Gloria, in Excelsis Deo!

Quote:  “God is able to take your life, with all of the heartache, all of the pain, all of the regret, all of the missed opportunities, and use you for His glory.” – Charles R. Swindoll

Scripture:  Psalm 106:1-2 – “Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the Lord, Or can show forth all His praise?”

Some Thoughts:  A “mondegreen” is a misunderstood word or phrase, usually because it’s in a song lyric that is misunderstood. There are some mondegreens in many Christmas carols because that’s not the way we talk today. Here are a few: “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”. There’s a phrase in the lyrics that says “the belfries of all Christendom”. This has come out of some mouths as: “the bell freeze up all Christians dumb”. I’m sorry, I did not make that up.

You’ve heard about the “extra angel.” Here’s the joke: Mindy, aged 8. “I only know the name of one angel; he’s called Herald. Mommy sings to me the Christmas Carol: “Hark! The Herald Angel Sings.” (Names may have been changed to protect identities.)

I treasure the memory of teaching kindergartners, and without fail, when Christmas rolled around and we’d sing, “Rudolph, the Red- nosed Reindeer”, there was always someone who sang, “Then one froggy Christmas night” instead of “one foggy Christmas night”. In all fairness, this was in Phoenix, Arizona, so I’m sure Oregonian kindergartners wouldn’t make that mistake!

Sometimes mondegreens are made on purpose.

For example: “We three kings of Orient are, tried to smoke a rubber cigar” or “Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg.” I can only picture the ornery person who originally made those up!

What got me started on this is I was thinking about the words of “Angels We Have Heard on High”, where the chorus simply says, “Gloria, in excelsis Deo.” I wondered if that was biblical and what it means, exactly. (By the way, a mondegreen for “Gloria in excelsis Deo” is “Born in a Chelsea stable”. (I think I first heard this from a choir director who wanted us to pronounce “excelsis Deo” correctly.) In Hebrew, the word gadal is “magnify or glorify.”  It means that something is growing and becoming more powerful. In Greek, the word megalynō is “magnify,” and means to make something great, make it obvious, declare it to be great, to celebrate it.

I read an interesting comment about magnifying the Lord. The author said that just as a magnifying glass doesn’t make an object bigger, it just helps us see it better. Our praise and adoration don’t make God “bigger”; it just helps others see Him better.  Simple words, but let’s magnify Him with “gloria in excelsis Deo” so that others see Him better. I want my life to be “gloria in excelsis Deo”…may my life magnify and glorify Him in a way that others may see Him better.

Prayer:  Lord, You are truly glorious! We want to magnify and glorify You in a way that others see how glorious You are. Many around us see only heartache, pain, brokenness, “Glory to God in the highest!” This is a great opportunity to make our praise bigger and more magnificent. for us to reflect Your glory and be “gloria in excelsis Deo”!  We need Your help to magnify what You have done and continue to do, so that others see You better. Jesus’ birth! Thank You for the opportunities You give us to give ALL the glory to You!

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