Dear Listener,
All Praise be to God to whom all praise is due.
Let us pursue Him in the righteous path. Yes it is true: "seek and ye shall find." Only through Him can we know the most wondrous bestowal.
During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life. At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music. I feel this has been granted through His grace. All Praise to God.
As time and events moved on, a period of irresolution did prevail. I entered into a phase which was contradictory to the pledge and away from the esteemed path; but thankfully, now and again through the unerring and merciful hand of God, I do perceive and have been due re-informed of His Omnipotence, and our need for and dependence on Him. At this time I would like to tell you that no matter what, it is with God, He is gracious and merciful. His way is through Love, in which we all are. It is truly a Love Supreme.
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All Praise to God
- John Coltrane
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Above is a note attached to John Coltrane's album "A Love Supreme". Love Supreme was a jazz piece that was written by John Coltrane, undoubtedly one of the best jazz saxophonist of this time. As the name suggests, it is written to express the supreme love of God. After a superb life performance of this piece, he uttered a Latin phrase "Consummatum est" meaning "It is finished". He said that knowing that he has completed what he was called to do in this life. I was never one that admires and appreciates jazz but the note struck and resonated with me.
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I was introduced to this piece by my Cell Group leader just yesterday as we discussed the passage from Deuteronomy 8. In Deuteronomy 8, the Israelites are about to be led to the Promised Land that they were supposed to enter 40 years ago but due to their distrust in God, God led them to the wilderness for 40 years. God led the Israelites to the wilderness so that they might be humbled and tested to know what is in their hearts in verse 2. Moses speaks with concern and ask that they may Remember God in the Promised Land. Interestingly the phrase "Remember God"has been repeated multiple times in the chapter.
Someone commented that 40 years in the wilderness is such a long time. We were then asked a question from our CG leader, "Are we in the wilderness or in the Promised Land today?" Undoubtedly, I thought that we must be in the wilderness since no where here on earth with all these sufferings and pain would be anything close to the Promised Land and we have not seen Jesus' 2nd coming yet or we have not gone to heaven yet too. Indeed, we are in the wilderness. And I was then reminded that we will be in the wilderness longer than that of 40 years, as long as we shall live. This wilderness may not be so much physical just like the Israelites who have gone hungry but ours can come in the form of spiritual wilderness - loneliness, emptiness, a craving for Love, hopelessness etc. We will be spiritually and emotionally hungry but our answer is not bread or anything from this world and but by the Word in verse 3 "man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." The only thing that can satisfy and fulfil us is God's word, by staying closely to His word.
Another question was then asked, "Do we then see glimpses of the Promise Land in the wilderness?" If we look at Deuteronomy 8, God fed the Israelites with manna when they are hungry. In the wilderness, the picture that comes to me is the desert with no food, water, shelter and extreme weather conditions. Yet in the wilderness, God took care of the Israelites. Manna to them will be a glimpse of the Promise Land when they are in a land with no food and resources. The manna to us may be slightly different in 2017, some see glimpses of the Promise Land in music, in nature, in art, in math, in logic, in dance or in architecture. We do not need to be good at it to appreciate it. Love Supreme was introduced to us as it was one of our CG leader's favourite piece and something in that piece resonated with him and shown him a glimpse of the Promised Land. While I did not know how to fully appreciate the music piece itself, I see glimpses of the Promised Land in beautifully written words and I found what John Coltrane wrote to be beautiful and authentic in describing his walk with God in the journey of music. Similarly, I humbly pray that as I work towards Speech Therapy or my dissertation, that the process and the fruits of it would bring out glimpses of God's beauty and that the focus of all the work that I do will be on Him.
The beauty that I find in the Love of God is that He initiates and pursues this loving relationship with me and He went to the extent of sending His Son to die on the cross for us, and it is indeed Love Supreme. I marvel and I stand in awe of this great love God extended graciously to me. And before I end of, I would love to share John Coltrane's piece, Love Supreme.
Someone commented that 40 years in the wilderness is such a long time. We were then asked a question from our CG leader, "Are we in the wilderness or in the Promised Land today?" Undoubtedly, I thought that we must be in the wilderness since no where here on earth with all these sufferings and pain would be anything close to the Promised Land and we have not seen Jesus' 2nd coming yet or we have not gone to heaven yet too. Indeed, we are in the wilderness. And I was then reminded that we will be in the wilderness longer than that of 40 years, as long as we shall live. This wilderness may not be so much physical just like the Israelites who have gone hungry but ours can come in the form of spiritual wilderness - loneliness, emptiness, a craving for Love, hopelessness etc. We will be spiritually and emotionally hungry but our answer is not bread or anything from this world and but by the Word in verse 3 "man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." The only thing that can satisfy and fulfil us is God's word, by staying closely to His word.
Another question was then asked, "Do we then see glimpses of the Promise Land in the wilderness?" If we look at Deuteronomy 8, God fed the Israelites with manna when they are hungry. In the wilderness, the picture that comes to me is the desert with no food, water, shelter and extreme weather conditions. Yet in the wilderness, God took care of the Israelites. Manna to them will be a glimpse of the Promise Land when they are in a land with no food and resources. The manna to us may be slightly different in 2017, some see glimpses of the Promise Land in music, in nature, in art, in math, in logic, in dance or in architecture. We do not need to be good at it to appreciate it. Love Supreme was introduced to us as it was one of our CG leader's favourite piece and something in that piece resonated with him and shown him a glimpse of the Promised Land. While I did not know how to fully appreciate the music piece itself, I see glimpses of the Promised Land in beautifully written words and I found what John Coltrane wrote to be beautiful and authentic in describing his walk with God in the journey of music. Similarly, I humbly pray that as I work towards Speech Therapy or my dissertation, that the process and the fruits of it would bring out glimpses of God's beauty and that the focus of all the work that I do will be on Him.
The beauty that I find in the Love of God is that He initiates and pursues this loving relationship with me and He went to the extent of sending His Son to die on the cross for us, and it is indeed Love Supreme. I marvel and I stand in awe of this great love God extended graciously to me. And before I end of, I would love to share John Coltrane's piece, Love Supreme.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
-Romans 5:8
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