I was thinking about the sound of music. How we hear it and how we listen to it can reveal a bit about our relationship with God.
We hear a favorite piece of music and become totally engrossed in it. Each part, its tune, its words, bring us joy and delight. Often we have to play or sing it over again. We can't get enough of it because it has touched our heart and soul.
At other times, we try to listen to the music but because our mind wanders to concerns and issues in our lives, we forget about the music. The sounds die away and we are no longer conscious of them.
Perhaps most times, we live our lives with background music. We go about our lives with all our joys and struggles, aware of the lovely tune in the background. We are comforted by its continuous presence. The melody keeps calling us and drawing us toward it.
Lord, I think you are this melody. The music that we love... that engrosses us... that we become immersed in.
And yet, many times we lose track of you... through sin or because we are simply overcome by the struggles of our lives. We become distracted and thoughts of your love fade away. That is when we need to be reconciled to you so that we can hear the melody once more.
Hopefully, most of our lives are spent with an awareness of your presence with us. That as we go about our tasks and deal with the issues and problems in our lives, we trust in and listen to your melody that never ceases. A melody that brings us joy and comfort.
Lord, allow us to become part of that melody so that we can sing your praises forever.
~ Image: Angel playing lute (1506) by Albrecht Dürer
It's a puzzlement! What to do... what to do... About five or six years ago, I put together our parish's website... I am strictly an amateur at website building. However, since we are a small parish, the site was unique and served its purpose. I bought the name and I renew it each year as part of my contribution to my parish.
Recently, a new parishioner who is a professional web designer arrived and offered to build a new website for the parish. All that was perfect timing for me, because of a changing family situation, I no longer have the time to devote to updating the site. He is doing a fine job and has brought lots of interesting additions to the new site.
But here is my problem: In addition to building the website those years ago, I was also asked to set up a blog by our priest at the time so that parishioners could write reflections on the homilies and readings we heard every Sunday. The person writing the reflection that week would send it to me and I would find the perfect picture or image to go with what was written and then I would place the article on the blog. I really loved doing this and people enjoyed it.
Now, the web designer wants to incorporate the blog into the new website. This is not a bad idea on the surface because it will bring more readers into the mix and more information into the blog. BUT, all those five or six years worth of previous articles/photographs will probably be lost. This is what hurts my heart! Plus, the web designer is adding his own headers (pics) to the blog articles and wants to leave my pics out. This also hurts my heart since I have spent a lot of time finding just the right image for the articles people write. His issue with my pics are the low resolutions I use.
Soooo, what to do? Actually, the reflections have changed since the original priest left. He always had a special take on the readings and so the articles were really exemplary. Our most recent priest had a different style altogether which made it difficult to write about what he had to say. Our new priest's style is also not the same... As the years have gone by, it has ended up that I am writing most of the articles since people have gotten older and less willing to write. So, my questions are:
Should I abandon the old blog or continue to write for it and have the designer transfer the articles to the new website/blog?
Since I love to write these reflections, should I just place them on this blog and concentrate on this one and let the new parish blog exist on its own?
I can't seem to think clearly about this issue, so I would love to have some input from my readers...
Image from wallpapers shop
