Saturday, June 3, 2023
Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Oh no, don’t let the rain come down
The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.
More and more I confront the puzzle of living a Holy Spirit-filled life and at the same time feeling discouraged, worn out and sad. Often lately when I’m taking a nap or falling asleep, I think my life is crashing in on me. Nothing to hold onto.
The decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple.
Loneliness encircles, and I call it that because usually when I come back into Margaret’s presence, the feelings fade. Even before that, when I remember to make my feeble attempt to surrender my thoughts and awful imaginations, when I talk to God about how bad I feel, loneliness takes a small step back.
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.
This poem by Steve Garnaas-Holmes, written about the two disciples on their walk to Emmaus, caught my eye:
All those times you walked through loss,
wandered in disorientation,
trudged on an endless trek to nowhere…
and thought you were alone.
There is a kind of being held
that, if you let it hold you, holds you
through the deepest abyss, the bleakest ruin,
and never loses you.
But the Unseen One gives no clues,
you can’t detect your being held
any more than a fetus can.
Only afterward can the child
recognize the mother.
Even only now, late in the poem,
do you see:
someone has been reading with you
from the first word.
I had not thought of the Holy Spirit as a companion in my sadness, I usually think of her more as a co-celebrator, joy-filler, miracle worker. But that’s not all. She accompanies me. Theologian Grace Ji-Sun Kim lifts Pentecost above Christmas as Christian holidays go:
Pentecost stands second only to the resurrection among the incredible events that give life to the Christian church. In fact, Pentecost can be viewed as the resurrection of the followers of Jesus. The Spirit, promised by Jesus, did not raise them from the dead, but it did pour new life into them when they were frightened, disheartened, and confused.
The Spirit gives us life and moves us to do the work of God and bear the fruits of the Spirit. We cannot see the Spirit, but we can experience the work of the Spirit. The Spirit lives in us and inspires us when we are frightened, disheartened, and confused—states in which we often find ourselves.
How will our lives unfold in the next few weeks, then the next few months and finally the next few years? Uncertainty might be a happy chance to be still and wait, with patience, on God. It is, sometimes.
The command of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eye.
I can return to the enlightened eye, sometimes. When I do not, when I cannot, I expect and rely on God’s patience with this created one, this creature named David, who walks for now on the face of the earth.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
And those “ordinances” of God? So much more better than those of the city, or the county, state or nation.
The ordinances of the Lord are true, all of them just.
When I don’t see it that way, I mostly can wait for the mist to clear. Usually it does.
They are more precious than gold, than a heap of purest gold.
Sweeter also than syrup or honey from the comb.
The giant photograph of our family in a Christmas store is crooked on the wall. I’ll just straighten it.
Ah! That’s better.
(Sirach 51, Psalm 19, Colossians 3, Mark 11)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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