magnify

The doors open and people begin moving inwards. A trickle at first, then building. Steady, strong, focused. Yet if you were allowed a glimpse into the rooms of their lives you would see things contradictory to steady, strong, focused. Tired, feeble and confused. Grey rain. Yet they enter still. One by one they come and find the comfortable. The recognizable. The safe. They come – some with the hope that there is more than grey rain. Some come with the hope that strength can be regained for the next of days. Some come with desperation that screams silently for rescue. They come. Yet there stirs something deep within as they wait.

The Lord is my strength and song, He has become my salvation.

As the steady stream begins to reduce down to a trickle once more, silence moves through the mind and begins to hush the world that is theirs. Like a mother quieting her children before her guests, the mind stills the heart. Souls begin to breath deep and slow the rich oxygen of eternity.

The Lord is God, and he has given us light.

And this light begins to shine in the midst of the grey rain. It’s powerful and penetrating rays of light breakthrough to reveal souls renewed. Regenerated. Rescued. And as the clouds burn away memories grow and bloom to reveal the sweet fragrance that intimacy brings.

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever.

Hearts warm. Minds clear. Where there was rain now the brightness of the Day shines. Where there was fatigue now the soul lifts with renewed stamina the heavy stones that weighed down. Where there was once confusion now sharpness and conviction of spirit lead the anthem’s song.

The stone which the builder’s rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. For his love endures forever.

What does it mean to magnify? What does it mean to extol? Does it mean simply to “make larger, to praise highly”? How does one magnify someone who is bigger than all of creation? How does one begin to praise highly someone who does need our affirmation? Maybe the key is found in the simple act of bringing. Bringing the gray rain. Bringing the tired, the feeble, and the confusion. Maybe the key is found in being grateful for what was done, what is being done and what will be done.

Magnify. Before we lift up, look within – and give thanks. Then lift with strength renewed. With minds regenerated. With souls that breath deep of the rescue.

Magnify.