Friday, June 14, 2013

FOOLISHNESS + FREEDOM

The other day as I was reading I stumbled on something that sparked my interest. A Hebrew word for praise, "halal." While in some cases it means to shine or to celebrate, it also often means "clamorously foolish."

Hm.

Clamorously foolish?
Worship?

Of course, clamorously at first just sounded like a cool word and meant nothing to me, so I looked up that word for more context. I came across the definition of "insistently demanding attention" or "marked by loud outcry."

In other words: a Hebrew word for 'praise' and 'worship,' halal, means a kind of foolishness that demands attention, that is very apparently loud and seemingly intensely passionate. If that word were to be put in human form I could bet that person would not be hiding in the background, they would not be steering clear from making decisions that others would mark as crazy, it would not mean a fearful life that attempts to always avoid opposition, it would not mean holding back, living in comfort and safety, or living in some self-constructed bubble.

Clamorously foolish means praising God. It means worshiping our creator.

Clamorously foolish means doing things for His Kingdom that don't make sense to some people, doing things that may mark you as crazy in some people's eyes but brilliantly obedient and healthily crazy in God's. It means being fearless, being free from restraint and self-doubt. It means singing louder, worshiping freer, risking more, trusting more, living more. It means being one of those rare people that doesn't revolve their life around pleasing everybody else. It means revolving your life around praising God and pleasing Him.

I could take a lesson in living out halal.