By the Waters of Babylon….Psalm 137:1
And, so begins one of the most desperate, and hopeful Psalms in the whole collection! The children of Israel had been uprooted from everything they held familiar and taken to a “strange land” (Babylon). As a people in exile, they were confused, dismayed, and unsettled. The Psalmist (whoever he was) was dismayed: ”How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” but yet pledged and dedicated to his Lord: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,let my right hand forget its cunning!”
So, we find ourselves in a kind of exile at the moment. We are not allowed out of our homes (except to go pillage Walmart)’ we are not allowed our familiar activities (church, school, meetings, social gatherings, jobs).
As we self-isolate, let us continue to be in contact – with each other, and with the more vulnerable in our communities. Let us pray fervently for an end to this worldwide sickness and restoration of our lives – perhaps now on a more sensitive and thoughtful basis.
To keep us somewhat current with our church’s life and teaching, I offer (humbly) a short reflection for the week. Read John 11:1-45
Death seems like an all-powerful and overwhelming force in our lives. Physical death is something that is unavoidable, but there is also another kind of death that can be experienced long before that moment in time, there is the death that can occur from within a person; a kind of deadness that can dwell beneath the surface of a person’s daily life. This deadness can manifest itself in a variety of ways. John 11 places emphasis on how Jesus is master over life and death. The story of Lazarus is employed to show how Jesus is the “resurrection and the life”. The fulness of this risen life is experienced in and through our communion with the Risen Christ, a communion that begins now.
Be safe and wise
