Selah

I did it. Nobody thought I would. I guess that's fair, maybe I didn't think I would. But I did it. Inked. I put ink on my skin permanently. Not just any ink of course. Ink that means something, ink that when I look at it or when my peripheral catches it I am reminded. On one wrist I inked the Hebrew word shalom, you've listened to my thoughts about shalom before. (For a refresher or if you haven't you can click here.) On the other wrist, the right one, the Hebrew word selah. Say what? Selah.

If you've been around me enough you've heard me say the word. I'll use it to respond to a particularly moving or profound statement/insight. I'll use it when reacting to an event that is touching or special. And it kind of makes people hesitate. "What did she say? Selah? Where have I seen that word before?" Let me help you out. The Book of Psalm. You've seen it if you have read in the Book of Psalm. It shows up right away in Psalm 3 and is frequently used throughout the book. What does it mean? What is its purpose? Why is it used? All three of those answers are fortunately found in one answer, the answer of selah.

Selah* is a mystery word. Its origins are unknown so they have been guessed at and its meaning is unknown so it has been guessed at. As with many words/phrases it is possible it came into being to mean one thing but has evolved into what the modern meaning is for today. And the modern meaning is my focus, my intent, and the very reason why I permanently inked my skin with the characters, jots, and tittles that make up the Hebrew word selah.

The word caught my attention years ago. It's easy to zoom past. It's generally italicized and off to the side in perhaps smaller font. One might dismiss it, move past it with the thought, "Oh that's just some Hebrew thing that doesn't apply to me today, now, at all." One might be wrong. If it's there at least give it some attention to find out its purpose. When you write something you don't include a word for no reason do you? So what's up with this word? In the Amplified Version of the Bible, which is one of my favorite versions because it expounds on the words and gives them depth that our english language doesn't possess, the word selah is expanded to mean this: pause and think on that. In other words, stop for a moment - don't rush past what was just said - reflect on what was just said about God or what God himself just said - how does what was just said apply to your own life - pause for just a moment on what you just read/heard and consider it.

We rush. And if it's something we have heard or read before we rush even quicker through the passage like it's a checklist and we just need to mark it off so we can move on. We are uncomfortable with taking the time we might need, that the passage might need, that the moment might need, to find understanding and reflect. But really, what's our rush? Do we have a deadline? The fact is we don't have any deadlines but our reality has somehow convinced us that we do. So we rush through, missing the jots and tittles of meaning, missing the richness of the word, missing the moment we could have had.

And so I did it. I placed a permanent reminder, on my dominant (and therefore very busy, always rushing) side. A reminder to pause. A reminder to slow down. A reminder to stop rushing when there's no real rush. A reminder to not miss the jots and tittles of moments with people, with events, with God himself. A reminder to consider before I go forward with either action or word.

A reminder, forever, to build my life around selah combined with shalom.


*For wikipedia's background on selah click here.