A good friend sent me an excerpt of a writing by an American
priest involved with a contemplative group. It was about lament. I found his
words so inspiring, filling me with an urge to look up the Psalms he names.
Additionally, I was so encouraged that my friend heard me, sensed my despair,
in a very brief exchange after church yesterday. She really heard me, and
reached out. Thank you, Alison.
I’ve just done the day’s Lectio, and as I thought about
Jesus being the Way, into my brain skipped the song from Judy Garland’s Wizard
of Oz: Follow the yellow brick road. (Sorry, for those of you who will now hear
this on repeat all day.)
Sitting in my prayer window, reflecting, I noticed the
antenna on the radio was not fully extended. I pulled it out. Maybe next time
we listen, we will get clearer reception.
This morning I ask God to help me extend my inner spiritual antenna
fully. I am picking up so much discouraging static as I read the news and
comments. It can garble and overwhelm the message of Jesus. In the email from
my friend’s American contemplative group, I read about Psalm 42, and other
psalms of lamentation that speak to God’s people during tough times. ‘As a dear
longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.’
I am going to try to discipline myself so that for every minute
I spend reading political comments, I will spend an equal amount of time
reading God’s word.
Even in the tough times, maybe especially then, God calls us
to walk in the Way: ‘I am the Way, Jesus said.’ To follow the yellow brick road
he has laid out for us. My metaphors may be garbled but I pray that as I extend
my spiritual antenna today, God’s Word will drown out the despair of the world.
May you, too, be filled with hope and the peace that passes
all understanding.