, oh, I'm I'm lucky. um you know So i ah I want, yeah, ah what it is is even even when it's snowy and windy and hail is falling, there is still blessing because God is steadfast.

17:35.18
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

17:40.21
Kevin Shock
What about you, Nathan? what Toward what is God calling you in this text?

17:44.08
Nathan Pile
um I started with um awe and wonder, but then the the last word struck me again of praise your God, um or praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, I think. The praise of God is at the beginning, I think, and praise the Lord is at the end.

18:03.04
Nathan Pile
um And I think one of the things um is, yes, noticing noticing what God has done, that God is present in all of these ways. And and many of them are seen in nature. Some of them are are are seen within community, you know, like strong gates and and dumb you know, blesses of children, children um and peace in the territory. But a lot of it is seen in that natural world where where oftentimes I myself um can see and experience God and in the natural world. But I think there's a piece of this um that as I read down through this, so like I said, awe is a piece of this being in awe of what God has

18:59.47
Nathan Pile
made and created, but there's something about this extolling of this praising um that reminds me that, and and and this is a this is, I don't know, a couple of months for me now, of how how do I show more gratitude in my life? And so that's playing into this answer because that's been,

19:25.08
Nathan Pile
um How do I how do I um show excitement and and and give thanks four for what you know what I experience, what I what I've been blessed to either encounter or been been given? And how can I do that in authentic ways? How can my thank you be authentic?

19:53.44
Nathan Pile
um You know, I was just with a group of camp professionals, ah um, about a month ago. And, um, I sat and wrote thank you notes to many of those leaders, just as a way of saying thanks for our time together. Um, and, you know, it wasn't anything long. It took me longer than I thought it would because I was trying to make them super connected, not just a blot, like,

20:25.31
Nathan Pile
Like how do we make our my thank, how could I make my thankful meaningful? You know, it's as just, hey, thanks for doing this thing.

20:29.11
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Yeah.

20:32.51
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Right. I get it.

20:33.13
Nathan Pile
Yeah, okay. But like, how can I really help them know that I ah deeply appreciated what they had done? And so um trying to take a little bit more time and in writing those thank yous, and it didn't take me all day, I'm not gonna say that, but it but it took longer than um sitting and and writing out a very quick,

20:54.43
Nathan Pile
thank you note. And so how how can I be show more gratitude? How can I um give thanks and praise to God for the things that I have been blessed to experience or been blessed um within my lifetime. ah i mean We were just talking about you know the beauty of snow and and what that piece was like. I got to go out, walk around it in the snow um one of the days that it had snowed and it was it was delightful. It was cold. It was a cold day.

21:29.91
Nathan Pile
oh but like I was so appreciative of just the walk in the woods and the eight inches of snow that were you know kind of draped on the ground and and how it changed the landscape in different ways you know the beauty of the snow sticking to tree leaves and branches and again it was simple things but it was it was a part of being in that creation space um that was that was meaningful to me now you know

22:00.93
Nathan Pile
I'm sitting here talking about this and and I don't think that I uttered, you know I was in awe of what I was surrounded by. But again, one of the things that I say is that I wanna be more attuned to being to giving thanks or giving praise to God for what I experienced. And and of course I took that walk and didn't do it. you know Now that I think about it, I didn't say, thanks God, this was amazing to walk through your forest today.

22:26.20
Nathan Pile
um No, I don't feel bad about it. I know God, my the delight of my heart was was really the truer the truest thing that God could have experienced in that.

22:29.84
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

22:36.29
Kevin Shock
There you go.

22:37.00
Nathan Pile
um But but um like how do we how do we live into that?

22:37.10
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

22:43.73
Nathan Pile
how How can we be intentional about giving thanks and praise to God when we're blessed? um How can we be intentional about doing that for each other? So this passage,

22:55.08
Nathan Pile
um Kind of strikes that that note with me. It's it's been something for this fall that I've been trying to think about How do I do? How do I give authentic? Thanks and praise um Both to God but also to to other humans that I have been blessed by and with um and then You know kind of going and then try to live that way.

23:23.01
Nathan Pile
So this passage kind of brings that back up for me, that I've had this internal desire recently. And so this passage of of hearing the things that God has done, and then how do I give thanks for that, for for who God is and and and so forth.

23:42.41
Kevin Shock
Hmm.

23:43.93
Nathan Pile
so

23:47.37
Kevin Shock
Hmm.

23:51.47
Kevin Shock
Nice.

23:53.71
Nathan Pile
No.

23:54.69
Kevin Shock
Well, a third time.

23:59.03
Nathan Pile
I think it is.

24:00.44
Kevin Shock
Okay. From Psalm 147, extol the Lord, O Jerusalem, praise your God, O Zion, For he makes the bars of your gates strong. He blesses your children within you. He brings peace to your territory. He abundantly provides for you the best grain. He sends his command through the earth. Swiftly, his order reaches its destination. He sends the snow that is white like wool. He spreads the frost that is white like ashes. He throws his hailstones like crumbs. Who can withstand the cold wind he sends?

24:34.41
Kevin Shock
Then he orders it all to melt. He breeds on it and the water flows. He proclaims his word to Jacob, his statutes and regulations to Israel. He has not done so with any other nation. They are not aware of his regulations. Praise the Lord.

24:52.23
Kevin Shock
Nathan, for what stead flat steadfast blessing do you praise the Lord?

24:58.88
Nathan Pile
ah The first time I read the question, my answer really hasn't changed, even though we've read this through. um I might add to it my answer, but the the first thing that i would that I always give thanks for, the steadfast gift of is family and friends.

25:15.22
Nathan Pile
um that's That's always the first. um the get The gift, you know, those are one of that's one of the great gifts there.

25:18.98
Kevin Shock
Mm hmm.

25:23.45
Nathan Pile
um They're oftentimes how I experience God's love and forgiveness in my life. And so being able to... um Be connected to those individuals that God has brought into my life. um gives is Is something that I give thanks and praise for. I think the passage, having listened to the passage a couple of times, the other piece I would add to that would be the the natural world in which I get to live and stomp around in. Blessed to be able to to work and live where I do.

25:58.31
Nathan Pile
um Because of the the cool things that i' I'm able to experience because I'd live in the woods um So yeah, I think that would be my that's my very quick My very quick answer of you know those steadfast blessings because they are um That word I thought it was interesting you picked that word steadfast But that's what made it so easy to pick family and friends was that word in the question itself. it was um you know Family and friends are are are constant. they They are always there and present in our and our lives and caring and and nurturing us in me and in ways that um really makes life special. so um And you know this is the season of spending a little bit more family and friend time together.

26:54.83
Nathan Pile
um so having um

27:00.45
Nathan Pile
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, those kinds of holiday times to be to be with others does make it kind of a rich ah rich season. so And recognizing that not everybody has those same blessings, which makes me sad because that's, for me, they're kind of the lifeblood of who I am.

27:09.65
Kevin Shock
Mm hmm.

27:20.58
Nathan Pile
So to know that others don't have that um does make me sad, but I give thanks that I have it.

27:21.11
Kevin Shock
Mm hmm.

27:30.56
Nathan Pile
How about you, my friend? what um For what steadfast blessing do you praise the Lord?

27:36.60
Kevin Shock
um Yeah, i I think that I was trying to think of how to phrase this, but i just where I am in the season I'm in, ah the the variety of gifts that God has given to people in the world. um And I'm personally and particularly mindful of it ah just because of where I am in this journey with this, uh, this injury that I've been dealing with for a while. And, uh, you know, this is all, all of the rhythms of life have been thrown off for me. Um, but I am grateful that there are, because of the gifts that have, that God has given to people, uh, I'm, there are people who are able to help me get back on track and, uh,

28:34.58
Kevin Shock
Yeah, so it's it's not it it's not i mean i could you know I think like the the the quick and thoughtless answer for me would be, like ah I'm thankful for medical professionals and and you know so science that has made yeah ah ah people have told me over and again that you know getting a hip replacement is the is like one of the easiest surgeries that you can do, which doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever.

29:04.46
Kevin Shock
um But that's where medical technology has gotten us is that it is one of the easiest surgeries to do.

29:08.66
Nathan Pile
Hmm

29:10.46
Kevin Shock
And there's not a lot of guesswork to it. It's pretty straightforward. um So I'm thankful for that. But I'm also thankful that um you know i i just my ability to do things has changed.

29:26.04
Kevin Shock
um And so people with their gifts have been stepping in in ways that they maybe didn't have to before to help to supplement or or even sustain the work that I do, both both in my call, in my ministry, but also um in my volunteer work, in in the household. Uh, I'm I'm grateful for

29:59.02
Kevin Shock
I, I, yeah I'm grateful that none of this has to carry any of this alone. um and i think that that you know it it it i I have been guilty of fooling myself into thinking whenever things are going wonderfully that, ah oh, I'm I'm doing just fine.

30:17.62
Kevin Shock
yeah this is but this that but things Things going wonderfully somehow has something to do with me.

30:20.76
Nathan Pile
Sure,sure

30:24.49
Kevin Shock
um

30:24.69
Nathan Pile
Hmm. Hmm.

30:25.75
Kevin Shock
and um And what that would mean then as a on the flip side is that if things go terribly, that would also have something to do with me, which isn't always the case. Sometimes ah sometimes good things happen and sometimes bad things happen. And you know right now I'm dealing with a bad thing. um So I'm grateful for um I'm grateful that other people are there to

30:57.27
Kevin Shock
keep keep life going and um and support support me by supporting the work that I do or or doing the work that I feel called to do um when when I am not as able to do it, yeah. ah um the The shelter where I volunteer, Center County Paws, for years they've done ah this program called caught you cards that uh you know you can you can fill out a card if you see a volunteer who's kind of going above and beyond or a staff member um and you know then you can like collect the cards and you know hand in 20 cards to get a free t-shirt or something like that it's like one of those things um but uh recently the

31:37.14
Nathan Pile
Mmm. Mmm.

31:52.11
Kevin Shock
the operations manager um started doing a similar another similar thing where um she invited people to write in and just give shout outs to someone else that she then includes in like the weekly updates ah email.

32:09.46
Kevin Shock
So you can see all these all these like things that people are you know thankful for, these, these uh examples of people kind of going above and beyond.

32:09.60
Nathan Pile
Hm.

32:20.63
Kevin Shock
and um And like the second week she did it, I I wrote one and and just I'm incredibly grateful. for the the people on my shift who have really stepped up and other people who have come in because I haven't been able to walk dogs for months. um And ah I I still have been going in and doing what little I can and just helping to lead the shift. But but um other people have been picking up the heavy lifting. and uh and so I wrote a shout out for that.

32:57.38
Kevin Shock
And then in that same email, there was a there was a shout out to me for continuing to come in, even though I haven't been able to do as much. And um that,

33:10.43
Kevin Shock
ah

33:14.39
Kevin Shock
not that I think, and not that I need to be thanked for that. I don't think I because right now I feel like I'm um useless, um but it was ah but it was something that,

33:26.38
Kevin Shock
um

33:28.86
Kevin Shock
I don't know that that reciprocal shout out made me feel like. There's. ah um'm I'm grateful for these people beyond just what they do.

33:47.53
Kevin Shock
I'm I'm grateful for them, for who they are and ah and for the community that we have built there together. So.

33:58.59
Kevin Shock
and that And that spreads ah that that spreads throughout ah parts of the church too for my family. That's um that's I'm grateful for. I'm grateful for that um that variety of gifts and that community that God has gathered, yeah.

34:20.76
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

34:27.00
Nathan Pile
Yeah, I don't have ah I'm I'm ble- I'm I'm listening to you um share again, my hope is for all of our listeners to have communities where they experience those pieces.

34:43.62
Kevin Shock
Yeah, yeah.

34:44.31
Nathan Pile
Ya know, it's So how do we create communities um um that that live out these values. We've, we talked in a past, I think it was our last episode, we talked about that idea of when when we live out these lessons of God, um you know how they enrich our lives you know, how they enrich our lives. And here, when we form these communities, when we we get to the place where um

35:22.04
Nathan Pile
we feel blessed by those individuals that surround us.

35:27.79
Nathan Pile
Um, a, we know it's a good thing, we give thanks for it, but we want it for everyone else too.

35:32.51
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Yeah.

35:33.34
Nathan Pile
you know so So I guess that would be my my hope for our, or my my wish new year's wish for all who listen here at TEND is that they they too have

35:34.04
Kevin Shock
Yep.

35:49.72
Nathan Pile
community and and that they seek to build community where are these these feelings the feelings that you share are felt by all so we're we're we're we're the people that can like it doesn't have to everything that you talked about is is yes it's it's it's work but it's it's very human it's it's humans caring for humans

36:17.53
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

36:17.56
Nathan Pile
um

36:18.25
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

36:19.87
Nathan Pile
And so, like we can all do it. It's not rocket science.

36:26.87
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

36:26.96
Kevin Shock
yeah Yeah. Yeah, we are. Yeah. We're all able to do it. And sometimes it's, it's, it's a very difficult thing to do. Yeah.

36:36.66
Nathan Pile
It is, yeah.

36:39.08
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

36:39.15
Nathan Pile
But we trust that God does it with us. you know the The God who makes the snow, the God who builds the fences, the God who brings peace is is a...

36:41.46
Kevin Shock
Yeah, we do. We do.

36:50.55
Nathan Pile
Um, is by our side in the midst of trying to to do the accomplish that challenging work.

36:57.70
Kevin Shock
Yeah, and I um. I'm thinking back to our last episode, too, and ah I and the kind of that I talked about feeling the feeling the desire to. To build up that network of support, not just for myself, I think that there's there's something. I think it's possible for human beings to when, um.

37:26.97
Kevin Shock
when we're struggling, when when we're not feeling like we're whole, it's really, really hard to put work into building community.

37:39.71
Kevin Shock
um I know that to be true, not just from my own experience, but from other people's experiences too.

37:46.44
Nathan Pile
Huh.

37:46.51
Kevin Shock
And I I don't blame for people wanting to back off from that whenever something is going on for them. um But I think it's also possible for God to give us a spirit where when we're not struggling, we put in some of the work to to help make that community stronger, knowing that not only does that benefit the people around us, but in the long haul, it also benefits us too, to have that stronger community. I'm mindful of one of my favorite parts of scripture is is the second chapter of Philippians. um

38:23.90
Kevin Shock
when Paul is giving a urging people to have the same mind, which I'm not a fan of that translation necessarily, but but to to to be of the same the same stuff that Jesus is about. um and And the way that he talks ah plainly about doing that is that everyone is looking out for the interests of one another.

38:47.36
Nathan Pile
Mm, yeah.

38:48.30
Kevin Shock
ah And it's really hard whenever you have your own, like I said, whenever you're struggling with your own stuff to look out for someone else's interests. Uh, but a time will come whenever other people have things that they need to go on for them.

39:04.72
Kevin Shock
And, uh, and, and you might have the energy and the strength to look out for their interests. So that's yeah right.

39:13.80
Nathan Pile
Well, and it's that idea of seasons, you know, and and I know buddy that you've struggled with with this season of of life.

39:17.35
Kevin Shock
Mm-hmm.

39:23.21
Nathan Pile
um But I'm I'm appreciative to hear of your friends and neighbors who have helped care for you in that process and your graciousness to accept that care.

39:37.28
Kevin Shock
Oh, that's not easy.

39:37.59
Nathan Pile
um Yeah, it's not easy for us.

39:38.48
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Um, yeah.

39:40.79
Nathan Pile
but But you care for others in amazing ways. um even you know even as a highlight here that you still show up in the midst of not being able to do what you typically have done. you still yeah So there's those pieces for all of us of do what we can do, when we can do it, but recognizing that there there are seasons in our lives when we're able to do more. and And by providing that care in those times, it builds up the community because others need it. And so,

40:15.49
Nathan Pile
Again, it's good. It warms my heart to hear us practicing living in God's ways. Yeah, that's, what a blessing.

40:24.58
Kevin Shock
Yeah, yeah, yep.

40:29.92
Nathan Pile
Um, anything else, my friend?

40:32.17
Kevin Shock
Uh, just a continued wish of Merry Christmas to all of our listeners since it is, you're still hearing this in the Christmas season.

40:39.47
Nathan Pile
It is, it is.

40:41.85
Kevin Shock
I hope that, I hope that you have not, uh, put away all of your decorations yet.

40:46.39
Nathan Pile
Mmm.

40:46.53
Kevin Shock
And you still, you still perhaps are enjoying some eggnog by the fire.

40:52.80
Nathan Pile
if you If you like eggnog.

40:54.58
Kevin Shock
if you like eggnog and have a fire.

40:56.85
Nathan Pile
Don't force it down.

40:57.92
Kevin Shock
No, don't force it down.

40:58.25
Nathan Pile
Don't force it down.

41:01.42
Kevin Shock
No, I just, there's there's something, um i i hope I hope that people have the blessings of of comfort.

41:01.53
Nathan Pile
oh

41:11.89
Kevin Shock
ah Well, you know, but the the Christmas song, um comfort and joy, tidings of comfort and joy.

41:19.04
Nathan Pile
come over to enjoy.

41:20.09
Kevin Shock
That's that's what I wish for people in this season, you know.

41:24.95
Nathan Pile
Well that's a perfect segue to some additional texts um because Jeremiah 31 Kevin verses 7 to 14 talks about joy at the gathering of God's scattered flock.

41:36.65
Kevin Shock
Hmm. There you go.

41:38.02
Nathan Pile
So comfort and joy. um Sirach of chapter 24 verses 1 through 12, it's an alternate reading um and you might have to, your Bible might not have Sirach in it. You may need a um um to find a book or go to Bible Gateway to look it up. But this um talks about the wisdom. Wisdom lives, lives among God's people. So wisdom living um in the community, kind of what we've been talking about. Wisdom of Solomon, chapter 10, verses 12, 15 to 21. Also another alternate reading. We sing, oh Lord, to your holy name. Ephesians chapter one, verses three to 14. The will of God made known in Christ.

42:26.25
Nathan Pile
um and And lastly, the Gospel of John chapter one, verses one to 18, God with us the incarnation of the Word. So all of these texts do kind of um weave nicely together as we talk about community and and the blessings that God sends oftentimes found in that community. so Buddy, thank you for your reflections. and As we move into the new year, we hope your new hip, um you know, has you jumping for joy. Not a right away, but you know, when whenever the doctor says it's okay.

43:09.37
Kevin Shock
Yeah, right.

43:11.91
Nathan Pile
So um thanks for your reflections today. And for you, ah the listeners, we give thanks for you and for the community that we share. ah Thanks to those who have shared your thoughts and reflections here over the last couple of weeks um via email and social media. We hope to tend our faith with you again soon. Grace to you.

43:36.25
Kevin Shock
And peace.