Psalm 131
A song of ascents. Of David.
Lord, my heart is not proud;
nor are my eyes haughty.
I do not busy myself with great matters,
with things too sublime for me.
2 Rather, I have stilled my soul,
Like a weaned child to its mother,
weaned is my soul.
3 Israel, hope in the Lord,
now and forever.
Lord, my heart is not proud;
nor are my eyes haughty.
I do not busy myself with great matters,
with things too sublime for me.
2 Rather, I have stilled my soul,
Like a weaned child to its mother,
weaned is my soul.
3 Israel, hope in the Lord,
now and forever.
nor are my eyes haughty.
I do not busy myself with great matters,
with things too sublime for me.
2 Rather, I have stilled my soul,
Like a weaned child to its mother,
weaned is my soul.
3 Israel, hope in the Lord,
now and forever.
Comments
One observation: The psalm uses the image of a mother, saying that God loves us like a mother. He's not just masculine, but as much a mother as a father. Mothers are the birthers. Fathers the seed planters and fertilizers. Hmmmm.
Small tender care. I am moved to tears by the Creator of countless galaxies sewing clothes for Adam and Eve.
I responded to the Idea that this was a liturgical version of the creation story with surprise. I can see that now but It never occurred to me to see it as Priestly. And I am not totally sure I resonate positively with that idea. Still the Great Procession has it appeal.
The story has such a powerful poetic cadence about it and it comes close to describing how things came to be... aside from the Time Factor.
And then God saying it is Very Good and then Resting. And commanding us to rest. I’m jumping ahead — but God creating Sabbath Rest as a gift to us is so creative! This is not a God saying “work harder”, “DO MORE!!” No, this is a God saying Rest. And the graciousness of modeling God taking a rest. Alas it is gift that most of us have failed to receive. And now many of us have been taken into a Sabbath rest involuntary.
And giving us the responsibility for CARING for this Creation. All creatures! Including the creepy crawling ones. In the web of life ALL have parts to play. I want to cry as I write that....and think of our abuse of Land, Sea and Sky. And our disrespect for one another.
After a period of contrition— hope springs up. Change ME, God. Let me start with me...the turning to You. The faith that Nothing is impossible to You.
Leaning on Jesus as Sammy leans on Mark
Exposing our vulnerable parts to Jesus like Smokey the Dog does with Mark
When will I let God love me that way?
We love dogs because they receive love so well.
When am I going to let God love me?
Why is it hard to lean?
Maybe for seasons of my life there was no one to lean on but God.
I believe God loves me,
I believe that God is the strength of my life
I still find it hard to lean like Sammy or Smokey the Dog
Maybe I can become more Sammy and Smokey - to enjoy simply God’s love for me as priceless free gift that God gives us when he loves us
Stop his run and pet them..... loving him and eagerly looking forward to his arrival.
Then his hearing:
Mark, when are you going to let me love you?
And his observing that it is hard for us to receive love
———————
The question was WHEN and that opens doors �� of routines, schedules, planning and openness...as in NOW!
But rather revealingly I HEARD it as HOW are you going to let God/me love you.
Nature walks...being OUTDOORS even...being with — even fleetingly — other creatures...the flight of a flock of egrets.
This photo of a Brand new Leaf (include later)
And FLOWERS...oh my...the Joy of Flowers.
Then at the end of my walk with Kit after listening earlier.... it hit me that I experience Gods love via IDEAS ....especially ideas that REFRAME my world/reality...big ones like background/foreground shifts.
These are like INNER REARRANGING of my mental furniture...or a more detailed map of the Structure of Things.
And I just sighed....God is WAITING to help me RESEE MY OFFICE. Reimagining what I do there!!! Yikes! Inner stretching...and probably a heart restructuring too....