Crowned in Love and Compassion

Amanda Pine
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read

This weekend, Alec had a soccer tournament at the Virginia Beach Field House. I love watching Alec play at the field house, because they have wi-fi, air conditioning, and best of all: beer. Also, I never have to get up to get the ball because it is well contained within a plexiglass barrier (not that I get the ball in his outdoor games. I just don’t have to feel guilty about not getting the ball in these games).

This particular tournament had a DJ who was KILLING it, and everyone was enjoying the music. Well everyone except for a man who happened to be standing close to me. I was bobbing my head and mouthing (because there were little kids around and it is definitely a PG-13 song) the words to “iSpy”, which I occasionally listen to. He turned to me and said:

“Do you even know who sings this song?”

“Yes, KYLE and I think it features Lil Yachty,” I responded. I looked on my phone to confirm that I was correct, and told him that is who it was.

“Oh,” he said, “I just see a lot of people bobbing their heads and I bet they don’t know who sings the songs.”

This whole interaction bothered me. Do you need to know the artist who sings a song before you can sing the song? I don’t know who is behind the composition of Amazing Grace, but I sing that regularly. Why did he think I wouldn’t know who sang the song? Do I look particularly out of touch with the current songs of the day?

I talked later about this interaction with Alec. He told me that this guy just didn’t like rap and not to take what he said seriously.

That, unsurprisingly, did not clarify anything for me. First of all, I’m not sure that iSpy can even be considered a rap song. If anything it is more of a hip-hop/pop mix. Also, so what if this guy doesn’t like rap? Should I pretend not to like rap/hip-hop/pop because I happen to be in his immediate vicinity? Does he really find rap that offensive (I’m speaking here of the style of music rather than the subject matter)?

I think the underlying root of my irritation about this interaction lies in the idea that this man, that I have never met before, saw me and made snap judgements about me. He then verbalized those assumptions in the form of a condescending question designed to make me feel dumb. Why does a perfect stranger feel the need to lift himself up by putting me down?

Today, in our staff meeting, we read a portion of Psalm 103. It reads:

Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.

Aside from the pit and diseased part of this Psalm, I am oddly comforted by these verses. The Psalmist identifies sin and sickness as linked, thus when we are lifted out of the pit and crowned in love and compassion we are cured of our ailments. Hatred, I think, is one of those ailments.

Interestingly (maybe just to me), “soul” is derived from the Hebrew word for “throat.” If you think about that, our throat helps us to relate to the world around us-both with our breath and with the sounds that we emit. A healthy throat, means a healthy interaction with the world-in theory.

During yoga once, the instructor said: “Breathe life in, breathe life out.” This resounded within my soul (and also, for a time, my throat), and I think about those words often.

Friends, in all that we do, we must be spread life giving words of love and compassion. Maybe, that means thinking before making moves to put others down in public areas. Maybe, that means not writing blog posts about those who attempt to put you down in public areas.

Happy Monday and blessings on your week! I would love to hear what you think of the passage above!

Amanda Pine

Written by

Christian Educator, Union Presbyterian Seminary Alumni, wife, cat mom, and fan of the spiritual pursuits.

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